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CHAPTER -1
INTRODUCTION
Ac loads require constant or adjustable voltages at their input terminals. When
such loads are fed by inverters, its essential that output voltage of the inverters is so
controlled as to fulfill the requirements of AC loads. This involves coping with the
variation of DC input voltage, for voltage regulation of inverters and for the constant
volts/frequency control requirement. There are various techniques to vary the inverter
gain. The most efficient method of controlling the gain (and output voltage) is to
incorporate pulse-width modulation (PWM) control within the inverters. The carrier
based PWM schemes used for multilevel inverters is one of the most straight forward
methods of describing voltage source modulation realized by the intersection of a
modulating signal (Duty Cycle) with triangular carrier waveforms.
Pulse-width modulation inverters take in a constant dc voltage. The inverter
should conduct the magnitude and the frequency of ac output voltages, and the diode
rectifiers are required to fix the line to line voltage. The inverter uses pulse-width
modulation using its switches, there are various methods for doing the pulse-width
modulation in an inverter beneficial to frame the output ac voltages nearly similar to sine
wave. The inverter only controls the frequency of the output where the input voltage
controllers the magnitude. The ac output voltage get a waveform identical to a square
wave to which the inverter got its name. In ac-motor drives the switch-mode dc-to-ac
inverters are applied and uninterruptible supplies of ac power where the central equitable
is to provide a sinusoidal ac output where magnitude and frequency the couple can be
controlled. Micro-inverters converts direct current from individual solar panels on to
alternating current for the electric grid, they are grid tied.

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The Photovoltaic inverter can be supplied into a profitable electrical grid or can
be used in an off-grid. Photovoltaic inverters have positive functions fitted for the use
with photovoltaic arrays, as well as anti-islanding protection and maximum power point
tracking. An inverter converts the DC electricity to AC electricity from sources like fuel
cells and batteries. The electricity required voltage, particularly it can keep AC
equipment design for main operation and improved to yield DC at any crave voltage.
In inverters the power semiconductors devices always remains forward-biased due to the
supply voltage, and therefore, self-controlled forward device such as IGBTs and
MOSFETs are suitable.

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CHAPTER II:
Background and Literature Review
Devices that convert dc power to ac power are called inverters. The purpose of an
inverter is to change a dc input voltage to ac output voltage which will be symmetric and
will have desired magnitude and frequency. The output voltage can be varied by varying
the input dc voltage and keeping constant inverter gain, however, if the input dc voltage
is fixed and cannot be controlled, the gain of the inverter has to be varied to obtain
variable output voltage. Varying the gain of the inverter is mainly done by a scheme
which is known as PulseWidth Modulation (PWM). The inverter gain is basically the
ratio of ac output voltage to the dc input voltage. Based on the power supply, inverters
can be broadly classified into two types: Voltage Source Inverter and Current Source
Inverter. A VSI has small or negligible impedance at its input terminal that is, it has a
stiff dc voltage source, whereas for a CSI, it is fed with adjustable current from a dc
source with high impedance in this case. For the purpose of our project, all analysis
throughout this paper has been done for Voltage Source Inverters (VSI). These can be
classified into two types which are Single Phase Inverters and Three Phase Inverters.
Either type can use controllable turn-on and turn-off devices e.g. BJTs, MOSFETs,
IGBTs etc. Generally PWM control is used to obtain ac output voltage of desired
frequency and magnitude.

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CHAPTER-3
INTRODUCTION TO INVERTERS
INVERTERS
A device that converts DC power into AC power at desired output voltage

and

frequency is called an Inverter. Phase controlled converters when operated in the inverter
mode are called line commutated inverters. But line commutated inverters require at the
output terminals an existing AC supply which is used for their commutation. This means
that line commutated inverters can tfunction as isolated AC voltage sources or as
variable frequency generators with DC power at the input. Therefore, voltage level,
frequency and waveform on the AC side of the line commutated inverters cant be
changed. On the other hand, force commutated inverters provide an independent AC
output voltage of adjustable voltage and adjustable frequency and have therefore much
wider application. Based on their operation the inverters can be broadly classified into
Voltage Source Inverters(VSI) Current Source Inverters(CSI)

A voltage source

inverter is one where the independently controlled ac output is a voltage waveform.

