CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Thesis

One of the greatest inventions man has ever made in this planet earth is electricity.

The attribute of electricity as the greatest invention of all times is due to its intrinsic

importance in the socio-economic development and in technological advancement (Owen

ad Edward, 1996 cited in Omotosho et al., 2017). The importance of electricity in an

economy cannot be over emphasized, hence Obinelo (2019) posited that electricity is the

wheel that drives most aspect of everyday life in a society and thus is the lifeblood of

many activities in the country.

One of the reasons why the economy of this great country, Nigeria, is not viable

and does not actively support the survival of small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs)

is due to lack of constant electricity supply. Many small and medium scale enterprises

(SMEs) have to provide their own source of electricity, especially using fossil fuel

powered electricity generator, for production and running of the business, hence,

increasing the production cost and stiffing the profitability of the company (Idowu, 2020).

Hence, the provision of constant electricity will go a long way in ameliorating the

challenges facing SMEs in Nigeria. An effective alternative means of providing constant

electricity in Nigeria due to electricity power problem in Nigeria is the use of inverter

system.

An inverter is defined as an electrical device which provides power conditioning

and backup power when utility power fails, either long enough for critical equipment to

shut down gracefully so that no data is lost, or long enough to keep required loads

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operational until a secondary AC source, like a generator, comes online. Because inverter

offers uninterruptible power functionality, it is also called an uninterruptible power supply

(UPS). In inverter system, the energy is generally stored in flywheels, batteries, or super

capacitors. When compared to other immediate power supply system, inverters have the

advantage of immediate protection against the input power interruptions (Musa and

Galadanci, 2019). Inverter system can be used as a protective device for some hardware

which can cause serious damage or loss with a sudden power disruption.

Basically, an interval takes in input power from direct current (DC) sources such as

battery, usually at low level and inverts the DC input into an alternating current (AC)

output which can be used to power electrical and electronic equipment. Inverter systems

vary in sizes, depending on the type of electrical equipment that they can power. An

inverter can be used to power a single computer system, entire data centers, buildings or

cities. When sensing normal power fluctuations or interruptions, it may automatically

activate backup systems to ensure that data is not lost and the equipment is protected.

One of the challenges from the use of fossil fuel for electricity generator is that it

leads to environmental pollution and thus increases the rate of climate change and the

overall depletion of the ozone layer. Climate change and depletion of the ozone layer are

threat to human existence on this planet as these lead to continuous increase environmental

temperature of which if allowed will reach level that humans may not be able to survive

(Omer, 2009). However, with renewable energy sources such as the inverter system, the

environment will be sustainable and lives on earth will be protected from being destroyed

by climate change and ozone layer depletion. Justin (2020) indicated that other advantages

of inverter systems over conventional portable generators is that they are quieter, are more

compact and lightweight, more fuel efficient, are safe for sensitive electrical devices and

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are generally more environmentally friendly. With the advance in technology and the

commercialization of solar panel, inverter can be used to harness energy from the sun and

convert it into useful electricity for home and industrial use.

Due to the importance of electricity for sustainable economic development of any

nation, the problem of electricity power generation and distribution Nigeria and the

advantages offered by inverter system, the researcher is motivated to design and construct

an inverter system rated 1.5kVA. This inverter system can be used to power electrical and

electronic appliances with power demand less than the rated power output of the inverter

system.

The proposed inverter system generates AC power from 12V DC power sources

such battery and solar photovoltaic system. The AC waveform to be produced in the

proposed design is pure sinewave. The system has control functions which monitors the

load connected across the battery, such that the system will shutdown on overload and

short-circuit, protecting the inverter from damage. The control unit also monitors the

battery voltage such that once the battery is drained to a low threshold, the unit will shut

down. The inverter will be incorporated a display unit which shows the status of the

inverter such as battery voltage, runtime, power consumption, battery voltage and fault

diagnosis.

In addition to the above features, the inverter will be incorporated with a wireless

control mechanism using Bluetooth wireless technology, hence, the inverter can be control

using a Bluetooth enable android phone. It is common knowledge that current inverters

have battery polarity, and connecting the battery to the wrong polarity, damages the

inverter system, however, the proposed inverter will overcome this limitation, such that

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the input battery will be non-polarized, hence, making the inverter less susceptible to

damage caused by wrong polarity connection of the battery to the inverter.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

If there is one factor that has perpetually maintained the status of Nigeria as a less

developed country, it is its electricity sector as many households and businesses cannot be

guaranteed of 24 hours supply of electricity from the public grid. At this stage of Nigeria’s

social and economic development, the country cannot deliver adequate energy to the

citizens despite huge financial resources that have been expended in the sector.

Due to the epileptic electricity power supply situation in Nigerian, Nigerians have

continued to rely on electricity generators for their power supply with its numerous

disadvantages of noise pollution, high operational costs, and other imaginable

consequences on their health of the populace. Hence, there is need to design and construct

an inverter system which can be used to alternatively provide electricity to the nation and

caution the effect of electricity power problems in Nigeria.

1.3 Aim and Objectives of the Thesis

This proposed thesis is aimed at designing and constructing a pure sine wave

inverter system rated at 1.5kVA using 12V DC battery source. In order to achieve the

stated aim, the following objectives of the thesis are to:

i. Design and implement sinewave inverter using full bridge switching topology

driven by microcontroller.

ii. Design and incorporate voltage stabilization circuit to ensure steady output of

230V AC at the output of the inverter.

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 iii. Design a control circuit monitoring the operation of the inverter using

ATMEGA328P microcontroller.

iv. Design and incorporate a battery polarity protection circuit in the inverter

system.

v. Design and incorporate a user interface for the display of inverter parameter

using alphanumeric liquid crystal display.

vi. Incorporate a Bluetooth module for the wireless control of the inverter using

smart phone.

1.4 Scope of the Thesis

This thesis covers the design and construction of an inverter system rated at

1.5kVA. The inverter system will be powered from a 12V battery. The output of the

inverter system will be 220V AC at 50Hz frequency pure sinewave. The inverter does not

have internal battery and thus the duration of the electricity supply from the inverter will

be a function of the load connected to the output of the inverter and the battery capacity

that is powering the inverter.

