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Performance Analysis of a Single Phase H-Bridge Sinusoidal PWM Solar

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 IJET: ISSN 1812-7711, Volume 9 Issue 3 2012

International J. Eng. Tech 9(3), September 2012

A publication of “G-Science Implementation & Publication” website: www.gscience.net or www.gurpukur.com

PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF A SINGLE-PHASE H-BRRIDGE SINUSOIDAL PWM

SOLAR INVERTER
NUR MOHAMMAD1, PRODIP BISWAS2, ABDULLAH3 and TAREQUL KARIM4*
ABSTRACT
The study presents the detail design procedures, control strategies and performance analysis of a single phase
PWM solar inverter for a low power application. The voltage which was obtained from the solar panel was
pure DC. Inverter circuits were used to convert DC to AC voltage of system frequency. The proposed H-bridge
inverter has an ability to be used either for stand-alone or for grid connected system from a direct supply of
solar photovoltaic (PV) array. Sinusoidal pulse width modulation (SPWM) technique has been used in this
work because it has an inherent competence to control the amplitude of the output voltage and frequency as
well. The PWM switching pulses have been successfully generated by incorporating predefined instruction set
according to proposed algorithm in the PIC series microcontroller due to its fast processing speed. The
simulation results of the inverter for R-L load were also compared with the developed small scale experimental
laboratory prototype. The switching characteristic and the output voltage and current waveforms obtained and
analyzed for total harmonic distortion (THD) by using first Fourier transform (FFT). The total harmonic
distortion of the load current was found pretty below to 2.56% of the fundamental. The efficiency was found
above 78.46% for the given load profile which validate the competent and robustness of the inverter.
Keywords: Photovoltaic (PV) renewable energy system, Solar cell, Sinusoidal Pulse width modulation
(SPWM), Total harmonic distortion (THD) and First Fourier transform (FFT).

INTRODUCTION
Energy plays a key role to the advancement and prosperity of life. Energy consumption around the
world is increasing steadily as with the development of civilization. The need for renewable energy
sources has been augmented day by day. Power electronics plays a crucial role for integrating present
day renewable energy sources to the utility grid. Renewable energy sources, such as solar photovoltaic
and wind, get converted into a direct current (DC) via photovoltaic array and wind turbines. However,
the energy we receive at our homes comes from the utility companies as an alternating current (AC). So
in order to use the renewable energies stated above, one needs an arrangement called an inverter which
converts DC into AC of system frequency. Pulse width modulation (PWM) is a method whereby the
switched voltage pulses are produced, where the amplitude, phase and frequency of the voltages always
are controllable (Ned Mohan et el., 2001). The inverter uses insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT)
switches which can handle a large amount of current and voltage. The PWM inverter has been the main
choice in power electronic for decades, because of its circuit simplicity and rugged control scheme. In
applying sinusoidal PWM, the lower order harmonics of the modulated voltage wave are highly reduced
in contrast to the use of conventional uniform pulse width modulation (Grandi et al., 2003). Usually the
PIC series microcontroller is used to digitally control the whole operation which is more reliable and
flexible to change than analog components. The output frequency will be pretty close to 50 Hz, but any
change in the input DC voltage will result in an increase in the rms output voltage (Jerry Ventre and
Roger Messenger, 2002). A solution to the aforementioned problem could be solved by sensing the
output voltage using the microcontroller to compute the rms voltage and adjust the pulse width
accordingly. PWM inverters have the added advantage that the output rms voltage also shares a linear
relationship with the amplitude modulation. When designing the final circuit, it may vary both the input

