IEEE International Conference on Technologies for Smart-City Energy Security and Power (ICSESP-2018), March 28-30, 2018, Bhubaneswar,
India
Design of SPWM Based Three Phase Inverter Model
Tanuhsree Bhattacharjee Dr. Majid Jamil
Department of Electrical Engineering Department of Electrical Engineering
Jamia Milia Islamia Jamia Milia Islamia
New delhi, India New delhi, India
er.tanushree1987@gmail.com majidjamil@hotmail.com
Abstract—This paper presents modeling of a gate pulse triggered
three phase 180º voltage source inverter or VSI model supplying
nonlinear loads with its output voltage and current waveforms. A
two level pulse width modulation or PWM generator and a filter
circuit has been proposed here for reduction of total harmonic
distortion or THD of current and voltage outputs of the three
phase voltage source inverter. In this PWM generator the
modulating signal is compared with a high frequency triangular
carrier wave. The PWM technique used here is sinusoidal pulse
width modulation or SPWM technique. With the application of
SPWM and filter the performance of the VSI will be analyzed
using MATLAB SMULINK and FFT toolbox. As a result
reduction of THD can be seen in the VSI model in both current
and voltage output.
Keywords— LC filter, Nonlinear loads, Sinusoidal pulse width
modulation, Three phase voltage source inverter, Total hramonic
distortion.
I. INTRODUCTION
Use of renewable energy resources for generation of
electrical energy has gaining importance from last few
decades. Among all types of renewable energy resources used
for electricity generation, solar energy is gaining more
attention. Solar energy generation module is larger in size as it
has various components like rectifier, Power factor corrector
and DC/AC or DC/DC converter for supplying load. Inverters
with switching power topology have some bad circuit
behaviors like rippled generating voltage input and harmonics
in its output [1]. In high power application areas three phase
inverters are used. It converts input DC voltage in an output
voltage with variable frequency. In MW range industrial
applications use of three phase PWM inverters are gaining
popularity. There are two types of PWM inverters voltage
source PWM and current source PWM inverters depending on
their energy storage components. Voltage source PWM
inverters are having mature control strategies and it is being
used in micro grid system, solar power and bidirectional
energy storage systems [2]. Three phase voltage source
inverters are used widely as it can share large voltage to series
devices with lower harmonics as compared to two level
inverters. Now the GTO devices are replaced by IGBTs in
inverters as it has higher switching frequency and voltage
current ratings. There are various PWM techniques used in
inverter model and among them SPWM or sinusoidal pulse
width modulation technique is widely used because its circuit
is simple and it has rugged controlling schemes. SPWM has
1
Dr. Anup Jana
Department of Electrical & Electronics
Engineering
Bengal College of Engineering &
Technology
Durgapur, India
anup_jana_alstom@yahoo.com
the capability of producing pulses with constant amplitude and
variable duty cycles for each period. By controlling width of
the pulses of SPWM the desired output voltage and reduction
of harmonics are achieved from the inverter [3]. In inverter
circuit distorted sinusoidal pulses because of the presence of
harmonics can be produced while using nonlinear loads. These
harmonics need to be reduced as these can adversely affect the
network like: heating of conductors, heating of transformer
windings, fuse and circuit breaker false operation and
reduction of life of the network. Now for reduction of lower
order harmonics if filter circuit is going to use then it will be
larger in size and very costly while for higher order harmonics
the filter needed will be smaller in size and will be economical
to use. So, for harmonic reduction SPWM techniques will be
used in case of lower order harmonics reduction and filter
circuit will be designed for reduction of harmonics with higher
order [4].
In this paper section II outlines the basics of three phase
voltage source inverter and its simulation model developed. In
section III discussion of total harmonic distortion and its
calculation have been done. Section IV deals with SPWM
technique used in the inverter model and for reduction of
lower order harmonics and its simulation model has been
given. In section V, a LC filter circuit is designed for
reduction of higher order harmonics. Section VI is having all
the simulation result analysis and outcomes with detail
discussion. At last, the conclusions of all above studies with
future work have been given in section VII.
II. THREE PHASE VOLTAGE SOURCE INVERTER
The power converter is mainly used to produce ac output
waveform from a DC input supply. