ELECTRONICS

SWITCH-MODE DC-DC CONVERTERS

AND INVERTERS
SOLID STATE SWITCHES
 FORCED COMMUTATION
• Commutation – transfer of current from one semiconductor switch to another
• Line (natural) commutation - change of conducting device is imposed by line
(supply) voltage (diode state depends on bias)
• Switching frequency - 50Hz

• Forced commutation – change of conducting device is determined by internal

gate signal (transistors are actively switched on and off – fully controlled
switches)
• Switching frequency 500Hz–1Mhz
• Switching losses tend to dominate

• In this lecture
• DC-DC converters
• Inverters (DC-AC converters)
 BASIC SWITCHES
• Diode
• Uncontrolled switch
• Reverse blocking, forward conducting

• Thyristor
• Half-controlled switch
• Can block forward voltage

• Bipolar transistor
• Fully controlled switch
• Forward blocking, forward conducting

• MOSFET
• Fully controlled switch
• Body diode is reverse conducting
 POWER LOSSES
• Semiconductor switches are not ideal – in power converters semiconductor
power losses become significant issue
• Off-state losses are negligible
• On-state losses are called conduction losses
• At switching instants fall/rise of current/voltage is not instantaneous
every switching is related to energy losses – switching losses
• Switching energy
losses depend
on swicthing
times tON/tOFF
• Switching power
losses are proportional
to switching frequency
 POWER DIODE
• Additional n- layer is added to increase reverse breakdown voltage, as a
consequence forward voltage drop rises to 1÷2 V
• To increase forward current p-n junction layer
surface (and capacitance) is increased
• Capacitance is a source of switching losses
• Reverse recovery time tr is critical for
diode applocations in circuits
switching at kHz-MHz frequencies

• Available diodes
• Standard rectifier (tr >10 μs)
• Fast/ultrafast (trr =0.1…1 μs)
• Schottky (trr <<0.1 μs)
 THYRISTORS
• Standard SCR thyristor can be turned on by gate pulse
but cannot be actively turned off
• Special thyristor types allow active turn-off:
• GTO (Gate Turn Off)
• High reverse gate current required for turn-off
• High turn-off time – switching freq. limited to few hundered Hz
• Applied in ~MW power range
• IGCT (Integrated Gate Commutated Thyristor)
• Type of GTO with integrated gate circuitry
• Faster turn0off compared to GTO
• ~MW range, switching freq. up to few kHz
 POWER MOSFET
• Typically n-channel E-MOSFETs
• Like in diodes n- increases reverse
voltage withstand capability
• Forward current increased by
applying multiple channels in parallel
• MOSFET has antiparallel body diode
• Diode has large capacitance,
can cause more switching losses,
than transistor itself!
 IGBT
• Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor IGBT
• IGBT structure is a hybrid of BJT and MOSFET
• MOSFET drives „base” of bipolar transistor
• Opposite to BJT, IGBT is voltage controlled – easy to drive
• Unlike power MOSFET, IGBT has no body diode

IGBT symbol IGBT structure and equivalent circuit

 IGBT POWER MOSFET

• Assures low saturation (on-state) • Channel on-state resistance

voltage VCEsat (up to few V), with RDSon incerases significantly (up
high blocking voltages (up to to few Ω) with increasing
few kV) blocking voltage

These parameters determine conduction losses –

IGBT gains advantage in high voltage applications (>500V)

• Relatively high switching times • Relatively low switching times

(up to few µs) (up to few hundered ns)

These parameters determine switching losses –

MOSFET is advantegous in low voltage,
fast switching applications (<1kW)
 POWER TRANSISTOR MODULES
• MOSFET (up to few kW)
• Low current – PCB mount
• High current – heatsink mount

• IGBT (up to few hundered kW)

• Typically multiple transistors in single module
• Heatsink mount
• Low current – leads for mounting PCB on the top of module
• High current – screw terminals
 SWITCH APPLICATION RANGES
• High voltage/current switches have longer switching times,
therefore lower switching frequencies
• Proper diode can be chosen for every range

108

Thyristor
Power (VA) 106
IGCT
IGBT
T h y ris to r IG C T
104

102 MOSFET

IG B T M OSFET
101 102 103 104
Switching Frequency (Hz)
DC-DC CONVERTERS
 TASK
• Convert DC voltage level to supply 500W load
• Input: 100V
• Output: 50V, 10A

• How to realize such converter?

