The Analysis of Output filter for Grid Connected Single Phase Full Bridge Inverter Based on

PSpice Simulation Technique

P. Khamphakdi and W. Khan-ngern
Faculty of Engineering and Research Center for Communications and Information Technology
King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL), Bangkok, 10520 Thailand.
Phone/Fax: +662 737-3000 Ext.3322, E-mail: kkveerac@kmitl.ac.th, s4061029@kmitl.ac.th

Abstract
This paper presents the analysis of output filter for
grid connected single phase full bridge inverter which
is SPWM bipolar switching type. Voltage and current
output harmonics are analyzed and corrected by low
pass filter circuits. LC filter are designed and
simulated on PSpice 9.1(student version) simulation
technique based on the grid connection regulation in
power quality issue.

Keywords: Grid connected, inverter, PSpice,
filter design

1. Introduction
Several governments and utilities worldwide
promote the renewable energy such as Photovoltaic
(PV), Fuel cell, micro turbines and other conversion
technologies for distributed power (DP) generator. In
Thailand, the PV station is built on many places of
remote area residential, communal building. With the
increased utilization of DP connected to the home,
these power quality problems are expected to increase
[1]. Distortion of sinusoidal voltage and current wave
form caused by harmonics from grid connected
inverter is one of the major power quality.
The passive filters are the most conventional for
attenuated the harmonics from the power grid
connected inverter because it is easy to use without
any addition control part. However, the filter design is
quite difficult for calculation and material supports.
This paper introduces the low pass filter design for the
inverter by calculation and simulation with PSpice
student version. This method benefits to reduce the
design period.

2. Theory
2.1 Grid connected Inverter Topology
Distributed power and in particular PV
inverters are currently based on single-phase self
commutated voltage - source inverters for individual
households. This inverter consists of different power
stages, with high frequency and line- frequency
transformers or even tranformerless design [2]. For
increasing efficiency reasons, transformers less
topologies have been proposed; isolation transformer
is required for safety requirement. To comply with the
IEC 61000-3-2 standard [3], these inverters use pulse -
width modulation (PWM) controllers to generate
sinusoidal output currents. In practice, switching
frequency 20-500 kHz is used in different power
stages with mainly metal oxide semiconductor field
effect transistors (MOSFETs) and insulated gate
bipolar transistors (IGBTs) as switching elements for
these PV inverter.
This paper use single-stage pulse- width modulated
(PWM) dc to ac converter topology (H- Bridge),
directly coupled to the grid via a low- frequency
isolation transformer and filters shown in Fig.1.

filter
Lg
Vgrid
Vdc
Fig. 1Grid connected inverter topology

2.2 Inverter controllers and Harmonics [4]
The sinusoidal PWM (SPWM) bipolar switching
type is the most popular controller for the inverter.
Before discussing the harmonics from inverter, it is
necessary to define a few terms. The triangular
waveform (
tri
v ) in Fig 2. is switching frequency
s
f ,
which establishes the frequency that the inverter
switches are switched. (
s
f is also called the carrier or
switching frequency). The control signal
con
v
is used
to modulate the switch duty ratio with frequency
1
f ,
which is the desired fundamental frequency of the
inverter voltage output (
1
f is also called the
modulating frequency), recognizing that the inverter
output will not be a perfect sine wave and will contain
voltage components at harmonic frequencies of
1
f .
The amplitude modulation ratio
a
m is defined as:
control
a
tri
V
m
V

= (1)
2
Where control V

is the peak amplitude of the control

signal. The amplitude tri V

of the triangular signal is

generally kept constant. The frequency modulation
ratio
f
m is defined as
1
s
f
f
m
f
= (2)
The RMS value output voltage of the
fundamental frequency component (
1 o
V ) is defined
as


01
0.707
a dc
V m V = (3)

The harmonics in the inverter output voltage
waveform appear as sidebands, centered around the
switching frequency and its multiples, that is, around
harmonics
f
m , 2
f
m ,3
f
m and so on. This general
pattern holds true for all values of
a
m in the range 0-1
The PWM harmonic contents are shown in
Fig.3. This is the harmonics pollution. It will be
attenuated by low pass filter for comply with standard.
0
0
v
o
V
d
-V
d
t
t
s
f
1
v
control v
tri
v
o1


Fig. 2 PWM with bipolar voltage switching


Fig. 3 Harmonics of SPWM with bipolar voltage
switching (single phase)
2.3 Low pass filters design [5]
A general use of a filter is to perform some
frequency selective isolation between sources which
is viewed as having a range of frequency components
and a load to which we want to pass only some of
those frequency components and reject others. The
transfer function ( ) H j may relate the output and
input voltages or current of the filter. In this case, we
are concerned with the voltage transfer function
relation
out
v and
in
v .
( )
out
in
V
H j
V

= (4)
Transfer function of LC filter is

2
1
( )
( ) / 1
d
H j
LC j j L R

=
+ +
(5)

and we are only concerned with the behavior of the
magnitude of this transfer function related to the
circuit structure as shown in Fig. 4.