1
Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology,
Bangladesh, 2Software Engineer, Samsung Bangladesh R&D Center Ltd., Dhaka, 3Assistant Engineer, Wartsila Bangladesh Ltd. ,
Narayangang, 4Undegraduate Student, Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology, Bangladesh.
*Corresponding author’s E-mail: tkarim.ctg@gmail.com
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DC and the amplitude modulation to obtain the correct output voltage. Since solar panels come rated at
different voltages for the same amount of power, the amplitude modulation could be adjusted to
produce the correct rms voltage for different applications. The proposed research work is the design of a
single phase SPWM inverter which will take the DC power from solar panels and produce the AC
power needed for a low-cost household applications. The overall performance of the inverter has been
analyzed for output voltage and current by using first Fourier transform (FFT). In the case of the
proposed work, a goal of a total harmonic distortion (THD) of 5% or less on the output current has been
set. The simulation results of the inverter for R-L load are also compared with the developed small scale
experimental laboratory prototype in the renewable energy laboratory of CUET.
Solar photovoltaic cell model
The basic element of the photovoltaic module is the solar cell which usually an illuminated p-n junction
diode to produce electricity by photovoltaic effect. Being exposed to the sunlight, photons with energy
greater than the band-gap energy is being absorbed by the p-n junction and some electron-hole pairs are
created in the vicinity of junction. Under the influence of the built-in internal electric field E of the p- n
junction, the positively charged holes accelerate in the direction of the electric field and the negatively
charged electrons in the direction opposite to the electric field (Szee, 2003). Now if the both terminal of
the cell is connected by a load the charge particles carriers are swept across the junction and create a
photocurrent which is directly proportional to solar insolation. Usually available open circuit voltage
and short circuit current from a single cell is 0.5V and 2.35A respectively. Due to this low voltage and
current of an individual solar cell, several cells are wired series/parallel to get an appropriate current
and voltage for a certain application thus making a photovoltaic module or solar panel. Modules may
then be strung together into a photovoltaic array. This whole mechanism is best depicted as in fig. (1).

Fig. 1. A typical structure of solar PV cell, module and array.

PV array characteristics
An ideal solar cell may be modeled by a current source connected in parallel with a diode; the current
source represents the generated photocurrent when the sunlight hits on the surface of the solar panel,
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and the diode represents the p-n transition area of the solar cell. According to (Martin Green, 2008) no
solar cell is ideal and a shunt resistance, (Rsh) and a series resistance, (Rs) components are added to the
model according to its behavior as shown in fig. (2) of the equivalent circuit of the solar PV cell.

Fig. 2. Equivalent circuit of a solar cell consisting of discrete electrical components.

From the above electrical equivalent circuit of the solar cell, it is evident that the, (V) is the voltage across
the load resistance, (R) and the current (I) which is flowing through this load can be written as equation:
I  I op  I D  I sh (1)

Where Iop light generated current, ID is the diode current Ish is the current which is shunted through the
resistor Rsh.
By the Shockley diode equation (Floyd, 2006), the current diverted through the diode is given by the
following equation
  q V  IRs   
I D  I 0 exp   1 (2)
  nkT  
Here T is the absolute temperature in Kelvin. q is the charge of a electron, k is the Boltzmann’s
constant, n is the diode ideality factor which depends on the certain PV technology and I is the reverse
saturation current in amperes. Substituting these into the equation (1), produces the characteristic
equation (3), of a typical solar cell, this relates solar cell parameters to the output current and voltage.
  q (V  IRs )   V  IRs
I  I op  I 0 exp    1  (3)
  nkT   Rsh

Sometimes, to simplify the model (Singh and Khanchandani, 2005), the effect of the shunt resistance is
not considered, that is Rsh is infinite, so the expression of (3), simplify to as the following equation
  q (V  IRs )  
I  I op  I 0 exp    1 (4)
  nkT  
Two important points of the current-voltage characteristic must be pointed out. First one is the open
circuit voltage, (Voc) and the second one is the short circuit current (Isc) as indicated in fig. (3) at both
points the power generated from cell is zero. Voc can be approximated from equation (4) when the
output terminal of the solar cell is merely open, as a result no current flow through the load. The short
circuit current Isc of equation (4) is the current when intuitively the terminals of the solar cell is solidly
connected by a wire of zero resistance. Practically short circuit current is approximately equal to the
light generated current that is I sc  I L .
nkT  I op 
Voc  ln 
 I  1
 (5)
q  0 
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The maximum power Pmax is generated by the solar cell at a point of the current-voltage characteristic
where the product of voltage and current is maximum. A PV panel is composed of many solar cells,
which are connected in series and/or parallel so the output current and voltage of the PV panel are high
enough for a certain application (Mark Hammonds, 1998). Taking into account the simplification

Fig. 3. Typical solar cell I-V characteristics curve.