 LINEAR REALIZATION
• Insert potentiometer
• Resistive voltage divider
• High power loss on
potentiometrer
• Efficiency 50%

• Series linear voltage regulator

• Ttransistor operates in active region
acting like regulaterd resistance
• Efficiency 50%

• Half of power is lost! Can we do better?

 SWITCHING REALIZATION
• A switch connecting output alternately between supply voltage, and zero
• If switch is 50% of the time in position 1 and 50% of the time in position 2
average output voltage is 50V

• Switch has to be operated at very high frequency

 PULSE WIDTH MODULATION
• Switching at a constant frequency
• fs =1/Ts – switching frequency
• Ts – switching period
• Positive voltage remains switched on for time interval Ton
• Ton=DTs
• Variable duty cycle defined as
• D=Ton/Ts

Average output voltage:

Ton Toff
 PULSE WIDTH MODULATOR
• Technique to vary duty cycle while maintaining constant switching frequency is
called Pulse Width Modulation PWM
• PWM is the basic method to control switching converters
• Modulator realization – comparation of triangular carrier signal with a
constant value defining duty cycle
Triangular „carrier wave”
frequency of triangle = switching
frequency D PWM Vtri

Vtri 1
PWM 0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
D
0 0.001 0.002
Constant duty cycle
Time (s)
D=Ton/Ts
 PRACTICAL PWM CIRCUITS
• Microcontroller outputs

• Simple PWM using 555 timer

• Dedicated chips ie SG3525

 FILTERING

• Addition of (ideally lossless) LC low-pass filter

for removal of switching harmonics

• Choose filter cutoff frequency fc much smaller than switching frequency

fs = good attenuation of switching frequency
• High switching frequency = filter minimization
 SWITCH REALIZATION
• Single-pole double-throw (SPDT) contactor is needed
• Mechanical switches provide low switching frequency – replace with semiconductor
switches

• Semiconductors are not SPDT switches - replace with two single-pole single-
throw (SPST) switches
• Semiconductors are not four-quadrant switches – choose proper switch

21
 SEMICONDUCTOR SWITCH SELECTION
• Switch A – forward voltage and current,
controlled turn on and turn off –
transistor

• Switch B – forward current,

reverse voltage, can be
controlled by external bias –
diode

22
 DIODE FUNCTIONALITY
𝑑𝑖
• Inductor voltage 𝑈𝐿 = 𝐿 𝑑𝑡
• Attempt to break inductor curren will
𝑑𝑖
result in →∝, high voltage is induced
𝑑𝑡
• Mechanical switches will experience
arcing
• Semiconductor switches will be blown

• Reverse freewheling diode provides

alternative current path
• Diode will conduct inductor current and
slowly dissipate its energy

• Diode plays similar role in many power

electronic circuits
DC-DC CONVERTERS
 BUCK CONVERTER
• This circuit is known as the buck converter or chopper
• Feedback loop controls duty cycle to regulate output voltage

• It is an example of switching voltage regulator

• High efficiency!
 BUCK CONVERTER WAVEFORMS
1m

• Switch in position 1 - VL=Vg-V0, IL rises 100V 100u 5 Ohm

5000Hz 50%

Vo
60

55

50
• Switch in position 2 - VL=-V0, IL falls
45

40

35

30
Vl I(L)
60

• Inductor current has DC component 40 1

20
and triangular ripples
0

• Capacitor voltage Vo remains almost -20

constand with small ripple of switching freq. -40 2

-60
0.0092 0.0096 0.01
Time (s)
 BUCK CONV. OUTPUT VOLTAGE
• Average output voltage
(DC component)

• Low-pass filter removes

switching harmonics and pass
only dc component
• Output voltage is proportional
to the duty cycle D
 BUCK CONV. APPLICATION EXAMPLES
• Few W – swithing voltage regulator for PCB mounting, power supplies

Low power [W] –

MOSFET transistor,
Schottky diode

• Few MW – chopper in locomotive DC drive Medium power [kW] –

IGBT transistor,
fast diodes

High power [MW] –

turn-off thyristors
(GTO/IGCT)
 BOOST CONVERTER
• Buck converter reversed (source and load replaced)

