Power Electronics II

Lecture 8

Prof. Dr. Mostafa I. Marei

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 Single-phase inverters
DC-to-AC converters are known as inverters.

The function of an inverter is to change a dc input voltage to a

symmetrical ac output voltage of desired magnitude and frequency.

The output voltage could be fixed or variable at a fixed or variable

frequency.

A variable output voltage can be obtained by varying the input dc

voltage and maintaining the gain of the inverter constant.

On the other hand, if the dc input voltage is fixed and it is not
controllable, a variable output voltage can be obtained by varying the gain
of the inverter, which is normally accomplished by pulse-width-modulation
(PWM) control within the inverter.

The inverter gain may be defined as the ratio of the ac output voltage to
dc input voltage.
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The output voltage waveforms of ideal inverters should be sinusoidal.
However, the waveforms of practical inverters are non-sinusoidal and
contain certain harmonics.

For low and medium power applications, square-wave or quasi-

square-wave voltages are acceptable; and for high-power application,
low distorted sinusoidal waveforms are required.

With the availability of high-speed power semiconductor devices, the

harmonic contents of output voltage can be minimized or reduced
significantly by switching techniques.

Application:
1- AC drives
2- interface of fuel cell or photovoltaic, batteries to grid.
3- UPS.
4- FACTS

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Inverters can be broadly classified into two types:
(1) single-phase inverters, and
(2) Three-phase inverters.

An inverter is called a voltage fed inverter (VFI) if the input voltage
remains constant, a current-fed inverter (CFI) if the input current is
maintained constant, and a variable dc linked inverter if the input
voltage is controllable.
Single-phase half-bridge inverter
When only transistor Q1 is turned on
for a time To /2, the instantaneous
voltage across the load vo is Vs /2.

If transistor Q2 only is turned on for

a time To /2, -Vs /2 appears across the
load.
The logic circuit should be designed such that Q1 and Q2 are not
turned on at the same time.
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The rms output voltage can be
found from:

The instantaneous output voltage

can be expressed in Fourier series
as:

Waveforms with resistive load

Where ω = 2 π fo is the frequency of output voltage is rad/s .

For n=1 , the previous equation gives the rms value of fundamental
component as:

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 Square-Wave Mode of Operation

• Capacitors provide the mid-point.

• Harmonics are of the fundamental frequency

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 Load current with highly inductive load

For an inductive load, the load current cannot change immediately with
the output voltage.
If Q1 is turned off at t=To /2, the load current would continue to flow
through D2, load, and the lower half of the dc source until the current falls
to zero.
Similary, when Q2 is turned off at t=To, the load current flows through
D1, load, and the upper half of the dc source.
When diode D1 or D2 conducts, energy is fed back to the dc source and
these diodes are known as feedback diodes.
for pure inductive load, any switch conduct for 90 o only.
For RL load, conduction period vary from 90 o to 180 o depends on RL.
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There must be a minimum delay time of tq between the outgoing
thyristor and firing of the next incoming thyristor, otherwise, a short-
circuit condition would result through the two thyristor.

Therefore, the maximum conduction time of a thyristor would be

To /2 - tq.

For an RL load, the instantaneous load current io can be found

from:

Where θn = tan-1 (nωL/R). If I o1 is the rms fundamental load current,

the fundamental output power (for n=1) is:

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Performance parameters

The quality of a inverter is evaluated by:

 Harmonic factor of nth harmonic, HFn.
Total harmonic distortion THD.
Distortion factor DF.
Lowest-order harmonic LOH.
Harmonic factor of nth harmonic, HFn: it measures the individual
harmonic contribution and defined by

Where V1 is the rms value of the fundamental component and Vn is

the rms value of the nth harmonic component.

Total harmonic distortion THD: it measures the closeness in shape

between a waveform and its fundamental component and is defined
as

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Distortion factor DF : it measures effectiveness in reducing
unwanted harmonic order.