mentioned in above equation of (4), the output current-voltage characteristic of a PV panel is expressed
by equation (6), where, Np and Ns are the number of solar cells in parallel and series respectively.
  q (V  IRs )  
I  N p I op  N p I 0 exp 
 
  1 (6)
  nkTN s  

Irradiance effects
The intensity of solar irradiance (insolation) is the most dominant environmental factor which is strongly
affecting the electrical characteristics of solar panel according to the equation (6). The effect of the irradiance
on the voltage-current (V-I) and voltage-power (V-P) characteristics of two solar panel connected in series,
under various irradiances level is shown in fig. (4) and fig. (5) respectively. From these figures it is clear that
under higher irradiance, the PV cell produces higher output currents as well as power because of the light
generated current is proportionally generated by the flux of photons. The maximum power point (MPP)
decreases with decreasing irradiance and this is indicated on each (V-P) curve.

Fig. 4. I-V characteristics of the solar PV array due to change in insolation at 25°C.
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Fig. 5. P-V Characteristics of the solar PV array due to change in insolation at 25°C.

Inverter modeling and control method

A single phase full bridge voltage source inverter is shown in fig. (6). The inverter consists of four
transistor switches. When transistors Q1 and Q3 are turn on simultaneously, the positive input voltage
appears come across the load. On the other hand if transistors Q2 and Q4 are in conduction at the same
time then the voltage appears across the load is same magnitude with opposite polarity (Muhammad,
2009). The inverter half cycle output voltage is:
1
 T2  2

Vo    Vs dt 
2
 Vs
2
(7)
T 0 
 
The instantaneous output voltage in a Fourier series as:

4Vs
vo  
n 1, 3, 5 ,.... n
sin nt (8)

For n=1, Eq. (2) gives rms value the fundamental component of voltage as:
4Vs
V1  (9)
n
The instantaneous load current io for an R-L load becomes:

sin nt   n 
4Vs
io  
n 1, 3, 5 ,.... n R  ( nL ) 2
(10)

Where nL 
 n  tan 1 
 
 R 

Sinusoidal PWM gating strategy

In Sinusoidal Pulse Width Modulation multiple pulses are generated, each having width different time
width. The width of each pulse is varied in proportion to the instantaneous integrated value of the
required fundamental component at the time of its event. In SPWM the output voltage signal can be
obtained by comparing a control signal, Vc against a sinusoidal reference signal, Vr at the frequency fr as
shown in fig. (7). At the first half of the output period, output voltage takes a positive value, whenever
the reference signal is greater than the control signal.

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Fig. 6. Basic circuit configuration of single phase H-bridge PWM inverter.

Fig. 7. The theoretical representation of the sinusoidal pulse width modulation.

At the same way, at the second half of the output period, the output voltage takes a negative value,
whenever the reference signal is less than the control signal. The control frequency fc determines the
number of pulses per half of cycle for the output voltage signal. By varying the width of each pulse, the
inverter2 is able to produce different levels of output voltage for the corresponding pulse event. The
gating 2signals waveforms of the IGBT switches according to the aforementioned sequence and the one
cycle output
1
voltage are shown in fig. (8).
1
G1, G3 G1,G1,G3G3

0
1
0 0.26 0.262 0.264 0.266 0.268 0.27 0.272 0.274
0.26 0.262 0.264 0.266
Time ( Sec0.268
) 0.27 0.272 0.274
2
Time ( Sec )
0
2
0.26 0.262 0.264 (a)
0.266 0.268
Time ( Sec )
0.27 0.272 0.274
2
1
G2,G2,G4G4G2, G4

1
1
0
0.26 0.262 0.264 0.266 0.268 0.27 0.272 0.274
0 Time
0.26 0.262 0.264 0.266( Sec 0.268
) 0.27 0.272 0.274
0
20
0.26 0.262 0.264 (b)( Sec0.268
Time
0.266 ) 0.27 0.272 0.274
20 Time ( Sec )
20
(V1) is the fundamental of output voltage
(V)
Voo(V)

0
0
Vo V(V)