A current source inverter is one where the independently controlled ac output is a current
waveform. Some industrial applications of inverters are for adjustable- speed ac drives,
induction heating, stand by air-craft power supplies, UPS uninterruptible power supplies)
for computers, hvdc transmission lines etc.
An inverter changes DC voltage from batteries or solar panels, into standard household
AC voltage so that it can be used by common tools and appliances. Essentially, it does
the opposite of what a battery charger or "converter" does. DC is usable for some small
appliances, lights, and pumps, but not much else. Some DC appliances are available, but
with the exception of lights, fans and pumps there is not a wide selection. Most other 12
volt items we have seen are expensive and/or poorly made compared to their AC cousins.
The most
common battery voltage inputs for inverters are 12, 24, and 48 volts DC - a few models
also available in other voltages. There is also a special line of inverters called a utility
intertie or grid tie, which does not usually use batteries - the solar panels or wind

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generator feeds directly into the inverter and the inverter output is tied to the grid power.
The power produced is either sold back to the power company or (more commonly)
offsets a portion of the power used. These inverters usually require a fairly high input
voltage - 48 volts or more. Some, like the Sunny Boy, go up to 600 volts DC input.
1.3 Classification of inverters
There are different basis of classification of inverters. Inverters are broadly classified as
current source inverter and voltage-source inverter. Moreover, it can be classified on the
basis of devices used (SCR or gate-commutation devices), circuit configuration (halfbridge or full-bridge), nature of output voltage (square, quasi-square or sine-wave) and
type of circuit (Switch-mode PWM or resonant converters), etc.
1.3.1 Current-source inverters (CSI)
This type of inverter is fed by a current source with high-internal impedance (using
current limiting chokes or inductor in series with a DC source). Therefore,

supply

current does not change quickly. The load current is varied by controlling the input DC
voltage to the current-source inverter. CSI are used in very high-power drives.

1.3.2 Voltage-source inverters (VSI)

This type of inverter is fed by a DC source of small internal impedance. Looking from
the AC side, the terminal voltage remains almost constant irrespective of the load
current drawn. Depending on the circuit configurations, the voltage source inverter
may be classified as half-bridge and full-bridge inverters. Voltage-source inverters
may also be classified as square-wave inverter and pulse-width modulated inverter.
(i) Square wave inverter
A square wave inverter produces a square wave ac voltage of a constant magnitude. The
output voltage of this type of inverter can only be varied by controlling the input dc
voltage.

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(ii) Pulse width modulated (PWM)

In a PWM inverter, the output has one or more pulses in each half cycle. Varying the
width of these pulses, the output voltage may be controlled .the magnitude of input dc
voltage is essential constant in this inverter.

Description about vsi:

The main objective of static power converters is to produce an ac output waveform from
a dc power supply. These are the types of waveforms required in adjustable speed drives
(ASDs), uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), static var compensators, active filters,
flexible ac transmission systems (FACTS), and voltage compensators, which are only a
few applications. For sinusoidal ac outputs, the magnitude, frequency, and phase should
be controllable.
According to the type of ac output waveform, these topologies can be considered as
voltage source inverters (VSIs), where the independently controlled ac output is a
voltage waveform. These structures are the most widely used because they naturally
behave as voltage sources as required by many industrial applications, such as adjustable
speed drives (ASDs), which are the most popular application of inverters. Similarly,
these topologies can be found as current source inverters (CSIs), where the
independently controlled ac output is a current waveform. These structures are still
widely used in medium-voltage industrial applications, where high-quality voltage
waveforms are required. Static power converters, specifically inverters, are constructed
from power switches and the ac output waveforms are therefore made up of discrete
values. This leads to the generation of waveforms that feature fast transitions rather than
smooth ones.
For instance, the ac output voltage produced by the VSI of a standard ASD is a threelevel
waveform (Fig. 1c). Although this waveform is not sinusoidal as expected (Fig. 1b), its
fundamental component behaves as such. This behavior should be ensured by a
modulating technique that controls the amount of time and the sequence used to switch
the power valves on and off. The modulating techniques most used are the carrier-based

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technique (e.g., sinusoidal pulse width modulation, SPWM), the space-vector (SV)
technique, and the selective-harmonicelimination (SHE) technique.