• New realization of switches

• Diode and transistor switched places – D and D’ are laso switched

𝑉2 𝑉2
𝑉1 = =
𝐷′ 1 − 𝐷
 BOOST CONVERTER WAVEFORMS
1m

• Switch in position 1 - VL=Vg, IL rises 50V 500u 10 Ohm

5000Hz 50%

I(L) I(C)
30

20

• Switch in position 2 - VL=Vg-V0, IL falls 10

-10

-20
Vo VL

• Inductor current has DC component 100

and triangular ripples 50

• Capacitor voltage Vo remains almost 0

constand with small ripple -50

0.0592 0.0596 0.06

Time (s)
 BOOST CONV. OUTPUT VOLTAGE
Control curves
• Voltage ratio 𝑀 = 𝑉𝑉𝑜𝑢𝑡
𝑖𝑛
Ideal (gain goes to infinity for D=1)
• Output voltage can
theoretically rise to
infinity
• Practically series
resistances of diode,
transistor, inductor and
source limit maximum Real (losses in the circuit
cause gain breakdown)
gain M to 5-10
 BUCK-BOOST CONVERTER
• Can perform both buck and
boost funcions
• Output polarity is inversed
• Same as in boost converter
maximum gain is theoretically
infinity, but practically limited
• Voltage ratio vs duty cycle:
NON-ISOLATED DC-DC TOPOLOGIES

Buck converter
(obniżający)
o
V DE

Boost converter
(podwyższający)
E
Vo 
1D

Buck-boost converter

DE
o
V 
1D
 ISOLATED CONVERTERS
• Appliedt for high voltage ratio or when galvanic isolation is required
• Flyback converter
• Buck-boost converter, where inductor is replaced with transformer

• Applied widely in low power devices

(phone chargers, LED supplies up to ~10W)
• Switched Mode Power Supply - SMPS
 SWITCHED MODE POWER SUPPLY
• SMPS general term for power supplies,
that use switching regulators
• Higher efficiency, than linear regulators

• High frequency transformer

• Smaller footprint, cheaper

• Pros and cons

• Linear is much simpler
• SMPS is more power efficient
• SMPS likely interfere
(HF switching createas EMI)
 BI-DIRECTIONAL DC-DC CONVERTER
Buck
• Combine buck and boost
• T1 and D2 operate as buck Boost
• T2 and D1 operate as boost
• Double total numer of switches

• Bi-directional power flow

• Voltages are always positive
• Current flow direction is
reversible

• Applied ie as a battery interface

• Exchange of power between low
voltage battery and higher
voltage circuit
 FOUR-QUADRANT CONVERTER
• H-bridge converter
• Four switches (transistors with anti-paralel diodes)
• Depending on switch combination, output voltage is positive, negative or zero

• Bi-directional current
• Operation in four quadrants
• Applied ie in bi-directional DC drives, but also as inwerter (covered in the next
chapter)
 DC-DC CONVERTERS SUMMARY
• Switching regulator – much higher efficiency, than linear regulator
• Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) – fundamental method of voltage regulation in
switching converters
• Average value of output voltage over switching period depends on duty cycle D

• Switching frequency component of output voltage is attenuated by LC filter

• Diode provides current path for inductor current after transistor is switched off
• Buck, boost converters and their combinations
INVERTERS
SWITCH-MODE DC-AC AND AC-DC CONVERTERS
 PHASE ARM

• One leg – two series switches connected between

+ and – of DC supply voltage Vd
• Capacitive voltage divider
• Output voltage between point A and reference point 0
• Possible states:
• T1 ON, T2 OFF vA0=+vd/2
vd/2 T1
• T1 OFF, T2 ON vA0=-vd/2
• State when both transistors vd 0 A
are ON is forbidden ! vA 0
It would short-circuit
T2
DC voltage ! vd/2
 PHASE ARM SWITCHES
• DC votage vd is always positive (DC) – forward blocking
• Typically current flows form DC to AC, however anti-parallel diode is
necessary:
• To conduct reactive currents

• To provide current path, when turning off inductive loads

• To allow rectifier mode of operation

• MOSFETS (with internal body diode) or IGBTs with anti-paralel diode are used
 FULL PICTURE
Not all capacitors must
be present

Inverter
Rectifier /
power Load
AC i.e. motor
supply vd/2
source T1

vd 0 A
M

T2
vd/2

Midpoint is physically PWM PWM signals are

not grounded – it is separeted by
just reference point Controller optocoupler
 HALF-BRIDGE INVERTER
• Input DC voltage is split in half by two capacitors + single phase arm
• Load is connected between middle points of transistors and capacitors
• Four-quadrant operation
• Bi-directional voltage (+vdc/2 or -vdc/2)