0
-20
-20
0.26 0.262 0.264 0.266 0.268 0.27 0.272 0.274
-20 0.26 0.262 0.264 0.266
Time ( Sec0.268
) 0.27 0.272 0.274
0.26 0.262 0.264 Time ( Sec0.268
0.266 ) 0.27 0.272 0.274
(c)
Time ( Sec )
Fig. 8. Sinusoidal PWM gating strategy, (a) Gate pulse of switches Q1 and Q3, (b) Gate pulse of
switches Q2 and Q4 and (c) Output voltage across R-L load.
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Dynamic performance analysis

For the small scale experimental laboratory prototype as well as for the simulation a poly-crystalline
silicon solar photovoltaic panel has been used as a DC voltage source of the inverter. Electrical
characteristics of the PV module (Poly-Crystalline PV modules datasheet, 2011) are summarized in
table 1. The standard test condition (STC) was assumed throughout the simulation time. In PV system
STC resembles to real world situations and assumes the following: 1000 watts per square meter of
intensity of solar irradiation, an average of 25°C ambient temperature, an average wind velocity of 1
meter per second, with the back side of the solar panel open to that breeze. Fig. (9) shows the complete
Simulink (Matlab Simulink User’s Manual, 2009) model of the proposed single-phase H-bridge
inverter topology with a R-L load.
Table 1. Electrical specifications of PV module.
Parameters Specification
Maximum power (Pm) 100 W
Open circuit voltage (Voc) 21.5 V
Short circuit current (Isc) 6.22 A
Voltage at maximum power (Vm) 17.30 V
Current at maximum power (Im) 5.8 A
Short-circuit current temp coefficient 6.928 mA/ ˚C
Open-circuit voltage temp coefficient -0.068 V/ ˚C
Module size 36 Cells (4×9) each of 156 mm2
The chosen IGBT switches in the inverter must meet several critical values. They must be able to
handle the desired current and voltage output of the inverter. It is a good idea to choose IGBT with
values in excess of the expected values to account for any non-ideal circuit behavior. Each IGBT must
be able to dissipate the power lost during switching and conduction, and as such must be fitted with a
suitably large heat sink. In order to minimize losses, in general, they must have a low on state drain to
source resistance, a short turn-on time, a gate capacitance low enough that the chosen driver method can
fully charge and discharge it in a tiny fraction of the switching cycle, and a short turn off time. The
most IGBT packages contain an internal diode whose anode is connected to the source and whose
cathode is connected to the drain.

Fig. 9. Simulink model of single-phase H-bridge PWM inverter.

In the event of a reverse current, this diode turns on and provides a low-loss path for the current,
avoiding dissipating power in the IGBT’s structure. It is worthwhile in high power applications such as
H-bridge inverters to include a secondary external diode in parallel with the one already inside the
IGBT’s case. These diodes are referred to as being freewheeling diode. Although, it has not been
considered here due to handle low power as well as owing to feed only R-L load.
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Vpv ( V )
20
10
0
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4
Time ( Sec )
Ipv ( A )
5

0
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4
Time ( Sec )
1

0.5
Fig. 10. Input side voltage and current waveforms of the inverter.
0 20
Vo ( V )

0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1

1 0 ( b )
-20
0.5
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4
Time ( Sec )
0 10
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Io ( A )

-10
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4
Time ( Sec )
1
Fig. 11. Output voltage and current waveforms of the inverter.
0.5

When the inverter is used to feed reactive power loads the necessity of these diodes increases. The input
0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
1
( b )
side voltage and current waveforms of the inverter and the voltage across the R-L load and the current
0.5
through this load is shown in the fig. (10) and fig. (11) respectively.
0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Experimental setup
It has already mentioned that for the developed small scale experimental laboratory prototype a poly-
crystalline silicon solar photovoltaic panel has been used as a DC voltage source of the inverter. PIC16F73
microcontroller has been used to drive the gate pulses of the inverter switches using sinusoidal pulse width
modulation. It has been used to generate the required gate signals as well as to perform the functional
block of the whole inverter circuit. Fig. (12) depicts the PIC16F73 pin layout (Anonymous, 2002). It has
28 pins with different functions. The instruction in the microcontroller has been developed in such a way
to make the design simpler, efficient and more reliable. It reduces the need of additional circuit
components that results in high unit cost and hampers the overall system performance. Rather it uses less
space in the printed circuit board (PCB). The implementation circuit of the proposed inverter is given in
fig. (13). A crystal oscillator is placed in between pin 9 and 10 of microcontroller. Pin 1 and 20 is
connected by a resister of rating1kΩ for biasing purpose.

