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 at different frequency.
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- Ⅱ. SINGLE PHASE INVERTER
width modulation (modified unipolar PWM) and the model are
Depending on the number of phases of the AC output, there
simulated in PSIM. The design is verified on PSIM simulation
software with the calculations shown below, total harmonics
are several types of inverters [4].
distortion(THD) of the current is below 1% and the ● Single-phase inverters
voltage is below 5%. ● Three-phase inverters
A single phase full bridge inverter circuit is shown in
Figure 1. It consists of four power switches which can be
Keywords: Single Phase Inverter;LCL Filter; Modified Unipolar transistors, MOSFET, IGBT, etc.In Fig.1,the full-bridge
PWM. topology is built from mosfets: S1,S2,S3 and S4 with diffirent
Ⅰ. INTRODUCTION switching schemes to generate desired sinusoidal output with
The semiconductor devices are used in the electrical field with desired frequency and magnitude.Among the practical
an increase in time. Power semiconductor is the heart of the switching schemes,PWM is classical and most widely used
modern power electronics and mainly use to converts the [5]. It will be discussed in details in the following sections
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 Figure 1. Single-phase full bridge inverter
is presented with designing an LCL filter, since it provides III. MODIFIED UNIPOLAR PWM SCHEME
double the output voltage compared to the half-bridge Popular modulation schemes for the PWM generation include
topology [4]. bipolar modulation and unipolar modulation [6].
The SPWM (Sinusoidal Pulse Width Modulation) is
developed from PWM technique. The SPWM pulses are Bipolar modulation
generated by comparison of a sin waves- a carrier wave, which
is triangular in this case and a modulating reference wave In a half cycle,there are two switches on or off at the same
whose frequency is the desired frequency, which is sinusoidal time.In Fig.1,S1 and S4 are a couple,S2 and S3 are too.If
in this case. This pulse width modulation inverter is switches S1 and S4 on,S2 and S3 off, the opposite is the
characterized by simple circuitry and rugged control scheme same.In case,the circiut can operate with only two control
that is SPWM technique to obtain inverter output voltage signal.Output voltage is just two values Vdc and -Vdc, since
control and to reduce its harmonic content [7]. The SPWM the waveform of output switches between positive and
technique of unipolar and bipolar inverters is negative DC voltages this scheme is called bipolar PWM [7].
presented.Modified unipolar PWM is base on SPWM to Table 1. Switching States and Output Voltage of bipolar
modulation.
 State Switches Closed Vout Since the application of the inverter that the article is aiming
for is both grid-tied and grid-forming, the requirements for the
1 S1 & S2 +Vdc output filter are as follows:
2 S3 & S4 -Vdc  Be able to refine both current and voltage of the
output
 Not short the voltage source in the grid
Unipolar modulation
There are two signals are for the upper two switches S1 and From above commands, there are some comments:
S3, the switches on each branch must be 180º out of phase  L filter: simple, but does not refine voltage.
[6].The inverter output voltage switches between either  LC filter: can refine both current and voltage, but
between zero and +Vdc during positive half cycle or between connecting capacitor directly to the grid may cause
zero and -Vdc during negative half cycle of the fundamental short circuit of mains voltage source.
frequency thus this scheme is called unipolar modulation. The  LCL filter: can refine both current and voltage, with
unipolar switched inverter offers reduced switching losses and Lg we can isolate the capacitor from the grid, beside
generates less EMI [7]. On efficiency grounds, it appears that that, using 2 inductors will reduce the inductor size.
the unipolar switched inverter has an advantage.
In this paper, the LCL filter is used for the single phase
Table 2. Switching States and Output Voltage of unipolar inverter.
modulation.
State Switches Closed Vout
1 S1 & S2 +Vdc
2 S1 & S3 0
3 S4 & S3 -Vdc
4 S4 & S2 0
Figure 2. Diagram of LCL filter
Modified unipolar modulation The figure above is a general diagram of the LCL filter,
This reference design uses a modified unipolar modulation in including some elements: Inductor on the inverter side – L inv,
which switches S1 and S2 are switched at a high frequency Filter capacitor – Cf, Inductor on the grid side Lg.
and switches S3 and S4 are switched at a low frequency The filter design will be from Linv, Cf and Lgrid respectively.
(frequency of the grid). The advantage of this control scheme a) Inductor on the inverter side – Linv:
is that it can eliminate high frequency EMI noise when S3 and The inductor on the inverter side will be designed to reduce
S4 are switched at fundamental frequency.The modified the ripple of the current i 1, thereby reducing the loss on the
unipolar PWM pulses of switches S1,S2 are generated by inductor, and at the same time reducing the current stress on
comparison of a carrier wave - a modified sin waves. In case, switches of the inverter. With m is the maximum duty cycle;
the output voltage is also zero and +Vdc in positive half cycle d is the instantaneous the duty cycle.
or switches between either between zero and -Vdc during
negative half cycle of the grid frequency. 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)
Figure 3. Modified unipolar PWM scheme and output
→ ∆ i 1¿ ¿
(4)
IV.DESIGN LCL FILTER

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%.

REFERENCES
[1] P. Dushyantsinh, S. Ashish, P. Dharam, and U. Ketul,
“Single Phase Inverter Controlled Using SPWM Technique,”
Gujarat Technological University, Ahmadabad, 2014.
[2] N. S. MAN, “ModelingAnd Analysis Performance
Simulation Performance Of Multilevel Inverter Using Bipolar
And Unipolar Switching Schemes,” 2015.
[3] Azuan, “Modeling and simulation of single phase
inverter with PWM using MATLAB/Simulink,” pp. 1–38,
2007.
[4] ”Design and Implementation of a Single-phase Inverter”,
Dialog Semiconductor Application Note, 18-Feb-2019.
[5] M. F. N. Tajuddin1 , N. H. Ghazali2 , T. C. Siong3 and
N. Ghazali4,” Modelling and Simulation of Modified Unipolar
PWM Scheme on a Single Phase DC-AC Converter Using
PSIM”, Proceedings of 2009 Student Conference on Research
and Development (SCOReD 2009), 16-18 Nov. 2009, UPM
Serdang, Malaysia.
[6] “Grid Connected Inverter Reference Design”,TI Design
Guide: TIDM-HV-1PH-DCAC, November 2015–Revised
March 2020