• Bi-directinal current (as in bi-directional dc-dc converter)

• Can supply LF waveform for motors or HF waveforms in SMPS

HF
vd/2 T1 vd/2 T1 transformer
A A
0 M 0

T2 T2
vd/2 vd/2
 SQUARE WAVE OPERATION
• Switches turned on alternately, output is a square wave with Vd/2 amplitude
• Fundamental frequency component is equal to:
• High harmonic content (odd harmonics, magnitude ≈1/h)
• Poor approximation of sinusoidal voltage
• Some cheap inverter manufacturers
call it „modified sinusoid”
 SINUSOIDAL PULSE WIDTH MODULATION

• PWM with duty cycle, that

changes in sinusoidal way

• Triangular „carrier”
signal determining
switching frequency

• Sinusoidal duty cycle D -

„control” signal

• Switching commands for

transistors are result of
comparison
 SIN. PWM BASIC DEFINITIONS
• Amplitude modulation ratio:
• Signal can be produced only if Vcontrol <Vtri

• Frequency modulation ratio:

• fs - switching frequency, carrier frequency
• f1 - modulating frequency, fundamental frequency
• For a good reproduction of fundamental frequency and low harmonic distortion,
mf should be high (at least 21)
• Higher switching frequency provides less distorted output voltage,
but more switching losses
 PWM DEAD-TIME (BLANKING TIME)

• Transistors have certain turn-on and turn-

off times

• Before opposite transistor is turned ON,

the other should stop conducting
• Else – short circuit!
• Dead time (blanking time) tΔ is a period
inserted between switching commands,
when none of PWM signals ON
• Typical tΔ
• few µs for IGBT
• Few hundred ns for MOSFET
 OUTPUT VOLTAGE
• Control voltage can be assumed constant during a switching period

• ’Moving average’ of vA0 :

• For sinusoidal reference:

• LC filter can be used to smooth output voltage

• i.e. UPS applications
 PWM OUTPUT VOLTAGE SPECTRUM
• Harmonics present in output voltage
• Fundamental (frequency of control signal) 1

• Switching (integer multiples of switching frequency) mf

• For high mf (high switching frequency) it is easy to filter switching frequency

harmonics – small LC low-pass filter is enough
 OVERMODULATION
• Relation between vcontrol and output voltage vA0 is linear for ma<1

• Condition, when is called overmodulation

• There are moments, when switching stops

• Voltage and current in overmodulation

are highly distorted !

• Voltage rises non-linearly

• Square-wave operation in the upper limit

 HALF-BRIDGE - SUMMARY
• Two transistors with anti-paralel diodes form one inverter leg
• Half-bridge is an inverter formed with one leg
• Square-wave operation is when switches are operated alternately – it forms
rectangular waveform with fixed magnitude and variable frequency
• Sinusoidal PWM is generation of sinusoidal fundamental components by
switching transistors at high frequency, according to sinusoidal control signal
• Linear operating region is limited – maximum output voltage magnitude is Vd/2
• Apart from fundamental component, output volltage contains components of
switching frequency and its multiples
 H-BRIDGE (FULL BRIDGE)
• H-bridge or full bridge comprises of two legs
• Load is between legs – topology looks like H

• Capacitor divider is not needed

• Output voltage vAB=vA0-vB0, possible states:
• TA+ closed and TB– closed, v0 = vd

• TA+ closed and TB+ closed, v0 = 0 vd/2 T1 T3

• TB+ closed and TA– closed, v0 = –vd vd 0 A B

vAB
• TB– closed and TA– closed, v0 = 0
T2 T4
• Like in bridge rectifier, vd/2
load current flows
always through two semiconductors
 SQUARE WAVE H-BRIDGE
• +Vd and -Vd voltages turned on alternately
• Frequency control is possible
• Output voltage magnidude is not controlled
• Magnitude is twice as high as in half-bridge

• Zero states not used – bipolar voltage

vd

vAB(t) THD=48%
t
-vd

4 4 
sin(n / 2)
Vout 1  Vdc  1.27Vdc vout (t )  Vdc  cos(nt  n0 )
  n 1 n
 BIPOLAR PWM
• States with +vd and –vd output are used to generate sinusoidal PWM voltage
• Peak of fundamental frequency component is maximally Vd:
 USE OF ZERO STATES
• Control of output voltage RMS value with constant vd