Fig. 12. PIC16F73 microcontroller pin layout. Fig. 13. Proposed inverter circuit arrangement.
In the circuit arrangement a regulator has also been used whose input pin is connected with Vdd and
ground pin is connected with Vss respectively. The output pin is connected with the pin 20 of the
microcontroller. The pin 19 is grounded properly. The detail instruction set to generate PWM gate
signals have been loaded by microcontroller loader. The instruction has been given in such a way that
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 IJET: ISSN 1812-7711, Volume 9 Issue 3 2012

PV panel

Fig. 14. Supporting power electronic test rig in the Fig. 15. Load voltage and current obtained from
renewable energy laboratory. single phase PWM inverter.

Q1 and Q3 IGBT first go to conduction by taking gate pulse from pin 21 and 22 of the microcontroller
and after 10 ms delay the Q2 and Q4 IGBT go to conduction by taking gate pulse from the
microcontroller pin 23 and 24. The R-L load has an R = 10Ω and L=0.05H respectively. The supporting
power electronic test rig for this experiment in the renewable energy laboratory of CUET has been
given in fig. (14). The experimental results obtained are presented in fig. (15).
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
To evaluate the performance of any inverter circuit, the most important aspects is to analyze the total
harmonic distortion (THD) of the final output sinusoid. THD is defined as the percentage of the total
signal that is contained in harmonics of the fundamental frequency. In the case of this project, a goal of
a THD of 5% or less on the current has been set. The harmonic profile by using first Fourier transform
(FFT) of the output voltage and current is shown in fig. (16) and fig. (17) respectively. It has been
found that at 60 Hz fundamental cycle total harmonic distortion (THD) is about 75.82% of the output
voltage. On the other hand this value is pretty below 2.56% of the load current with power of 58.84W.
The current wave form is pretty good than expected but the voltage waveform exceeding the limit. The
simplest solution to this problem is to use low-pass filter at the output. Additionally, a higher than
normal switching frequency of 50 kHz may be chosen to shift the harmonic content even further away
from the cut off frequency of the low pass filter. However, it is not possible to convert power without
losing some of its portion. Power is lost in the form of heat due to conduction as well as switching.
Efficiency is the ratio of power out to power in, expressed as a percentage. For example if the efficiency
is 90 percent, 10 percent of the power is lost in the inverter. The efficiency of the proposed single-phase
H-bridge PWM inverter has been found above 78.46%. The efficiency of an inverter varies with the
load. The inverter requires some power just to run itself, so the efficiency of a large inverter will below
when running very small loads.

Fig. 16. Harmonic spectrum of output voltage. Fig. 17. Harmonic spectrum of output current.
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CONCLUSION
This paper presented the development of the microcontroller based low cost single-phase solar inverter
for standalone PV systems, using sinusoidal PWM inverter topology. Some mathematical expressions
for this topology have been presented in order to provide design guidelines for choosing the circuit
components. The feasibility of the application of the sinusoidal PWM inverter topology has been done
by simulation. Experimental waveforms and measured parameters, obtained from the laboratory
prototype, have been used to validate the proposed model. The model presented a good performance
concerning efficiency and power quality. The latter is evidenced by the compliance with IEEE Standard
929-2000, regarding current harmonic distortion. The obtained frequency is 60 Hz and the efficiency
has been found above 78.46% for the given load profile. THD has been found to be 2.56% of the load
current with power of 58.84W. A balanced current sharing among the switches of the inverter has been
also achieved, which is an inherit characteristic of a sinusoidal PWM inverter. The results presented
here constitute a very important step in the designing of inverter and its applications, because it
provides evidence of the robustness and reliability of the proposed system. The authors believe that
such advantages may be of interest to PV system designers, although a reduced efficiency in very high
power levels has been predicted. This drawback is mainly related to the present technological
limitations regarding practical high-power switches, which could be solved in the near future by means
of economic nearly lossless switches. Future works may include the development of a integrated
microcontroller based maximum power point tracking (MPPT) with the inverter to maximize energy
utilization from the PV source at any irradiance and temperature.
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