2.1. Single-Phase Voltage Source Inverters

Single-phase voltage source inverters (VSIs) can be found as half-bridge and full-bridge
topologies. Although the power range they cover is the low one, they are widely used in
power supplies, single-phase UPSs, and currently to form elaborate high-power static
power topologies, such as for instance, the multicell configurations.
2.1.1 Half-Bridge VSI
Fig.2 shows the power topology of a half-bridge VSI, where two large capacitors are
required to provide a neutral point N, such that each capacitor maintains a constant
voltage (Vi)/2. Because the current harmonics injected by the operation of the inverter
are low-order harmonics, a set of large capacitors (C+ and C-) is required. It is clear that
both switches S+ and S- cannot be ON simultaneously because a short circuit across the
dc link voltage source Vi would be produced. There are two defined (states 1 and 2) and
one undefined (state 3) switch state as shown in Table 1. In order to avoid the short
circuit across the dc bus and the undefined ac output voltage condition, the modulating
technique should always ensure that at any instant either the top or the bottom switch of
the inverter leg is on.

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Fig. 2: Single-phase half-bridge VSI.

2.1.2 Full-Bridge VSI

Fig. 3 shows the power topology of a full-bridge VSI. This inverter is similar to the halfbridge inverter; however, a second leg provides the neutral point to the load. As
expected, both switches S1+ and S1- (or S2+ and S2-) cannot be on simultaneously
because a short circuit across the dc link voltage source Vi would be produced. There are
four defined (states 1, 2, 3, and 4) and one undefined (state 5) switch states as shown in
Table 2. The undefined condition should be avoided so as to be always capable of
defining the ac output voltage. It can be observed that the ac output voltage can take
values up to the dc link value Vi, which is twice that obtained with half-bridge VSI
topologies. Several modulating techniques have been developed that are applicable to
fullbridge VSIs. Among them are the PWM (bipolar and unipolar) techniques.

Fig. 3: Single-phase full-bridge VSI.

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2.2. Three Phase Voltage Source Inverters

Single-phase VSIs cover low-range power applications and three-phase VSIs cover the
medium- to high-power applications. The main purpose of these topologies is to provide
a three-phase voltage source, where the amplitude, phase, and frequency of the voltages
should always be controllable. Although most of the applications require sinusoidal
voltage waveforms (e.g., ASDs, UPSs, FACTS, VAR compensators), arbitrary voltages
are also required in some emerging applications (e.g., active filters, voltage
compensators).
The standard three-phase VSI topology is shown in Fig. 4 and the eight valid switch
states are given in Table 3. As in single-phase VSIs, the switches of any leg of the
inverter (S1 and S4, S3 and S6, or S5 and S2) cannot be switched on simultaneously
because this would result in a short circuit across the dc link voltage supply. Similarly, in
order to avoid undefined states in the VSI, and thus undefined ac output line voltages, the
switches of any leg of the inverter cannot be switched off simultaneously as this will
result in voltages that will depend upon the respective line current polarity. Of the eight
valid states, two of them (7 and 8 in Table 3) produce zero ac line voltages. In this case,
the ac line currents freewheel through either the upper or lower components. The
remaining states (1 to 6 in Table 3) produce non-zero ac output voltages. In order to
generate a given voltage waveform, the inverter moves from one state to another. Thus
the resulting ac output line voltages consist of discrete values of voltages that are Vi , 0,
and -Vi for the topology shown in Fig. 4. The selection of the states in order to generate
the given waveform is done by the modulating technique that should ensure the use of
only the valid states.

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Fig. 4: Three-phase VSI topology.

