INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC & TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH VOLUME 6, ISSUE 04, APRIL 2017 ISSN 2277-8616

Microcontroller Based SPWM Single-Phase

Inverter For Wind Power Application
Khin Ohmar Lin, Hla Myo Tun, Zaw Min Naing, Win Khine Moe

Abstract: In this paper, microcontroller based sinusoidal pulse width modulation (SPWM) single-phase inverter is emphasized to constant frequency
conversion scheme for wind power application. The wind-power generator output voltage and frequency are fluctuated due to the variation of wind
velocity. Therefore, the AC output voltage of wind-generator is converted into DC voltage by using rectifier circuit and this DC voltage is converted back
to AC voltage by using inverter circuit. SPWM technique is used in inverter to get nearly sine wave and reduce harmonic content. The rating of inverter is
500W, single-phase, 220V, 50 Hz. The required SPWM timing pulses for the inverter are generated from the PIC16F877A microcontroller. Circuit
simulation was done by using Proteus (7 Professional) and MATLAB(R 2008) software. The software for microcontroller is implemented by using
MPASM assembler.

Index Terms: Microcontroller, SPWM, single-phase inverter, wind-power generator, PIC16F877A

————————————————————

1 INTRODUCTION and step sine wave. Those types of inverters have higher
In the clean, cheap, safe, and renewable energy sources, wind harmonic content and voltage distortion. In SPWM inverter,
power is one of the most attractive solutions. In the past wind the output waveform is nearly sine wave and requires small
power was used for several countries for propelling ships, filter size to eliminate the harmonic content.
pumping water, irrigation fields, driving wind-mill such as
grinding flour mills, wood cutting saws, stone crushers, mixers 2 DERIVATION OF PWM
and other purposes. The exploitation of plenty of cheap fossil
fuels and development of internal combustion engines have
led to the wind power being gradually replaced by other
energy sources during the first half of twenty century. Now, the
oil crisis with environmental consciousness has renewed the
interest in the wind power all over the world. But the limitation
of wind system is that the velocity of wind is variable unsteady
and irregular. So the wind turbine speed is variable and the
output frequency and voltage of the wind-generator is
fluctuated. Therefore, power electronic converters are used to
get constant frequency and constant voltage at the output
side. Recent advances in thyristor inverter technology have
paved a way for variable speed constant frequency systems
(VSCF). Fig.1 shows a block diagram of VSCF. The wind
turbine is with variable speed. The rotor speed is allowed to Fig. 2. Pulse widths calculation in MATLAB
vary optimally with the wind speed. The rectifier-inverter
combination delivers constant frequency electrical output The pulse width W 2 is determined by the following equation.
which can be delivered to the load or the grid. Variable speed
wind turbine requires simpler wind turbine and its controls.
2W2  L
There is no need of pitch control. The wind energy is optimally  Mcosα 2
utilized. The turbine always works with maximum efficiency. L (1)
Due to variable speed, the stresses on wind turbine rotor,
blades are reduced greatly. Recent large wind turbine In general,
generator units are variable speed constant frequency system
[1]. 2Wn  L (2)
 M cos α n
L
f Rectifier Inverter
DC where, s = number of pulses per half-cycle
=
carrier frquency(fc )
= =
Variable Constant referencesine frequency(f)
frequency Frequency L = 180 degree/ s
W = pulse width
Fig. 1. Variable speed constant frequency system [1] M = modulation index (0 to 1)
ampitud of re fe re nce sine wave
The types of inverters are classified according to number of =
amplitude of carrie r triangle wave
phases, use of power semiconductor devices, and the shape
of output waveform. Ideal output waveform of inverter is sine- α = pulse centre angle
wave. But, the inverters available in market are square wave
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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC & TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH VOLUME 6, ISSUE 04, APRIL 2017 ISSN 2277-8616

α1 α2 α3 π/2 π 3π/2
2π
-E

Fig. 5. A three-level PWM waveform [5]

Amplitude of n harmonics can be set by solving a system of n

nonlinear equations obtained from setting equation (3) equal to
pre-specified values. In the harmonic elimination programmed
SPWM method, the fundamental component is set to required
amplitude and n-1 low-order harmonics are set to zero. Fig. 6
shows the harmonic contents in SPWM in modulation
index=0.8, carrier frequency=800Hz, reference frequency=50
Fig. 3. Sine wave and carrier triangle wave comparison Hz.

