Design a Single Phase Inverter with a LCL

filter

Van-Qui Nguyen1,*, Van-Quan Pham1, Van-Quan Ngo1, Quoc-Trung Dao1,Minh-Quang Pham1

Ton Duc Do2 and Duy-Dinh Nguyen1
1
Hanoi University of Science and Technology, Viet Nam
2
Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan
*
Corresponding author E-mail: qui.nv181716@sis.hust.edu.vn

generate, it use totempol topology with each branch switches

Abstract— This paper provides detailed information on
designing a single phase inverter that uses two inductors (LL)
and a capacitor (C),known as a LCL filter. This paper also
introduces a unique modulation called modified unipolar pulse-
width modulation (modified unipolar PWM) and the model are
simulated in PSIM. The design is verified on PSIM simulation
software with the calculations shown below, total harmonics
distortion(THD) of the current is below 1% and the
voltage is below 5%.
Keywords: Single Phase Inverter;LCL Filter; Modified Unipolar
PWM.
Ⅰ. INTRODUCTION
The semiconductor devices are used in the electrical field with
an increase in time. Power semiconductor is the heart of the
modern power electronics and mainly use to converts the
power from one to another form [1].
Inverters are circuits that convert Direct Current (DC) to
Alternating Current (AC). Since the main objective of the
inverter is to use a DC voltage source to supply a load
requiring AC, it is useful to describe the quality of AC output
[2]. The input of the inverter is taken from various DC source
like a battery, photovoltaic, fuel cell, alternator, etc. There are
two types of circuit used in single-phase inverter circuit which
are half-bridge and full-bridge configurations. Inverters have
been widely used for applications, from small switched power
supplies for a computer to large electric utility applications to
transport bulk power [3].In this paper, the full-bridge topology
is presented with designing an LCL filter, since it provides
double the output voltage compared to the half-bridge
topology [4].
The SPWM (Sinusoidal Pulse Width Modulation) is
developed from PWM technique. The SPWM pulses are
generated by comparison of a sin waves- a carrier wave, which
is triangular in this case and a modulating reference wave
whose frequency is the desired frequency, which is sinusoidal
in this case. This pulse width modulation inverter is
characterized by simple circuitry and rugged control scheme
that is SPWM technique to obtain inverter output voltage
control and to reduce its harmonic content [7]. The SPWM
technique of unipolar and bipolar inverters is
presented.Modified unipolar PWM is base on SPWM to
at different frequency.
Ⅱ. SINGLE PHASE INVERTER
Depending on the number of phases of the AC output, there
are several types of inverters [4].
● Single-phase inverters
● Three-phase inverters
A single phase full bridge inverter circuit is shown in
Figure 1. It consists of four power switches which can be
transistors, MOSFET, IGBT, etc.In Fig.1,the full-bridge
topology is built from mosfets: S1,S2,S3 and S4 with diffirent
switching schemes to generate desired sinusoidal output with
desired frequency and magnitude.Among the practical
switching schemes,PWM is classical and most widely used
[5]. It will be discussed in details in the following sections
Figure 1. Single-phase full bridge inverter
III. MODIFIED UNIPOLAR PWM SCHEME
Popular modulation schemes for the PWM generation include
bipolar modulation and unipolar modulation [6].
Bipolar modulation
In a half cycle,there are two switches on or off at the same
time.In Fig.1,S1 and S4 are a couple,S2 and S3 are too.If
switches S1 and S4 on,S2 and S3 off, the opposite is the
same.In case,the circiut can operate with only two control
signal.Output voltage is just two values Vdc and -Vdc, since
the waveform of output switches between positive and
negative DC voltages this scheme is called bipolar PWM [7].
Table 1. Switching States and Output Voltage of bipolar
modulation.
 State Switches Closed Vout
1 S1 & S2 +Vdc
2 S3 & S4 -Vdc
Unipolar modulation
There are two signals are for the upper two switches S1 and
S3, the switches on each branch must be 180º out of phase
[6].The inverter output voltage switches between either
between zero and +Vdc during positive half cycle or between
zero and -Vdc during negative half cycle of the fundamental
frequency thus this scheme is called unipolar modulation. The
unipolar switched inverter offers reduced switching losses and
generates less EMI [7]. On efficiency grounds, it appears that
the unipolar switched inverter has an advantage.
Table 2. Switching States and Output Voltage of unipolar
modulation.
State Switches Closed Vout
1 S1 & S2 +Vdc
2 S1 & S3 0
3 S4 & S3 -Vdc
4 S4 & S2 0
Modified unipolar modulation
This reference design uses a modified unipolar modulation in
which switches S1 and S2 are switched at a high frequency
and switches S3 and S4 are switched at a low frequency
(frequency of the grid). The advantage of this control scheme
is that it can eliminate high frequency EMI noise when S3 and
S4 are switched at fundamental frequency.The modified
unipolar PWM pulses of switches S1,S2 are generated by
comparison of a carrier wave - a modified sin waves. In case,
the output voltage is also zero and +Vdc in positive half cycle
or switches between either between zero and -Vdc during
negative half cycle of the grid frequency.
Figure 3. Modified unipolar PWM scheme and output
IV.DESIGN LCL FILTER
Since the application of the inverter that the article is aiming
for is both grid-tied and grid-forming, the requirements for the
output filter are as follows:
 Be able to refine both current and voltage of the
output
 Not short the voltage source in the grid
From above commands, there are some comments:
 L filter: simple, but does not refine voltage.
 LC filter: can refine both current and voltage, but
connecting capacitor directly to the grid may cause
short circuit of mains voltage source.
 LCL filter: can refine both current and voltage, with
Lg we can isolate the capacitor from the grid, beside
that, using 2 inductors will reduce the inductor size.
In this paper, the LCL filter is used for the single phase
inverter.
Figure 2. Diagram of LCL filter
The figure above is a general diagram of the LCL filter,
including some elements: Inductor on the inverter side – L inv,
Filter capacitor – Cf, Inductor on the grid side Lg.
The filter design will be from Linv, Cf and Lgrid respectively.
a) Inductor on the inverter side – Linv:
The inductor on the inverter side will be designed to reduce
the ripple of the current i 1, thereby reducing the loss on the
inductor, and at the same time reducing the current stress on
switches of the inverter. With m is the maximum duty cycle;
d is the instantaneous the duty cycle.
Apply ohm's law for diagram in Fig.2:
d i1 (1)
Linv =V inv−V C
dt
In a switching frequency:
V C =V g ×sin ωt=m×V dc × sin ωt=const (2)
dt=t x =d ×T s , d i 1=∆i 1
By analyzing in positive and negative half-cycles,we find that
Δi1 when the current is increasing will be max, so here we
only consider Δi1(+).
∆ i 1 ¿¿
(3)
→ ∆ i 1¿ ¿
(4)
Make sin ωt=x , examining the function we have:
 ∆ i 1 ¿¿ C
(5)
¿
In software simulation of PWM control scheme shown in Fig.
4, the circuit schematic can be divided into two major parts:
PWM control unit; full-bridge inverter unit with LCL filter
From there, we will choose the maximum current ripple Δi max and loads. The PWM control unit generates the specific PWM
and calculate the minimum value of Linv. logic signal to control the on/off status of each mosfet device.
At the same time, the inverter side inductance must satisfy The full-bridge unit represents the basic inverter full-bridge
that the voltage drop on it no more than 10% of the grid hardware topology consists of four mosfet power modules
voltage. works as power switches. The LCL low-pass filter and load
We have the condition to choose the right inverter inductance are connected to the inverter output end. The switches S3,S4
as follows: are operated on/off at frequency 100kH while S1,S2 switches
at 50Hz (frequency of the grid)
E × Ts
Linv , min= (6)
4 × ∆i max
( 5−10 ) % ×V g
Linv , max= (7)
ωo × I 1