1.6 Working
An inverter takes the DC input and runs it into a pair (or more) of power switching
transistors. By rapidly turning these transistors on and off, and feeding opposite sides of
a transformer, it makes the transformer think it is getting AC. The transformer changes
this "alternating DC" into AC at the output. Depending on the quality and complexity of
the inverter, it may put out a square wave, a "quasi-sine" (sometimes called modified
sine) wave, or a true sine wave. Quasi-sine (modified sine, modified square) wave
inverters have more circuitry beyond the simple switching, and put out a wave that looks
like a stepped square wave - it is suitable for most standard appliances, but may not work
well with some electronics appliances that electronic heat or speed control, or uses the
AC for clocks or a timer.
Also, some of the chargers used for battery operated tools may not shut off when the
battery is charged, and should not be used with anything but sine wave inverters unless
you are sure they will work. Sine wave inverters put out a wave that is the same as you
get from the power company - in fact, it is often better and cleaner. Sine wave inverters

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can run anything, but are also more expensive than other types. The quality of the
"modified sine" (actually modified square wave), Quasi-sine wave, etc. can also vary
quite a bit between inverters, and may also vary somewhat with the load. The very
bottom end put out a wave that is nothing but a square wave, and is too "dirty" for all but
universal motor driven tools, coffee makers, toasters, and other appliances that have only
a heating element.

1.7 Output waveforms

The switch in the simple inverter described above, when not coupled to an output
transformer, produces a square voltage waveform due to its simple off and on nature as
opposed to the sinusoidal waveform that is the usual waveform of an AC power supply.
Using Fourier analysis, periodic waveforms are represented as the sum of an infinite
series of sine waves. The sine wave that has the same frequency as the original waveform
is called the fundamental component. The other sine waves, called harmonics, that are
included in the series have frequencies that are integral multiples of the fundamental

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frequency.

Fig: 1.2 Square waveform with fundamental sine wave component, 3rd harmonic
and 5th harmonics
The quality of the inverter output waveform can be expressed by using the Fourier
analysis data to calculate the total harmonic distortion (THD). The total harmonic
distortion is the square root of the sum of the squares of the harmonic voltages divided
by the fundamental voltage:

The quality of output waveform that is needed from an inverter depends on the
characteristics of the connected load. Some loads need a nearly perfect sine wave voltage

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supply in order to work properly. Other loads may work quite well with a square wave
voltage.

APPLICATIONS
DC POWER SOURCE UTILIZATION
Inverter designed to provide 115 VAC from the 12 VDC source provided in an
automobile. The unit provides up to 1.2 Amps of alternating current, or just enough to
power two sixty watt light bulbs.
An inverter converts the DC electricity from sources such as batteries, solar
panels, or fuel cells to AC electricity. The electricity can be at any required voltage; in
particular it can operate AC equipment designed for mains operation, or rectified to
produce DC at any desired voltage. Grid tie inverters can feed energy back into the
distribution network because they produce alternating current with the same wave shape
and frequency as supplied by the distribution system. They can also switch off
automatically in the event of a blackout. Micro-inverters convert direct current from
individual solar panels into alternating current for the electric grid.

UNINTERRUPTIBLE POWER SUPPLIES

An uninterruptible power supply is a device which supplies the stored electrical
power to the load in case of raw power cut-off or blackout. One type of UPS uses
batteries to store power and an inverter to supply AC power from the batteries when
main power is not available. When main power is restored, a rectifier is used to supply
DC power to recharge the batteries. It is widely used at domestic and commercial level in
countries facing Power outages.

INDUCTION HEATING

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Inverters convert low frequency main AC power to a higher frequency for use in
induction heating. To do this, AC power is first rectified to provide DC power. The
inverter then changes the DC power to high frequency AC power.

HVDC POWER TRANSMISSION

With HVDC power transmission, AC power is rectified and high voltage DC
power is transmitted to another location. At the receiving location, an inverter in a static
inverter plant converts the power back to AC.

VARIABLE-FREQUENCY DRIVES
A variable-frequency drive controls the operating speed of an AC motor by
controlling the frequency and voltage of the power supplied to the motor. An inverter
provides the controlled power. In most cases, the variable-frequency drive includes a
rectifier so that DC power for the inverter can be provided from main AC power. Since
an inverter is the key component, variable frequency drives are sometimes called inverter
drives or just inverters.