1.5 Limitation of the Thesis

The major limitation of the inverter system is the capacity of the load the system

can supply. Hence, the inverter can only be used to power load within 1.5kVA capacity,

beyond which, the system will shut down on overload.

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 CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction

In order to understand the basics of inverter, its operation and design principles, the

review of literature is undertaken. This will give the researcher basic background on the

research being carried out. In this section, the research reviews inverter system under the

heading of the different types of inverter system; the square wave, modified sinewave and

sinewave inverters

2.2 Types of Inverter System

The electricity that is used to power appliances in homes, industries and offices is

alternating in nature, hence, the reason for calling it alternating current (AC.). The inverter

system can also be described based on the waveform generated from the battery (input

power) using the wave generation unit. The wave generation unit is therefore, responsible

for changing the input voltage (battery) from steady state to alternating state. Basically,

there are three waveforms that are used in the design and construction of inverter system;

viz, square wave, modified sine wave and pure sine wave. Therefore, the differentiation of

inverter system into square wave inverter (suitable for resistive loads), modified sine wave

inverter (suitable for resistive, capacitive, inductive loads can produce noise) and pure sine

wave inverter (suitable for all types of loads because faithfully reproduce a sine wave

equal to that of our domestic power supply).

2.2.1. Square Wave Inverter

A square wave inverter is one of the simplest inverter types, which convert a

straight DC signal to a phase shifting AC signal. But the output is not pure AC, i.e. in the

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form of a pure sine wave, but it is a square wave. At the same time, they are cheaper as

well. The simplest construction of a square wave inverter can be achieved by using an on-

off switch, before a typical voltage amplifying circuitry like that of a transformer.

This type of inverters is the cheapest to make, but the hardest to use. They just flip

the voltage from plus to minus creating a square waveform. They are not very efficient

because the square wave has a lot of power in higher harmonics that cannot be used by

many appliances such as inductive load. This is one of the simplest waveforms an inverter

design can produce and is best suited to low-sensitivity applications such as lighting and

heating. Square wave output can produce "humming" when connected to audio equipment

and is generally unsuitable for sensitive electronics.

Figure 2.1: Square Wave Inverter Waveform

Even though the square wave is highly economical due its affordability in terms of

cost of production, it has some clampdown such as:

i. High audio noise which turns to be very visible when it is being used to operate

an audio system.

ii. Incompatibility with certain communication gadgets such as fax machine,

modems, routers and other equipment which run on motors such as fun,

printers, photocopiers

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 iii. Low surge power

It is to this fact that new system like the modified sine wave which is built on the

foundations of modified square wave is being introduced.

2.2.2. Modified Sine Wave Inverter

A modified sine wave inverter has a non-square waveform that is a useful

approximation of a sine wave for power translation purposes. Most inexpensive consumer

power inverters produce a modified sine wave rather than a pure sine wave.

The waveform in commercially available modified-sine-wave inverters is a square

wave with a pause before the polarity reversal, which only needs to cycle back and forth

through a three-position switch that outputs forward, off, and reverse output at the pre-

determined frequency. The peak voltage to RMS voltage ratio does not maintain the same

relationship as for a sine wave. The DC bus voltage may be actively regulated, or the "on"

and "off" times can be modified to maintain the same RMS value output up to the DC bus

voltage to compensate for DC bus voltage variations.

The ratio of ON to OFF time can be adjusted to vary the RMS voltage while

maintaining a constant frequency with a technique called pulse width modulation (PWM).

The generated gate pulses are given to each switch in accordance with the developed

pattern to obtain the desired output. Harmonic spectrum in the output depends on the

width of the pulses and the modulation frequency. When operating induction motors,

voltage harmonics are usually not of concern; however, harmonic distortion in the current

waveform introduces additional heating and can produce pulsating torques.

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 Numerous items of electric equipment will operate quite well on modified sine

wave power inverter devices, especially loads that are resistive in nature such as

traditional incandescent light bulbs.

Figure 2.2: Modified Sine Wave Inverter Waveform

Modified Sine Wave (Modified Square Wave or Step Wave) inverters approximate

a pure sine waveform and are designed to satisfy the efficiency requirements of most

devices while being less expensive than pure sine waveform inverters. The major

disadvantage when using the modified sine wave inverter is the fact that peak voltages

usually varies with the voltage of the battery. Although it is cheap, without the regulation

of the power supply, the modified sine waver inverter can cause electronic devices to

behave erratically because of power surges.

The use and waste of power is another disadvantage. Any equipment which is used

to convert power from direct current to alternating current loses power during the

conversion process. This means that if the inverter is 80 percent efficient, 20 percent of the

power is lost during the conversion process. The power is lost in the form of heat. This

leads to the inverter not being able to convert power at optimal level. The inverter also

requires some power to run it and as the size of the modified sine inverter increases, so

does its inefficiency.

2.2.3. Pure Sine Wave Inverter

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 A power inverter device which produces a multiple step sinusoidal AC waveform

is referred to as a sine wave inverter. To more clearly distinguish the inverters with

outputs of much less distortion than the "modified sine wave" (three step) inverter designs,

the manufacturers often use the phrase pure sine wave inverter. Almost all consumer grade

inverters that are sold as a "pure sine wave inverter" do not produce a smooth sine wave

output at all, just a less choppy output than the square wave (two step) and modified sine

wave (three step) inverters. In this sense, the phrases "Pure sine wave" or "sine wave

inverter" are misleading to the consumer. However, this is not critical for most electronics

as they deal with the output quite well.

Sine wave inverters with more than three steps in the wave output are more

complex and have significantly higher cost than a modified sine wave, with only three

steps, or square wave (one step) types of the same power handling. Switch-mode power

supply (SMPS) devices, such as personal computers or DVD players, function on quality

modified sine wave power. AC motors directly operated on non-sinusoidal power may

produce extra heat, may have different speed-torque characteristics, or may produce more

audible noise than when running on sinusoidal power.