The distortion factor of an individual (or nth) harmonic component is

defined as

Lowest-order harmonic LOH : it is that harmonic component whose

frequency is closest to the fundamental one, and its amplitude is
greater than or equal to 3% of the fundamental component.

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Sheet 2 : Q1

A single-phase half-bridge inverter has a resistive load of R = 2.4 Ω and

the dc input voltage is s=48 V. Determine:
(a) the rms value of output voltage V1,
(b) the output power Po,
(c) the average and peak current of each transistor,
(d) the peak reverse blocking voltage VBR of each transistor,
(e) the total harmonic distortion THD.
(f) the distortion factor DF, and
(g) the harmonic factor and distortion factor of the lowest-order
harmonic.

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 Solution
Vs  48 V , R  2.4  .
a- V1=0.45Vs= 0.45 × 48 =21.6 V.
b- Vo=Vs /2= 48/2 =24 V. The output power, Po=Vo2/R= 242/2.4 =240 W.
c- The peak transistor current Ip=24/2.4=10A. Since each transistor
conducts for a 50% duty cycle, the average current of each transistor
is ID=0.5 × 10 =5A.
(d) The peak reverse blocking voltage VBR=2 × 24 = 48V.
(e) V1=0.45Vs,


Vh   n 
V 2

n 3, 5, 7.....
Vo2  V12  0.2176 Vs

THD= ( 0.2176Vs )/( 0.45Vs )=48.34%.

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f- we can find Vn form:

And then find

From

DF=0.01712Vs /(0.45 Vs )= 3.804 %.

(g) The lowest-order harmonic is the third,V3=V1/3.

HF3=V3 /V1=1/3= 33.33%.
DF3=V3 /32 V1=1/27=3.704%.
Since HF3=33.3% which is greater than 3%, LOH=V3.

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Single-phase bridge inverters
When transistors Q1 and Q2 are
turned on simultaneously, the input
voltage Vs appears across the load.
If transistor Q3 and Q4 are turned
on at the same time, the voltage
across the load is reversed and is –
Vs.
The rms output voltage can be
found from:

The instantaneous output voltage

can be expressed in Fourier series
as:

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For n=1 , the previous equation gives the rms value of fundamental
component as:

For an RL load, the instantaneous load current io can be found from:

Where

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Sheet 2: Q2

A single-phase bridge inverter has a resistive load of R = 2.4 Ω and the

dc input voltage is Vs=48 V. Determine:
(a) the rms value of output voltage V1,
(b) the output power Po,
(c) the average and peak current of each transistor,
(d) the peak reverse blocking voltage VBR of each transistor,
(e) the total harmonic distortion THD.
(f) the distortion factor DF, and
(g) the harmonic factor and distortion factor of the lowest-order
harmonic.

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 Solution

a- V1=0.9 Vs= 0.9 × 48 =43.2 V.

b- Vo=Vs = 48 V. The output power, Po=Vo2/R= 482/2.4 =960W.
c- The peak transistor current Ip=48/2.4=20A. Since each transistor
conducts for a 50% duty cycle, the average current of each transistor
is ID=0.5 × 20 =10A.
(d) The peak reverse blocking voltage VBR= 48V.
(e) V1=0.9 Vs,


Vh   n 
V 2

n 3, 5, 7.....
Vo2  V12  0.4352 Vs

THD= ( 0.4359Vs )/( 0.9Vs )=48.34%.

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f- we can find Vn form:

And then find

From

DF=0.03424Vs /(0.9 Vs )= 3.804 %.

(g) The lowest-order harmonic is the third,V3=V1/3.

HF3=V3 /V1=1/3= 33.33%.
DF3=V3 /32 V1=1/27=3.704%.

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Note:

The peak reverse blocking voltage of each transistor and the quality of
output voltage for half-bridge and full-bridge are the same.

However, for full-bridge inverters, the output power is four times higher and
the fundamental component is twice that of half-bridge inverters.

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