ELECTRIC VEHICLE DRIVES

Adjustable speed motor control inverters are currently used to power the traction
motor in some electric locomotives and diesel-electric locomotives as well as some
battery electric vehicles and hybrid electric highway vehicles such as the Toyota Prius.
Various improvements in inverter technology are being developed specifically for
electric vehicle applications.[2] In vehicles with regenerative braking, the inverter also
takes power from the motor (now acting as a generator) and stores it in the batteries.

THE GENERAL CASE

A transformer allows AC power to be converted to any desired voltage, but at the
same frequency. Inverters, plus rectifiers for DC, can be designed to convert from any
voltage, AC or DC, to any other voltage, also AC or DC, at any desired frequency. The
output power can never exceed the input power, but efficiencies can be high, with a small
proportion of the power dissipated as waste heat.

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CHAPTER-4
PWM
5.1 INTRODUCTION

Introduction
Three phase voltage-fed PWM inverters are recently showing growing popularity for multimegawatt industrial drive applications. The main reasons for this popularity are easy sharing
of large voltage between the series devices and the improvement of the harmonic quality at
the output as compared to a two level inverter. In the lower end of power, GTO devices are
being replaced by IGBTs because of their rapid evolution in voltage and current ratings and
higher switching frequency. The Space Vector Pulse Width Modulation of a three level
inverter provides the additional advantage of superior harmonic quality and larger undermodulation range that extends the modulation factor to 90.7% from the traditional value of
78.5% in Sinusoidal Pulse Width Modulation.

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Pulse-width modulation (PWM) is a very efficient way of providing intermediate amounts

of electrical power between fully on and fully off. A simple power switch with a typical
power source provides full power only when switched on. PWM is a comparatively recent
technique, made practical by modern electronic power switches. PWM can be used to reduce
the total amount of power delivered to a load without losses normally incurred when a power
source is limited by resistive means. This is because the average power delivered is
proportional to the modulation duty cycle. With a sufficiently high modulation rate, passive
electronic filters can be used to smooth the pulse train and recover an average analog
waveform.
5.2 OBJECTIVE OF PWM
Control of inverter output voltage
Reduction of harmonics
Disadvantages of PWM
Increase of switching losses due to high PWM frequency
Reduction of available voltage
EMI problems due to high-order harmonics
5.3 PWM techniques
a) Single Pulse width Modulation
b) Multiple Pulse width Modulation
c) Sinusoidal Pulse width Modulation

2.7 Single Pulse Width Modulation

In this control, theres only one pulse per half cycle and the width of the pulse is varied
to
control the inverter output. The gating signals are generated by comparing a rectangular
reference signal of the amplitude Ar with triangular carrier wave of amplitude Ac, the
frequency of the carrier wave determines the fundamental frequency of output voltage.
By
varying Ar from 0 to Ac ,the pulse width can be varied from 0 to 100 percent. The ratio
of Ar
to Ac is the control variable and defined as the modulation index.

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2.8Multiple Pulse Width Modulation

The harmonic content can be reduced by using several pulses in each half cycle of output
voltage. The generation of gating signals for turning ON and OFF transistors by
comparing a
reference signal with a triangular carrier wave. The frequency Fc, determines the number
of
pulses per half cycle. The modulation index controls the output voltage. This type of
modulation is also known as uniform pulse width modulation (UPWM).

2.9 Sinusoidal Pulse Width Modulation

Modulation the width of each pulse is varied in proportion to the amplitude of a sine
wave
evaluated at the centre of the same pulse. The distortion factor and lower order
harmonics are
reduced significantly. The gating signals are generated by comparing a sinusoidal
reference
signal with a Instead of, maintaining the width of all pulses of same as in case of
multiple
pulse width triangular carrier wave of frequency Fc. The frequency of reference signal Fr
,determines the inverter output frequency and its peak amplitude Ar, controls the
modulation
index M, and rms output voltage Vo. The number of pulses per half cycle depends on
carrier
frequency.
The pulses are generated by comparing a triangular carrier waveform to a
reference modulating signal. The amplitude (modulation), phase, and
frequency of the reference signals are set to control the output voltage
(on the AC terminals) of the bridge connected to the PWM Generator
block.

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FIG PRINCIPLE OF PWM GENERATION

FIG WAVEFORM OF SINE PWM

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