Figure 2.3: Pure Sine Wave Inverter Waveform

Overall, pure sine wave inverters are preferred over modified sine wave inverters

when it comes to powering sensitive devices like microwave ovens, game consoles, laser

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printers, compressors, and more on the go. That’s because the output voltage from pure

sinewave inverter is a perfect replica of power utility-supplied energy (has incredibly low

harmonic distortion).

The major disadvantages of pure sinewave inverters are the high cost of the inverter

system and the complexity of the system compared to modified sinewave or square wave

inverters

2.3 Basic Principle of Working of Inverter System

The process of conversion of the DC current into AC current is based on the

phenomenon of electromagnetic induction. Electromagnetic induction is the generation of

electric potential difference in a conductor when it is exposed to varying magnetic field.

For example, if you place a coil (spool of wire) near a rotating magnet, electric current

will be induced in the coil (Figure 2.4).

Figure 2.4: Schematic illustration of electromagnetic induction

If we consider a system with two coils (Figure 2.5) and pass DC current through

one of them (primary coil), that coil with DC current can act analogously to the magnet

(since electric current produces magnetic field). If the direction of the current is reversed

frequently (e.g., via a switching device), the alternating magnetic field will induce AC

current in the secondary coil.

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 Figure 2.5. Inverter cycles.

During the 1st half cycle (top), DC current from a DC source - solar module or

battery - is switched on through the top part of the primary coil. During the 2nd half cycle

(bottom), the DC current is switched on through the bottom part of the coil. The simple

two-cycle scheme shown in Figure 2.5 produces a square wave AC signal. This is the

simplest case, and if the inverter performs only this step, it is a square-wave inverter. This

type of output is not very efficient and can be even detrimental to some loads. So, the

square wave can be modified further using more sophisticated inverters to produce a

modified square wave or sine wave (Dunlop, 2010).

To produce a modified square wave output, low frequency waveform control can

be used in the inverter. This feature allows adjusting the duration of the alternating square

pulses. Also, transformers are used here to vary the output voltage. Combination of pulses

of different length and voltage results in multi-stepped modified square wave, which

closely matches the sine wave shape. The low frequency inverters typically operate at ~60

Hz frequency. To produce a sine wave output, high-frequency inverters are used. These

inverters use the pulse-width modification method: switching currents at high frequency,

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and for variable periods of time. For example, very narrow (short) pulses simulate a low

voltage situation, and wide (long pulses) simulate high voltage. Also, this method allows

spacing the pulses to be varied: spacing narrow pulses farther apart models low voltage

(Figure 2.6).

Figure 2.6. Pulse-width modulation to approximate the true sine wave by high frequency

inverter.

In the image above, the blue line shows the square wave varied by the length of the

pulse and timing between pulses; the red curve shows how those alternating signals are

modeled by a sine wave. Using very high frequency helps create very gradual changes in

pulse width and thus models a true sine signal. The pulse-width modulation method and

novel digital controllers have resulted in very efficient inverters (Dunlop, 2010).

2.4 Basic Components in Inverter System

In designing of inverters, there are components that are required. These

components make the function of the inverter possible. Some of the basic components

used in the design of inverter system are:

i SG3524 PWM

ii NE555 Timer IC

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iii LM324 Comparator IC

iv Transistor

v MOSFET

vi Transformers

vii Relay Switch

viii Bridge Rectifier

ix Capacitors

x Diode, Light-Emitting Diode (LED)

xi Resistors

xii Fuse

xiii Junction Diodes

xiv Zener Diodes

xv 12V DC Fan

2.4.1 SG3524 PWM

The SG3524 incorporate all the functions required in the construction of a

regulating power supply, inverter, or switching regulator on a single chip.It also can be

used as the control element for high-power-output applications. The SG3524 was designed

for switching regulators of either polarity, transformer-coupled dc-to-dc converters,

transformerless voltage doublers, and polarity-converter applications employing fixed-

frequency, pulse-width modulation (PWM) techniques. The complementary output allows

either single-ended or push-pull application. Each device includes an on-chip regulator,

error amplifier, programmable oscillator, pulse-steering flip-flop, two uncommitted pass

transistors, a high-gain comparator, and current-limiting and shutdown circuitry".

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 'Pulse-width modulation (PWM)' and 'shutdown circuitry' are two of the features of

this IC that make it my best choice of IC for pulse generator in inverter design. PWM

makes the duty cycle achievable while shutdown circuitry makes it easy to shutdown the

system in case any error/fault is detected or sensed from any of the protective circuitries

like low battery shutdown, high temperature, short circuit, overload or as many as you

have in your circuit.

Figure 2.7: Pinout of SG3524 PWM IC

The SG3524 IC is responsible for the production of the frequency used to feed the

inverter circuit. The fervency of the output is determined by timing resistor (R T) and

timing capacitor (CT) which are connected between pins 6 and 7 to ground (0V)

respectively using the formula given below

1.18
Frequency=
2 RT C T

The frequency is in Hertz, the value of the resistor should be in ohms while that of

the capacitor in farad. This frequency should be between 50Hz and 60Hz. The SG3524 IC

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is typically used in modified sinewave inverters for the generation of pulses which are

used to control the operation of the MOSFET circuits.

2.4.2 NE555 Timer IC

The IC 555 timer is a one type of chip used in different applications like an

oscillator, pulse generation, timer. The designing of IC 555 timers can be done by using

various electrical and electronic components like transistors, resistors, diodes and a flip

flop. The operating range of this IC ranges from 4.5V -15V DC supply. The functional

parts of the 555 timer IC include flip-flop, voltage divider and a comparator. The main

function of this IC is to generate an accurate timing pulse. In the monostable mode, the

delay of this IC is controlled by the external components like a resistor and capacitor. In

the astable mode, both the duty cycle & frequency are controlled by two external resistors

and one capacitor.

Figure 2.8: Pinout of NE555 timer

The NE555 timer IC is typically used in the generation of square wave pulses for

square wave inverters. It can also be used for the monitoring of signals especially when

configured in monostable mode. These signals include low battery signal, AC input signal,

over voltage or undervoltage signals etc.