Vdc

vout(t) t
-Vdc

2Vin 
sin( n / 2)
vout (t )  
 n 1 n
cos n S t   cos n S t  n 
• If zero states are switched on for δ angle, output voltage is
4  
Vout 1  Vdc cos  
 2
 UNIPOLAR PWM
• Phase legs operate independently,
with opposite phase control voltage

• Output zero states are generated

• Compared to bipolar PWM
• Same output voltage and magnitude

• Output voltage is switched twice

in every switching period,
but semiconductor switch
at the same frequency
 H-BRIDGE VS HALF-BRIDGE

FULL-BRIDGE HALF-BRIDGE

• Full DC voltage possible at the output • Half of DC voltage at the

• Half of current for the same power output

• 2 phase arms • Full current at the same

• Useful at high powers since it means less power
paralleling of devices
• Unipolar modulation shifts output voltage • 1 phase arm
harmonics to 2mf
• Useful at low powers due to
simplicity
THREE-PHASE INVERTER
 THREE-PHASE BRIDGE
• Typical inwerter ie. for motor drive
• Often called Voltage Source Inverter (VSI)
• Three inverter legs
• Midpoint/neutral point is usually not available
• Line-to-line voltage is generated

vd/2 T1 T3 T5

vd 0 A B C

T2 T4 T6
vd/2
 SIX-STEP OPERATION
• Each arm operated as square-wave with 60 degrees zero state
• Resulting line voltages are step waveforms

• Fundamental component of line voltage:

3 4 Vdc 6
(Vab )1 (rms)   Vdc  0.78 Vdc
2 2 
 SINUSOIDAL PWM

• Three sinusoidal
references 120⁰ shifted
for each phase arm

• Line voltage is similar to unipolar

modulation in H-bridge

• mf should be a multiple of 3 for

three-phase PWM inverter
• An odd multiple of 3 and even
harmonics are suppressed
 OUTPUT VOLTAGES

• Control signals

A0
• Phase voltages V
B0
V
C0
V
AB

• Line voltages
V

• VAB = VA0 – VB0

BC

•
V

VBC = VB0 – VC0

• VCA = VC0 – VA0
CA
V

t
 PWM LOAD CURRENT
• Load is typically
inductive (motor or L filter)
• Fundamental current
component is sinusoidal

• Triangular ripples related to transistor switching

• Ripple amplitude depends on inductance and switching frequency
 HYSTERESIS CURRENT CONTROL

• Schmitt comparator
instead of sinusoidal PWM

• Sinusoidal reference current i*A

is compared to measured iA

• Boundaries of hysteresis
define switching instants

• Variable switching frequency

 GRID-CONNECTED PWM INVERTER
• H-bridge or 3-phase bridge connected to sinusoidal grid through L filter
• Bi-directional power flow – rectifier or inverter

• Special control methods allow to control current magnitude and phase shift
• Flexible and Independent active and reactive power control

L
W.Cz.
Filtr

• Practical converter for integrating RES (especially PV) with power grid
 LINE CURRENT CONTROL
• Line voltage phasor EA
• Fundamental component of converter voltage VAn
• Phase and magnitude controlled by PWM
• Inductor as a line filter
• Inductor current controlled by Van magnidute and phase shift to EA
 OPERATING MODES
• Switch-mode PWM inverters
• Phase shift between current and voltage can be varied without restrictions!
• Possibility to generate
reactive power
(inductive or capacitive)
• Bi-directional power flow –
inverter and rectifier
operation possible
• Transistor inverters are
four-quadrant devices!
 AC-DC-AC CONVERTERS

• Diode rectifier
• Unidirectional power flow
• Distorted grid current
• Used in typical
motor drives

• Active rectifier
• Power reversal possible
• Used in regenerative
braking
• Typical wind
power converter
 SWITCH-MODE INVERTER: SUMMARY
• Switching leg as a basic „building block”
• Single-phase

• Half-bridge (1 leg)

• H-bridge/full-bridge (2 legs)

• Three-phase bridge (3 legs)

• Sinusoidal PWM – technique to synthesize output waveforms

• Can be operated as inverter and rectifier
• Bi-directional power flow and reactive power control possible

• Widely applied in UPS, motor drives, RES inverters

THANK YOU
FOR ATTENTION