Fig. 4. The per-unit output waveform of SPWM inverter Fig. 6. Harmonic in SPWM (M=0.8, fc=800 Hz, f=50 Hz)

A strategy for realising the switching instants of the inverter so 3 SWITCHING INVERTER
that the pulse width in each interval is in conformity with An inverter converts from a DC input into AC output statically.
equation (2) will be the key to the practical implementation of The inverter also has a switching control circuit that provides
SPWM. Fig. 4 shows the pulse widths calculation for s = 8, M the necessary pulses to turn ON and turn OFF each switching
= 0.8, fc = 800 Hz, f = 50 Hz by using equation (2) in MATLAB element with the correct timing and sequence. These switches
command window. The reference sine wave and carrier are repetitively operated in such a way that the DC source at
triangle wave comparison is shown in fig. 3 for per-unit basic. the input terminal of the converter appears as AC at the output
The per-unit SPWM waveform is shown in fig. 4. Owing to the terminals. The block diagram of inverter is shown in fig. 9.
symmetries in the PWM waveform of fig. 5, only the odd The main parts of inverter are mentioned as the following:
harmonics exist. Assuming that the PWM waveform is (i) Switch mode power supply
chopped n times per half a cycle, the Fourier coefficients of (ii) Microcontroller
odd harmonics are given by; (iii) MOSFETs driver circuit
(iv) H-bridge MOSFETs
4E [ cos kα  cos kα  ...  ( 1) j1 cos kα (3) (v) Step-up transformer, and
Vk  1 2 j
kπ (vi) Harmonic filter
n1
 ...  ( 1) cos kα n ]

where k= 1, 3, 5, … and E is the amplitude of the square

wave.

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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC & TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH VOLUME 6, ISSUE 04, APRIL 2017 ISSN 2277-8616

Battery Charger Three-Phase Three-Phase

Circuit Bridge Rectifier Wind Generator To Fuse
control 12V
circuit DC
Battery
T T3
12V
To 1
control To load
Inverter
circuit
12V
5V DC12V T4 T2

Harmonic Filter
Microcontroller

Positive-Half

Transformer
AC

MOSFETs
H-Bridge
DC Voltage 5V Driver (IR2110) 220V

Load
Regulator
7805 50Hz
Negative-Half
Driver (IR2110)
Fig. 11. MOSFETs H-bridge configuration
5V
12V
The MOSFETs H-bridge configuration for inverter is shown in
fig. 11. For positive half cycle pulses, transistors T3 and T4
Fig. 9. Block diagram of inverter operate and T1 and T2 operate for negative half cycle pulses.
Transformer is used to step up the output voltage of inverter
MCLR/VPP 1 40 RB7/PGD up to 220V. Harmonic filter is constructed with resonance arm
RA0/AN0 2 39 RB6/PGC
RA1/AN1 3 38 RB5 inductor (L) and capacitor(C) circuit. The value of L and C
RA2/AN2/VREF+ 4 37 RB4 mainly depends on switching frequency of inverter.
RA3/AN3/VREF- 5 36 RB3/PGM
RA4/T0CKI 6 35 RB2
RA5/AN4/SS 7 34 RB1
RB0/INT
4 SIMULATION AND TESTING RESULTS
RE0/RD/AN5 8 33
RE1/WR/AN6 9 32 VDD
Circuit simulation is done by Proteus software. The circuit
RE2/CS/AN7 10 PIC16F877A 31 VSS diagram for simulation is shown in fig. 12.The simulation
VDD 11 30 RD7/PSP7
VSS 12 29 RD6/PSP6
SPWM pulses output from microcontroller is shown in fig. 13.
OSC1/CLKIN 13 28 RD5/PSP5 Test circuit assembly for microcontroller is shown in fig. 14.
OSC2/CLKOUT
RC0/T1OSO/T1CKI
14 27 RD4/PSP4
RC7/RX/DT
The SPWM pulses from microcontroller that measured in
15 26
RC1/T1OSI/CCP2 16 25 RC6/TX/CK oscilloscope are shown in fig. 15. The simulation output of
RC2/CCP1 17 24 RC5/SDO
inverter is shown in fig. 16.
RC3/SCK/SCL 18 23 RC4/SDI/SDA
RD0/PSP0 19 22 RD3/PSP3
RD1/PSP1 20 21 RD2/PSP2