Filter
( )
s
v t
in
i
R
d
out
i
in
v
out
v
Source
Load

Fig. 4 Insertion of filter between source and load to
modify the spectral components of the source
that appears at the load.

The LC filter type is the most often used filter
on single phase AC because it is only two elements
provides 20 dB/decade. A LC filter often works best
in the dc mode if the load has switches, because a
large L would face the dc supply and the large
capacitor of high quality would provide low
impedance for the switching frequency shown in
figure 5.

L1
C1
LINE LOAD


Fig. 5 LC filter


3
3. Filter Calculation Methods [6]
The filter design is shown in Fig. 6. First step
is finding the best filter type. The second step is
calculating the designed impedance from the lowest
voltage (V
min
) divided by the highest current (I
max
)
where is R
d
. The third step is to determine the filter
cutoff frequency (F
o
) following up the block diagram.
The fourth step is equating the inductor (L) and
capacitor (C) values from the second and the third step
using the following equation R
d
and f
o
respectively.

1. Find the Filter type
4. Equate the component values
0
2
d
R
L
f
=
0
1
2
d
C
f R
=
2. Calculate the design impedance form
R
d
= V
min
/I
max

3. Determinef
0

3.1 Frequency at needs loss =f
3.2 Cut off frequency =
0 /
2
dB L
f
f =
L =loss per octave for filter (12N)
N =number of filters in tandem
dB =loss required
5. Simulation with PSpice
5.1 Time domain mode show V, I, THD
i
,
THD
v

5.2 Frequency domain mode show
frequency response
5.3 FFT mode show harmonics changing


Fig.6 Block diagram of filter design [6]
Finally, the fifth step is to simulate with a
PSpice program. It composes of three parts. The first
part is time response of filter by operation in transient
mode, as shown in Fig. 17 to check the harmonics
attenuation and observe voltage and current
waveforms. The second part is frequency responses of
filter by operation in AC sweep mode as shown in Fig.
16. The third part is Fast Fourier Transform (FFT)
mode to show harmonics variation. If the harmonics
attenuation is not enough, it will be redesigned.
This paper shows the case study of filter
design. The power condition can be seen in the Fig. 17
such as V
min
(V
o
) =56V, I
max
(I
o
) =5.3A, R
d
=10.
About filter design can be seen in the Fig. 6. Voltage
and current waveform of output inverter without filter
are shown in Fig.7. The harmonics and sideband
spectra at switching frequency are shown in Fig. 8.
These harmonic will be attenuated, so the frequency at
need loss is 25 kHz (f =25 kHz). The harmonic peak
(V
o
) is 76.45 V. The measured needed loss is 38 dB
(20log (V
o
)) and added 6 dB for head room [6], so loss
required is 44 dB. The LC filter is selected, N =2, f
o
=
7.2kHz, L =0.22 mH, C =2.2 uF. After that, the filter
is simulated by the PSpice program.
4. Simulation with PSpice 9.1 (student version)
THD
i
and THD
v
from simulation of inverter
without filter are 24.2% and it should be less than 2%
[1] The result from filter calculation methods are
simulated on PSpice program. The LC filter is
simulated. The simulated results in time response are
shown on Fig. 8, V
orms
=56 V and I
orms
=5.3 A.
Voltage and current waveforms with filter are
improved. The THD
v
and THD
i
are deceased from
24% to 0.27% as shown in Fig. 9. The ac sweep mode
is used as a source to see frequency response of filter
as shown in Fig. 10, cut off frequency at 7.2 kHz. It
can attenuate at 40 dB/decade. The FFT of inverter
output voltage at 25 kHz is deceased from 76.45 V (in
Fig.7) to 6.9 V (in Fig.11). The insertion loss of the
filter is 20 dB.
The load impedance (R
d
) is changed value,
less or more than the designed R
d
, as shown in Fig. 12.
When R
d
is 100 , the overshooting is appeared. It
causes voltage gain at cut off frequency about 20 dB
and the spectrum at cut off frequency is increased
from 11.2 mV to be 102.7 mV as shown in Fig. 13-14,
respectively. On the other hand, while R
d
is 1, it
causes voltage attenuation at cut off frequency, -20 dB
and the spectrum at cut off frequency is deceased to be
3.2 mV as shown in Fig. 15.


Fig.7 Transient response mode shows output voltage
and current waveform without filter.
4



Fig.8 The FFT of inverter output voltage without
filter. The frequency at needs loss (f), f =25 kHz
and the value is 76.45 V.




Fig.9 Output voltage and current waveforms of
inverter with filter. Cut off frequency at f
o
=7.2
kHz, L =0.22mH , C =2.2 F ,
THD
v
=0.27%, THD
i
=0.27%




Fig.10 AC sweeps mode shows the frequency
response of the LC filter. f
o
=7.2 kHz,
(Attenuation=40 dB/decade).




Fig.11 Spectrum of output voltage at f =25 kHz,
deceased to 6.9 V.





Fig.12 Frequency response of the LC filter by
impedance variation. At f
o
=7.2 kHz,
R
d
=1 (attenuation =-20dB),
R
d
=10 (attenuation =0dB)
R
d
=100 (gain =20 dB).




Fig.13 Harmonic spectrum at 7.2 kHz, R
d
=10,
V
7.2 kHz
=11.2mV, THD
v
,THD
i
=0.27%




5

Fig.14. Harmonic spectrum at 7.2 kHz, Rd =100,
V
7.2 kHz
=102.7 mV, THD
v
,THD
i
=0.23%.

Fig. 15 Harmonic Spectrum at 7.2 kHz, Rd =1,
V
7.2 kHz
=3.2 mV, THD
v
, THD
i
=1.2 %
5. Results Analysis
The PSpice simulation results can help to design
and analyze the filter characteristic. The FFT of
inverter output voltage shows the spectrum at 25 kHz
with insertion loss about 20 dB. The unwanted
harmonics output voltage of inverter have small value
(THD <2%) [1] enough to connect the grid, even
though the waveform not pure sinusoidal waveform.
Because some low order harmonics are appeared, the
designers want to get rid of these harmonics.
However, the criterion sets the cut off at least 10
times of the line frequency [6].
The load impedance is changed value more than
designed R
d
. It causes damping and harmonic at cut
off frequency increased. In contrast, its value less than
designed R
d
, the harmonic at cut off frequency is
deceased. These results are caused by quality factor
(Q) of filter. If the Q is high, it will affect conducted
emission resulting in an increase of conducted
emission at the resonant frequency [7], so the concept
and control of Q are very important in filter design
with considering to the load impedance (R
d
).

About
types of filter example Pi, T, other L filter design, they
can be used by this step, but the Pi and T filter have
the loss per octave for filter is (2N+1)6 [6]. In the
practical design, it will meet the problem about
materials or component of filters such as component
parasitic. This problem may be a black magic for filter
design. The simulation program can be used for the
filter design with a reasonable modeling.

6. Conclusions
The output filter for grid connected single full
bridge inverter using LC filter designed step-by-step is
presented. It is calculated following up the diagram
and simulated by PSpice program where the
calculating model is proposed to suit with both power
quality and EMI issues. The voltage and currents
harmonics are a good agreement with standard. The
Pspice program is easy to use for studying and
analyzing the basic filter. It helps to decease the time
of filter design.

7. Reference:
[1] J ohan H. R. Enslin, Peter J . M. Heskes,
Harmonic Interaction Between a Large Number
of Distributed Power Inverters and the
Distribution Network, IEEE transactions on
power electronics, vol. 19, No. 6, November
2004.
[2] G. J . Naaijer, Tranformer-less inverter cuts
photovoltaic system losses, Electronics, pp. 121-
122, Aug.1980.
[3] Limit for harmonics current emissions (equipment
input current 16A per phase), 2004
[4] Ned Mohan,Tore M. Undeland, William P.
Robbins, Power Electronics converters,
Applications, and Design, Third EditionJ ohn
Wiley & Sons, INC.
[5] Clayton R. Paul, Anaysis of Linear
circuits,Mcgraw-Hill international editions,
electrical engineering series.
[6] Richard Lee Ozenbaugh, EMI Filter Design,
Marcel Dekker, INC.
[7] Mark J . Nave,Power Line Filter Design For
Swithced Mode Power Suppies, Van Nostrand
Reinhold, New York.


Mr. Pracha Khamphakdi, He
received the degree of B.Eng. from
King Mongkuts Institute of
Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL) in
2001. He is working forward to M.
Eng. at KMITL. His research interest
is grid connected inverter and EMI on power converter
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Werachet Khan-
ngern, He received the degree of
B.Eng. and M.Eng. from King
Mongkuts Institute of Technology
Ladkrabang (KMITL) in 1982 and
1988, respectively. He received his
Ph.D. and DIC from Imperial Collage
of Science, Technology and Medicine, the University
of London in 1997 in the area of power electronics. He
is also a technical committee no. 890: in EMC for the
Ministry of Industry. Dr. Khan-ngern continues his
research in the area of EMI & EMC and Power
Electronic System.
6


Fig.16 Filter circuit for AC Sweep mode
(Pts/Decade =101, start freq =1Hz, End Freq=1 MHz)




Fig.17 SPWM bipolar voltage switching inverter circuit for Pspice simulation
(Power Condition for simulation V
dc
=100V, m
a
=0.8, V
o
=56V, P
0
=300W,
I
0
=5.3A R
d
=10 , f
tri
=25kHz, f
con
=50Hz)