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2.4.3 Transistor

Transistors are semiconductor devices, which is commonly used in amplifiers or

electrically controlled switches. Transistors are the basic building block that regulate the

operation of computers, mobile phones, and all the other modern electronic circuits.

Because of its high response and high accuracy, transistors can be used for a wide

variety of digital and analog functions, including amplifiers, switches, voltage stabilizers,

signal modulation and oscillators. Transistors can be packaged independently or in a very

small area, accommodating part of 100 million or more transistor integrated circuits.

In inverter systems, transistor was used as amplifier of the signal generated from

the SG3524 IC so as to be able to drive the MOSFET and also as switch to turn ON and

OFF the buzzer alerting that the battery is low and the inverter system need to be

shutdown or battery recharged if power supply is available.

Figure 2.9: 2N2222 Transistor

When it works as an amplifier, it takes in a tiny electric current at one end (an

input current) and produces a much bigger electric current (an output current) at the other.

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In other words, it's a kind of current booster. That comes in really useful in things like

hearing aids, one of the first things people used transistors for.

Transistors can also work as switches. A tiny electric current flowing through one

part of a transistor can make a much bigger current flow through another part of it. In

other words, the small current switches on the larger one. This is essentially how all

computer chips work. For example, a memory chip contains hundreds of millions or even

billions of transistors, each of which can be switched on or off individually. Since each

transistor can be in two distinct states, it can store two different numbers, zero and one.

With billions of transistors, a chip can store billions of zeros and ones, and almost as many

ordinary numbers and letters (or characters, as we call them). More about this in a

moment.

2.4.4 MOSFET

MOSFET stands for metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor. It is capable

of voltage gain and signal power gain. The MOSFET is the core of integrated circuit

designed as thousands of these can be fabricated in a single chip because of its very small

size. Every modern electronic system consists of Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI)

technology and without MOSFET, large scale integration is impossible.

MOSFET has four terminals which is already stated above, they are gate, source

drain and substrate or body. MOS capacity present in the device is the main part. The

conduction and valance bands are position relative to the Fermi level at the surface is a

function of MOS capacitor voltage. The metal of the gate terminal and the sc acts the

parallel and the oxide layer acts as insulator of the state MOS capacitor. Between the drain

and source terminal inversion layer is formed and due to the flow of carriers in it, the

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electric current flows in MOSFET the inversion layer is properties are controlled by gate

voltage. Thus, it is a voltage-controlled device.

Two basic types of MOSFET are n channel and p channel MOSFETs. In n channel

MOSFET is electric current is due to the flow of electrons in inversion layer and in p

channel electric current is due to the flow of holes.

Figure 2.10: Pinout of MOSFET

In inverter system, N-channel MOSFETs are typically used. When the signal from

the frequency generator is applied to the gate of the MOSFET, it allows current to flow

from the drain to the source, and since the frequency of the signal is 50Hz, it will be

switching at the same frequency.

2.4.5 Transformers

A transformer is an electrical device which, by the principles of electromagnetic

induction, transfers electrical energy from one electric circuit to another, without changing

the frequency. The energy transfer usually takes place with a change of voltage and

current. Transformers either increases or decreases AC voltage.

For the purpose of inverter system, the transformer to be used is a multi-tap

transformer with primary and secondary winding determined using the formula

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 V p Np
=
V s Ns

Where Vp is the primary input voltage (12V) for the purpose of the UPS, Vs is the

secondary output voltage (230V) and Np is the number of primary winding and Ns is the

number of secondary windings.

Figure 2.11: 2000 watts inverter transformer

Due to the different in the windings of the transformer, the transformer will step up

the 12V modulated pulse of the battery to 230V alternating current (ac) supply.

2.4.6 Relay Switch

Relays are switches that open and close circuits electromechanically or

electronically. Relays control one electrical circuit by opening and closing contacts in

another circuit. As relay diagrams show, when a relay contact is normally open (NO),

there is an open contact when the relay is not energized. When a relay contact is Normally

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Closed (NC), there is a closed contact when the relay is not energized. In either case,

applying electrical current to the contacts will change their state.

Figure 2.12: Pictures of Various Switching Relays

In inverter systems, relays are used to changeover between the mains power supply

and the output inverter while also used to connect or disconnect the battery for charging

purpose.

2.4.7 Bridge Rectifier

A bridge rectifier circuit is a common part of the electronic power supplies. Many

electronic circuits require rectified DC power supply for powering the various electronic

basic components from available AC mains supply. We can find this rectifier in a wide

variety of electronic AC power devices like home appliances, motor controllers,

modulation process, welding applications, etc.

Depending on the load current requirements, a proper bridge rectifier is selected.

Components’ ratings and specifications, breakdown voltage, temperature ranges, transient

21
current rating, forward current rating, mounting requirements and other considerations are

taken into account while selecting a rectifier power supply for an appropriate electronic

circuit’s application.

Figure 2.13: Circuit of the Bridge rectifier

In this UPS, the bridge rectifiers are used to rectifier ac voltage from the UPS to

DC which is used in monitoring controlling the output voltage of the UPS, rectifying the

ac input from the mains supply to power the changeover unit and charging of the batter

Figure 3.10: Bridge diode for switching and monitoring purposes

2.4.8 Capacitors

Capacitors are electrical devices that store energy, and they are in most electrical

circuits. The two major types of capacitors are polarized and non-polarized. The way in

which a number of capacitors are connected determines their value in a circuit. Their

combined value is highest when they are connected in a series, positive to negative. Their

combined value is lowest when they are connected in parallel, end to end. Capacitors

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combined with resistors and inductors in a circuit are used in electrical timing of events as

well as in motors, fans, televisions, automobiles and many other consumer products and

high-energy environments.

Some capacitors have distinct positive and negative poles. They are called

polarized capacitors. The value of a capacitor is measured in capacitance, and capacitance

is measured in units of Farad. Most capacitors usually have small Farad values called

micro-Farad (uF) and pico-Farad. A capacitor is designed in one of two formats: radial or

axial. In the radial design, both leads of the capacitor are at the same end; in the axial

design, the leads are at each end of the capacitor. Polarized capacitors are usually big and

electrolytic and are designed for direct current (DC) circuits.

