Chapter 6

DC to AC Conversion
(INVERTER)

• General concept
• Single-phase inverter
• Harmonics
• Modulation
• Three-phase inverter
 DC to AC Converter (Inverter)
• DEFINITION: Converts DC to AC power by
switching the DC input voltage (or current) in a
pre-determined sequence so as to generate AC
voltage (or current) output.

• General block diagram

IDC Iac

+ +

VDC Vac



• TYPICAL APPLICATIONS:
– Un-interruptible power supply (UPS), Industrial
(induction motor) drives, Traction, HVDC
 Simple square-wave inverter (1)

• To illustrate the concept of AC waveform

generation

SQUARE-WAVE
INVERTER

T1 T3
D1 D3

+ VO -
VDC
IO
T4 T2
D2 D4

EQUIVALENT
CIRCUIT

S1 S3

S4 S2
 AC Waveform Generation

S1,S2 ON; S3,S4 OFF for t1 < t < t2

vO

S1 S3 VDC

VDC
t
+ vO  t1 t2
S4 S2

S3,S4 ON ; S1,S2 OFF for t2 < t < t3

vO

S1 S3

VDC t2 t3
+ vO  t

S4 S2
-VDC
 AC Waveforms
INVERTER OUTPUT VOLTAGE
Vdc

 

-Vdc

FUNDAMENTAL COMPONENT
V1
4VDC


3RD HARMONIC
V1
3

5RD HARMONIC
V1
5
 Harmonics Filtering
DC SUPPLY INVERTER (LOW PASS) FILTER LOAD
L
+ +
C
vO 1 vO 2



BEFORE FILTERING AFTER FILTERING

vO 1 vO 2

• Output of the inverter is “chopped AC voltage with

zero DC component”. It contain harmonics.

• An LC section low-pass filter is normally fitted at

the inverter output to reduce the high frequency
harmonics.

• In some applications such as UPS, “high purity” sine

wave output is required. Good filtering is a must.
• In some applications such as AC motor drive,
filtering is not required.
 Variable Voltage Variable
Frequency Capability

Vdc2 Higher input voltage

Higher frequency

Vdc1 Lower input voltage

Lower frequency
T1 T2 t

• Output voltage frequency can be varied by “period”

of the square-wave pulse.

• Output voltage amplitude can be varied by varying

the “magnitude” of the DC input voltage.

• Very useful: e.g. variable speed induction motor

drive
 Output voltage harmonics/
distortion

• Harmonics cause distortion on the output voltage.

• Lower order harmonics (3rd, 5th etc) are very

difficult to filter, due to the filter size and high filter
order. They can cause serious voltage distortion.

• Why need to consider harmonics?

– Sinusoidal waveform quality.
– “Power Quality” issue.
– Harmonics may cause degradation of
equipment. Equipment need to be “de-rated”.

• Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) is a measure to

determine the “quality” of a given waveform.
 Fourier Series

• Study of harmonics requires understanding of wave

shapes. Fourier Series is a tool to analyse wave
shapes.

Fourier Series
1 2
ao   f (v)d (" DC" term)
 0
1 2
an   f (v) cos n  d (" cos" term)
 0
1 2
bn   f (v) sin  n  d ("sin" term)
 0
Inverse Fourier
1 
f (v)  ao    an cos n  bn sin n 
2 n 1
where   t
 Harmonics of square-wave (1)

Vdc

=t
 

-Vdc

1  2 
ao    Vdc d    Vdc d   0
  0  
Vdc  2 
an    cos n  d   cos n  d   0
  0  
Vdc  2 
bn    sin  n  d   sin  n  d 
  0  
Harmonics of square wave (2)

Solving,
V
 
bn  dc  cos n  0  cos n  
n

2

Vdc
  (cos 0  cos n )  (cos 2n  cos n )
n
Vdc
  (1  cos n )  (1  cos n )
n
2V
 dc  (1  cos n )
n

When n is even, cos n  1

bn 0
(i.e. even harmonics do not exist)

When n is odd, cos n  1

4Vdc
bn
n
 Quasi-square wave (QSW)
Vdc
  

 2

-Vdc

Note that an  0. (due to half - wave symmetry)

 1  
bn  2   Vdc sin  n d  
 
 2Vdc
 n
  
 cos n  
2Vdc
  cos n   cos n     
n
Expanding :
cos n      cos n  n 
 cos n cos n  sin n sin n  cos n cos n
2V
 bn  dc  cos n   cos n cos n 
n
2Vdc
 cos n  1  cos n 
n
 Harmonics control
If n is even,  bn  0,
4Vdc
If n is odd,  bn  cos n 
n
In particular, amplitude of the fundamental is :
4Vdc
b1  cos  


Note :
The fundamental , b1 , is controlled by varying α
Harmonics can also be controlled by adjusting  ,

Harmonics Elimination :
For example if   30o , then b3  0, or the third
harmonic is eliminated from the waveform. In
general, harmonic n will be eliminated if :
90o

n
 Half-bridge inverter (1)

S1 ON
Vdc S2 OFF
+
S1 2
VC1
-
 V +
Vdc o
G 0
t
RL
+
VC2 S2
- Vdc

2 S1 OFF
S2 ON

• Also known as the “inverter leg”.

• Basic building block for full bridge, three phase and

higher order inverters.

• G is the “centre point”.

• Both capacitors have the same value. Thus the DC

link is equally “spilt” into two.

• The top and bottom switch has to be

“complementary”, i.e. If the top switch is closed (on),
the bottom must be off, and vice-versa.
 Practice problem

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

and the dc input voltage is Vs = 48V. Determine (a) the rms output
voltage at the fundamental frequency Vo1, (b) the output power Po, (c)
the average and peak currents of each transistor, (d) the peak reverse
blocking voltage VBR of each transistor, (e) the average supply current
Is, (f) the THD, (g) the DF, and (h) the HF and LOH.

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