Fig. 10. Pin diagram of PIC16F877A [7]

Switch mood power supply circuit converts DC source voltage

into required voltage level for the microcontroller and
MOSFETs driver circuit. The supply voltage for PIC
microcontroller is 5V DC and 15V DC for MOSFETs driver
circuit. In the circuit, 7805 and 7815 voltage regulator ICs are
used. PIC16F877A microcontroller is used to generate the
timing pulse for MOSFETs driver circuit. Pin diagram of
PIC16F877A microcontroller is shown in fig. 10. In the circuit,
RB7, RB6, RB5, RB4 pins are used as output pins for inverter Fig.12. Circuit diagram for simulation
and 4 MHz crystal is used for external clock. MOSFTs driver
circuit prevents the overlapping of timing pulse for power
MOSFETs. The most commonly used for MOSFETs and
IGBTs is IR2110 IC. The IR2110 are high voltage, high speed
power MOSFET and IGBT drivers with independent high and
low side referenced output channels. Proprietary HVIC and
latch immune CMOS technologies enable ruggedized
monolithic construction. Logic inputs are compatible with
standard CMOS or LSTTL output, down to 3.3V logic. The
output drivers feature a high pulse current buffer stage
designed for minimum driver cross-conduction. Propagation
delays are matched to simplify use in high frequency
applications. The floating channel can be used to drive an N-
channel power MOSFET or IGBT in the high side configuration
Fig. 13. Simulation output of microcontroller
which operates up to 500 or 600 V.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The author would like to express his deep gratitude to Dr. Hla
Myo Htun, Associate Professor and Head of Electronic
Engineering Department of Mandalay Technological
University, for his valuable guidance. The author also wishes
to thank to Dr. Kyaw Soe Lwin, Associate Professor,
Electronic Engineering Department of Mandalay Technological
University, for his encouragement and helpful suggestions.
The author greatly expresses to his thanks to all persons
whom will concern to support in preparing this paper.

References
[1] Rao and Dr. B.B.Parulekar, Energy Technology, 3rd ed.,
Fig. 14. Test circuit assembly for microcontroller 1999.

[2] Syed A. Nasar, Electrical Energy Conversion and

Transmission, Prentice Hall International Inc. Simon and
Schuster/Viacom Company, 1985.

[3] Ashfaq Ahmed, Power Electronic, Tata McGraw-Hill

Publishing Company Ltd., 1999.

[4] P.C. Sen, Power Electronic. Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing

Company Ltd, 2000.

[5] MD Singh and KB Khanachandani, Power Electronic, Tata

McGraw-Hill Publishing Company Ltd, 2000.

Fig. 15. SPWM pulses seen in oscilloscope [6] D. W. Smith, PIC in Practice, 2002.

[7] Microchip Technology, 2001. http:// www.microchip.com

[8] Nebojsa Matic, The PIC Microcontroller, 2004,

Fig. 16. Simulation output of inverter

5 CONCLUSION
In simulation circuit, MOSFETs are directly driven by the
switching pulses of microcontroller. But, the driver circuits are
necessary for practical construction. The output waveform of
SPWM inverter is nearly sine wave. The more the number of
pulses per half cycle are used, the smoother the output
waveform. But, switching losses are also high for high
frequency switching. Moreover, inverter grade high speed
power MOSFETs or IGBTs are used for the inverter circuit.
The further extensions are to implement condition that the
internal voltage control system can be used in the inverter. For
closed loop system, voltage and current sensing and analogue
to digital (A/D) conversion processes are used in the
microcontroller. To obtain the higher power rating, the power
MOSFETs can be replaced by SCRs. But the driver circuit of
the inverter must be changed. For grid connected wind electric
system, the inverter frequency must be synchronized with the
grid frequency and synchronizer circuit must be added in the
inverter.

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