b) Capacitor Cf and Inductor Lg:

Follow [8], we can choose these elements by according to the
following expressions:
5 % × Po (8)
C max = 2
ωo × V g

1 |V inv ( j ωh )|
Lg , min =
Linv ×C f × ω2h −1
× L
( inv +
ωh × λ h × I 2 ) (9)

5 % ×V ❑g (10)
L g ,max = Figure 4. Simulation model of single phase
ωo × I 2
Table 4. The comparison between the calculation and
Inside ω h is the frequency at which harmonics are most the simmulation.
concentrated: Parameters Calculation Simulation Unit
 Bipolar: ω h=ω s=2 π f s ∆i max
1
5.94 6.0793 A
 Unipolar: ω h=2 ω s=4 π f s I1 30.0375 30.095 A
 Modified Unipolar: ω h=ω s=2 π f s I2 30 30.033 A

V.SIMULATION After passing through the LCL filter, the output current signal
The software simulation is conducted using PSIM, a computer is transformed to become smoother, suitable for applications
aided design (CAD) software used to do analogue and mixed- requiring high current quality.In Fig.5,THD of the current i 1 is
signal simulations. Parameters used in this work are shown in is 7% after passing the filter LCL, it becomes the current i2
Table 3.
with THD=0.04% and THD of V g is 1.58%. In Table 4, the
Table 3. Parameters of inputs and filter:
calculated and simulated values have been compared, shows
Parameters Symbol Value
the largest error in the current pulse with a value of 2.34%.
Power P0 6600 W
This indicates that the design of the filter circuit with the
Grid Voltage Vg 220 VAC requirements set out is correct within the acceptable range.
DC bus Voltage V DC 400 VDC
Power factor cos 1
Current ripple ΔI 1 (20% I 1) 6A
Inductance Inverter side Linv 0.8 mH
Inductance Grid side Lg 0.09 mH
Filter Capacitor 20 µF
 [7] Anuja Namboodiri,” Unipolar and Bipolar PWM
Inverter”, IJIRST –International Journal for Innovative
Research in Science & Technology| Volume 1 | Issue 7 |
December 2014
[8] Xinbo Ruan, Donghua Pan, Weiwei Li, “Control
Techniques for LCL – Type Grid – Connected Inverters”,
CPSS Power Electronics Series

Figure 5. Modified unipolar PWM inductor current, load output current and
load output voltage waveforms

Ⅵ. CONCLUSION
In this paper, the operation of an inverter, which is a DC to
AC voltage converter. Bipolar, unipolar and modified unipolar
modulation methods are given for review and comparison.
Types of L filters, LC and LCL are analyzed. Performing
simulation to verify the inverter design with LCL filter gives
an error result of only 2.34%. THD of the current is below 1%
and the voltage is below 5%.

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