Figure 2.14: Pictures of Capacitors

Capacitors are used in electronic circuits as low-pass, high-pass and band filters. A

filter is a circuit that allows current and voltage of a specified frequency and waveform to

pass through.

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 Figure 2.15: terminals of polarized capacitor

A capacitor's reactance is inversely proportional to frequency. By controlling or

changing the reactance, you can control the frequency allowed through the circuit.

Capacitors also play a significant role in high-speed switching logic circuits. Such circuits'

voltage level, which should be steady, can change with current fluctuation, thereby

introducing noise or error signals. Decoupling capacitors are built into circuits to stabilize

the current, minimizing noise signals. Capacitors used in this UPS are for filtration and

timing purpose.

2.4.9 Light-Emitting Diode (LED)

A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits light when an

electric current is passed through it. Light is produced when the particles that carry the

current (known as electrons and holes) combine together within the semiconductor

material.

Basically, LEDs are just tiny light bulbs that fit easily into an electrical circuit. But

unlike ordinary incandescent bulbs, they don't have a filament that will burn out, and they

don't get especially hot. They are illuminated solely by the movement of electrons in a

semiconductor material, and they last just as long as a standard transistor. The lifespan of

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an LED surpasses the short life of an incandescent bulb by thousands of hours. Tiny LEDs

are already replacing the tubes that light up LCD HDTVs to make dramatically thinner

televisions.

Figure 2.16: LED of different colours

In this UPS, the red LED is used to indicate that the UPS system is turned ON and

is working, the Yellow LED is used for indicating the battery is charging while the green

LED is for indicating that there is a mains power supply and the UPS is powered by the

means supply.

The longer terminal of the LED is the node (+ terminal) while the shorter one is the

cathode (– terminal) and in other to protect the LED from burning out, a resistor called

limiting resistor is connected in series with the LED. The value of the limiting resistor is

determined using the formula

V
R=
I

Where R is the value of the resistor in Ohms, V is the supply voltage in voltage while I is

the maximum permissible current in Ampere.

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2.4.10 Resistors

A resistor is a passive two-terminal electrical component that implements electrical

resistance as a circuit element. In electronic circuits, resistors are used to reduce current

flow, adjust signal levels, to divide voltages, bias active elements, and terminate

transmission lines, among other uses. High-power resistors that can dissipate many watts

of electrical power as heat, may be used as part of motor controls, in power distribution

systems, or as test loads for generators. Fixed resistors have resistances that only change

slightly with temperature, time or operating voltage. Variable resistors can be used to

adjust circuit elements (such as a volume control or a lamp dimmer), or as sensing devices

for heat, light, humidity, force, or chemical activity.

Resistors are common elements of electrical networks and electronic circuits and

are ubiquitous in electronic equipment. Practical resistors as discrete components can be

composed of various compounds and forms. Resistors are also implemented within

integrated circuits.

The electrical function of a resistor is specified by its resistance: common

commercial resistors are manufactured over a range of more than nine orders of

magnitude. The nominal value of the resistance falls within the manufacturing tolerance,

indicated on the component.

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 Figure 2.17: Resistors

2.4.11 Fuse

In electronics and electrical engineering, a fuse is an electrical safety device that

operates to provide overcurrent protection of an electrical circuit. Its essential component

is a metal wire or strip that melts when too much current flows through it, thereby

interrupting the current. It is a sacrificial device; once a fuse has operated it is an open

circuit, and it must be replaced or rewired, depending on type.

Fuses have been used as essential safety devices from the early days of electrical

engineering. Today there are thousands of different fuse designs which have specific

current and voltage ratings, breaking capacity and response times, depending on the

application. The time and current operating characteristics of fuses are chosen to provide

adequate protection without needless interruption. Wiring regulations usually define a

maximum fuse current rating for particular circuits. Short circuits, overloading,

mismatched loads, or device failure are the prime reasons for fuse operation.

Figure 2.18: Picture of Fuse

A fuse is an automatic means of removing power from a faulty system; often

abbreviated to ADS (Automatic Disconnection of Supply). For inverter systems, fuses are

used to protect the system from short circuit and overload. When the system is short-

circuited, the fuse will cut, thereby protecting the inverter from damage.

27
2.4.12 Junction Diodes

A diode is a two-terminal electronic component that conducts current primarily in

one direction (asymmetric conductance); it has low (ideally zero) resistance in one

direction, and high (ideally infinite) resistance in the other. A diode vacuum tube or

thermionic diode is a vacuum tube with two electrodes, a heated cathode and a plate, in

which electrons can flow in only one direction, from cathode to plate. A semiconductor

diode, the most commonly used type today, is a crystalline piece of semiconductor

material with a p–n junction connected to two electrical terminals

Figure 2.19: Diode pinout

In inverters systems, diodes are used mainly to protect back emf from relay

damaging any of the components and rectification of AC signals.

2.4.13 DC Fan

Fan an apparatus with rotating blades that creates a current of air for cooling or

ventilation. Because the transformer and the MOSFET used for amplification of power

and inverting of the voltage from direct current (dc) to alternating current (ac) generate

heat, there is need to cool the system so as to avoid overheating, thus, the need for the 12V

dc fan

28
 Figure 2.20: 12V DC Fan

The choice of the fan is due to the fact that the power consumption of the fan is

very small (0.12mW), it will not constitute load to the inverter.

2.5 Review of Related Literatures

Omotosho et al. (2017) Designed and constructed a pure sinewave inverter using

SG3535 PWM IC and TL084 quad op amp sine wave oscillator. The design consisted of

two stages i.e. the DC-DC step up stage and a DC-AC Inverter stage. The DC-DC step up

converter is based on a push-pull design to step 24VDC to 300VDC. Pulse width

modulation was used i.e. the SG3525 pulse width Modulator. The DC-AC inverter stage

comprised of four power MOSFETs in an H-bridge configuration, driven by a 40 kHz

square wave encoded/modulated by a 50Hz sine wave that was derived from a TL084

quad op amp sine wave oscillator. An output voltage range of about 240-260VAC from

300VDC input was obtained. A low pass filter was used to filter out the high frequencies

and thus isolate the harmonics so a 50 Hz fundamental frequency was retained.

However, the result obtained from the output of the inverter shows distortion in the

sinewave generated from the inverter at no load. With increase in load, the distortion will

be high, thus, making the output of the inverter anything but not pure sinewave. This is

shown in Figure 2.21.

29
 Figure 2.21: Output of Omotosho et al. (2017) Pure Sinewave Inverter

In 2018, Abdelkader et al., designed and constructed an inverter system for

photovoltaic system using TL494 PWM IC for stepping of the 12V to 310V DC and

PIC16F877A microcontroller for the generation and control of PWM for the inverter

system. The first stage of the conversion is a fly back type chopper (buck-boost) powered

by a photovoltaic panel using the TL494 which generates us a PWM signal for the control

of the two transistors used which allowed us to have voltage of 311V adjustable with

control loop that holds the constant tension whatever the influences of temperature and

sunshine. This chopper feeds the second stage which is a DC / AC converter in MOSFET

Transistor Bridge, each arm of the inverter is controlled by a power driver type IR2110

which transmits the microcontroller PWM control (16F877A) to the MOSFET. The latter

provides a quasi-sinusoidal signal with a voltage of 220 V and a frequency of 50 Hz

usable in everyday life.

The results obtained from the inverter system by Abdelkader et al. (2018) shows that

there are distortion in the output waveform when the inverter is driving inductive load,

30
hence, the inverter is not suitable for driving inductive load such as fan. The output

waveform is shown in Figure 2.22.

Figure 2.22: Output Waveform of Abdelkader et al. (2018) Inverter System

Oyeleye and Ayoola (2020), designed a modified sinewave inverter system based on

SG3524 PWM IC. The inverter designed had five major blocks which are the battery,

oscillator unit, the charging unit, the driver unit, and the output unit. The SG3524 PWM

IC drivers MOSFETs IRFP260N connected in half bridge mode through a 4 ohms

resistors. The result obtained from the inverter shows that the inverter efficiency and

output voltage decrease with increased in the loading of the inverter. At 200W, the

efficiency and output voltage are 95.4% and 229V AC respectively, however, at load of

1200W, the efficiency had decreased to 75.8% and output voltage to 182V AC. The output

voltage output and efficiency against load power of Oyeleye and Ayoola (2020) modified

sinewave inverter is shown in Figure 2.23.

31
 Figure 2.23: Output Voltage Output and Efficiency Against Load Power
(Oyeleye and Ayoola, 2020)

Akintunde (2020) carried out the design of a 625va Pulse Width Modulated Inverter.

The design was implemented using five blocks of PWM controller, driver, output circuit,

charger and battery. DC energy from the battery is converted to AC energy of a specified

frequency at the PWM controller unit. It is an electronic source of alternating current or

voltage having sine, square, saw tooth or pulse width. This particular design is a Pulse

Width Modulated (PWM), MOSFET based Inverter. The required 50Hz signal is

generated by the PWM controller IC (SG3524). The alternating pulse output from IC is

fed to the MOSFET banks. The MOSFETs switch the DC voltage at the primary of centre-

tapped transformer, which is serving as the step-up transformer to create the alternating

voltage effect and flux change needed for transformation by the transformer. The

transformer then would step up the now converted 12V DC to 220V AC. The output

voltage of the inverter was filtered by a 2.2μF/400V capacitor connected across the output

terminals to remove the unwanted harmonics so as to get as smooth as possible sine

waveform output voltage.

32
2.6 Knowledge Gap

The knowledge gap and the area of improvement that this inverter will make

include:

i. Battery Polarity: It is seen from the various inverter designed that the input of the

inverter is polarized, hence, inaccurate connection of the battery terminals to the

input will damage the inverter. Making the connection of the inverter to the battery

reserved for technical persons. However, in order to enable non-technical

individuals to connect the battery to the inverter, the current inverter will design a

circuit that takes any battery polarity and converts the polarity into the desired

polarity of the circuit and work accurately.

ii. Voltage Regulation: Most inverters output voltage regulations are poor, hence,

making the output of the inverter to vary with the load connected at the inverter

output and battery voltage. However, with appropriate feedback mechanism, the

current inverter will ensure constant output voltage irrespective of the load and

battery voltage.

iii. Protection Mechanism: The inverters reviewed lack appropriate protection

mechanism for overload, short-circuit, overvoltage and undervoltage from the

mains AC supply. However, the present inverter will use microcontroller to ensure

appropriate protection of the inverter and load connected to it.

iv. Output Waveform Distortion: In the inverters reviewed, the output voltage had

distortions, making them practically not pure sinewave output. However, with

appropriate carrier frequency filtering circuit, the present inverter will have pure

sinewave output.

33
v. Wireless/Remote Control Capability: Traditionally, the inverter system can be

control (basically powered ON and OFF) from the switch attached to the body of

the inverter. However, due to the advancement in technology and the availability

of smart phones and devices, the system will incorporate a wireless means of

controlling the device. A Bluetooth module will be incorporated to the system

which can be connected to an android phone and then used to control the operation

of the inverter system. Using the Bluetooth, the system can be turned ON and OFF,

the battery low voltage cut off point can be adjusted, the maximum load capacity

of the inverter can be adjusted and the power button on the inverter casing can be

enabled or disabled. Hence, making the user to have many control over the inverter

and prevent undue usage of the inverter if in a public environment.

34
 CHAPTER THREE

DESIGN METHODOLOGY

3.1 The Building Block

The design of the 1.5kVA inverter was carried out using the block diagram of

Figure 3.1. A block diagram is a diagram of a system in which the principal parts or

functions are represented by blocks connected by lines that show the relationships of the

blocks.
Display Unit

Bluetooth
Polarity Circuit Control Circuit
Circuit

Oscillator H-Bridge
Circuit Circuit
12V Battery

Filter Circuit

Feedback Transformer
Circuit Circuit

AC Sense Changeover
Circuit Circuit

Inverter
AC Mains IN Output

Figure 3.1: Block Diagram of Proposed 1.5kVA Inverter System

35
 The block diagram is made of twelve basic blocks excluding the AC mains Input

and the Output units. Each of these blocks are explained in Section 3.2 to 3.12

3.2 The Battery

A battery is an electrical device which is a combination of several electrochemical

cells, used to convert stored chemical energy into electrical energy or vice versa, for

rechargeable batteries. A rechargeable battery is made up of several cells. Since a single

cell is basically 2 Volt, 12Volt means it contains 6 cells. The reliable operation of inverter

systems depends on the battery to a large extent. If the battery is not well selected, the

overall operating time of the system is affected. When a battery is connected to the load,

energy stored in it gets utilized. This is known as ‘discharging of battery’. The energy

stored gets depleted after some time leaving a discharged battery. The battery can be

given energy from an external source to restore its energy again in a process called

‘charging of the battery.

Therefore, the battery is the source of the energy to the inverter. The inverter uses

the energy stored in the 12V DC battery to give an AC output of 230V. The battery can be

replaced with other DC sources such as solar photovoltaic (PV) cells, which produces DC

voltage when exposed to the sun. if the energy produced by the solar PV cells are enough,

the inverter will inverter the DC into AC and give output.

36
 Figure 3.2: Deep Cell Battery

The battery suitable for this inverter system are deep cell batteries. This is because

a deep-cycle battery is a battery designed to be regularly deeply discharged using most of

its capacity, therefore can provide longer energy sources for the battery while lasting

longer on usage.

3.3 The Battery Polarity Circuit

The battery polarity circuit is responsible for handling the battery polarity, hence,

preventing the inverter from being damaged due to wrong polarity connection of the

battery. The circuit consists mainly of full bridge rectifier diode and filter capacity,

carefully selected to hand the current capacity of the inverter at peak load.

Figure 3.3: 150A 1200V Full Bridge Rectifier

3.4 The Control Circuit

The control circuit is responsible for controlling of the entire activities of the

inverter system. Basically, it controls the operation of the inverter such as the turning ON

and OFF of the system, it monitors the output load power of the system, the battery

voltage level, and communicates with the user through the Bluetooth to perform different

37
functions. The control circuit is basically made using ATMEGA328P microcontroller and

ACS758 current sensors.

ATMEGA328P has 1KB Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory

(EEPROM). This property shows if the electric supply supplied to the micro-controller is

removed, even then it can store the data and can provide results after providing it with the

electric supply. Moreover, ATmega328 has 2KB Static Random-Access Memory

(SRAM). Other characteristics will be explained later. ATmega328 has several different

features which make it the most popular device in today’s market. These features consist

of advanced RISC architecture, good performance, low power consumption, real timer

counter having separate oscillator, 6 PWM pins, programmable Serial USART,

programming lock for software security, throughput up to 20 MIPS etc. ATmega328 is

mostly used in Arduino. The further details about ATmega 328 will be given later in this

section.

Fig 3.4: ATMEGA328P pin out

ATMEGA328P is an eight (8) bit Microcontroller. It can handle the data sized of

up to eight (8) bits. It is an AVR based micro-controller. Its built-in internal memory is

around 32KB. It operates ranging from 3.3V to 5V. It has an ability to store the data even

when the electrical supply is removed from its biasing terminals. Its excellent features

include the cost efficiency, low power dissipation, programming lock for security

purposes, real timer counter with separate oscillator.

38
 The power measurement uses ACS758ECB-200B-PFF-T for current sensing and

measurement and voltage divider network for voltage sensing and measurement. The

current sensor is shown in Figure 3.5.

Figure 3.5: ACS758 Current Sensor

One of the key criteria for selecting this current sensor is its ability to measure up

to 200A, hence, can be used to measure load output and power rating of the inverters.

3.5 Oscillator Circuit

The oscillator unit is responsible for generating sinewave using sine pulse width

modulation (SPWM) technique. Microcontroller, PIC18F26k42 will be used for the

generation of the sine wave for the inverter. The carrier frequency of the sinewave will be

25kHz while the fundamental frequency is 50Hz.

The PIC18F26K42 microcontroller is available in 28-pin device. These devices

feature a 12-bit ADC with Computation (ADC2) automating Capacitive Voltage Divider

(CVD) techniques for advanced touch sensing, averaging, filtering, oversampling and

threshold comparison, Temperature Sensor, Vectored Interrupt Controller with fixed

latency for handling interrupts, System Bus Arbiter, Direct Memory Access capabilities,

UART with support for Asynchronous, DMX, DALI and LIN transmissions, SPI, I2C,

memory features like Memory Access Partition (MAP) to support customers in data

39
protection and bootloader applications, and Device Information Area (DIA) which stores

factory calibration values to help improve temperature sensor accuracy.

Figure 3.6: PIC18F26k42 Microcontroller

The duty cycle of the oscillator is controlled by the feedback from the transformer

unit, thus maintaining the output voltage of the inverter system.

3.6 The Feedback Circuit

The feedback circuit takes a proportion of the output voltage and feed it to the

oscillation unit. The proportion of the of the output voltage was taken using voltage

divider network built with resistor, then the output voltage is rectified using fast switching

diode and filtered using filtering capacitor.

3.7 The H-Bridge Circuit

This is an electronic device that consists of four switching elements that allow

voltage to be applied across a load in either direction. MOSFET was chosen in this design,

on the right side the two MOSFETs are connected in a way that one is high and the other

is low hence they cannot be ‘on’ at the same time. The MOSFETs at the left side are also

connected like that. Only Adjacent MOSFETs are allowed to come ‘on’ at the same time

allowing voltage across the load. The switches are turned on in pairs, either high left and

40
lower right, or lower left and high right, but never both switched on the same “side” of the

bridge. If both the switches on one side of a bridge are turned on it creates a short circuit

between the battery plus and battery minus terminals. This phenomenon is called shoot

through and will cause the bridge to drain the battery rapidly.

Generating a sine wave centered on Zero volts requires both a positive and

negative voltage across the load, for the positive and negative parts of the wave,

respectively. This can be achieved from a single source using four MOSFET switches

arranged in an H-Bridge configuration. To minimize power loss and utilize higher

switching speeds, N-Channel MOSFETs were chosen as switches in the bridge. Level

translation between PWM signals and voltages required to forward bias high side N-

Channel MOSFETs, the IR2110 MOSFET driver integrated circuit was chosen. A diagram

of the H-Bridge circuit with MOSFET and drivers is shown in Figure 3.7.

Figure 3.7: H-Bridge Circuit

41
3.8 The Filter Circuit

The frequency from the microcontroller is 25kHz, which is used to modulate the

fundamental frequency of 50Hz. In order to get the fundamental frequency from the

carrier frequency, a low pass filter was employed. A Low Pass Filter is a circuit that can

be designed to modify, reshape or reject all unwanted high frequencies of an electrical

signal and accept or pass only those signals wanted by the circuit designer. In other words,

they “filter-out” unwanted signals and an ideal filter will separate and pass sinusoidal

input signals based upon their frequency. The low pass filter to be employed is inductor

capacitor filter (LC) whose resonance frequency will be set at 50Hz. Hence, frequencies

above 50Hz will be filtered out, allowing only frequency of within 50Hz to pass to the

transformer unit.

Figure 3.8: LC Low Pass Filter Circuit

3.9 Transformer Unit

A transformer is an electrical device that increases (step-up) or decreases (step-

down) the voltage of an electrical power supply. The essence of the transformer in this

project is to step up the 12V AC from the output of the filter circuit to 230V AC at the

output.

42
 Fig 3.9: Circuit Symbol of Step-Up Transformer

3.10 Changeover Circuit

The changeover circuit is responsible for connecting the load to the inverter output

or to the Ac mains input depending on the presence of absence of AC mains supply. The

type of inverter proposed is line interactive inverter. When the AC mains is present, the

load is switched from the inverter output to the AC mains by means of relay and

transistors. And when the AC mains is cut off, the load is automatically switched back to

the inverter output.

The control unit controls the switching of the load to either the AC mains or to the

inverter output. The circuit of the changeover unit is shown in Figure 3.10.

Figure 3.10: Changeover Circuit

43
3.11 AC Sensor

The AC sensor will be designed using stepdown transformer, bridge rectification

and filtration. The transformer will stepdown the AC mains voltage to the desired 12V DC

and further reduced using voltage divider network. The control unit will measure the AC

mains input and will determine the voltage of the AC. If the AC mains voltage is within

the safe operating limit, the control unit will then change the load from the inverter output

to the AC mains supply.

3.12 The Bluetooth Unit

The wireless transmission unit of this system will be designed using HC-05

Bluetooth module. This unit will be designed to transmit serial wireless connection. This

unit gives the system the capability to transmit data to the Android mobile phone of the

user, giving the system the capability to be used as smart energy meter as the load current,

voltage and power consumption are send to the user. With that data available to the user,

the energy consumption can be managed to suite the users’ requirement. The picture of the

HC-05 Bluetooth module to be used in this proposed design is shown in Figure 3.11.

Figure 3.11: Bluetooth Module HC-05

44
3.13 Display Unit

Basically, the display unit is made using 16 X 2 liquid crystal message display

(LCD). LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) screen is an electronic display module and find a

wide range of applications. A 16x2 LCD display is very basic module and is very

commonly used in various devices and circuits. These modules are preferred over seven

segments and other multi segment LEDs. The reasons being: LCDs are economical; easily

programmable; have no limitation of displaying special & even custom characters (unlike

in seven segments), animations and so on.

A 16x2 LCD means it can display 16 characters per line and there are 2 such lines.

In this LCD each character is displayed in 5x7 pixel matrix. This LCD has two registers,

namely, Command and Data.

The command register stores the command instructions given to the LCD. A

command is an instruction given to LCD to do a predefined task like initializing it,

clearing its screen, setting the cursor position, controlling display etc. The data register

stores the data to be displayed on the LCD. The data is the ASCII value of the character to

be displayed on the LCD.

The display unit is made using 16 X 2 alphanumerical Liquid Crystal Display

(LCD) as shown in the Figure 3.12 below.

Fig 3.12: 16 X 2 Alphanumeric LCD

45
 BILL OF ENGINEERING, MEASUREMENT AND EVALUATION

S/No Components Specification Quantity Unit Price Total Price

PIC18F26K42 1 6,500 6500

Microcontroller
ATMEGA328P 1 3,500 3500

Crystal 16Mz 1 500 500

MOSFET Driver IR2111 2 1,500 3000

PWM IC UC3845 1 850 850

28 pin 1 100 100

IC Sockets 18 pin 1 100 100

8 pin 1 100 100

150A Full Bridge 1 1,500 1500

1N4148 20 100 2000

Diode
1N5408 5 250 1250

MUR107 10 150 1500

Current Sensor ACS758ECB- 1 5,500

5500
200B-PFF-T

24/230 AC Step- 1 15,000

15000
up
Transformer
230/9V AC 1 1,500 1500

Ferrite Core 1 4,500 4500

MOSFET IRFP260N 8 750 6000

Transistor BC548 20 150 3000

Relay 230V 10A 2 450 900

7805 2 350 700

Voltage Regulator
7812 1 350 350

Heatsink 2 3,200 6400

46
Fan 12V 0.3A 1 500 500

Casing Metalic 1 12,000 12000

Bluetooth module HC-05 1 6,500 6500

Circuit Breaker 150A 1 4,500 4500

Display 16x2 LCD 1 2,500 2500

Fixed 50 20 1000

Resistors Variable 10 100 1000

Power 2 150 300

SPST 1 150 150

Switch
Push-to-Make 1 350 350

Polarized 40 100 4000

Capacitor Non-polarized 30 150 4500

High Power 4 550 2200

Inductor High Power 1 2,500 2500

LED 1.5mm 2 40 80

PCB Board Single layer 1 8,500 8500

Soldering Lead 60/40 1.5mm 1 3,500 3500

Etchant Solution 1 6,500 6500

Transportation 5,000 5000

Socket 15A 1 350 350

AC Plug 30A 1 250 250

Jumper wires Single strand 10 yards 300 3000

Miscellaneous 20,000 20000

Total
153,930

47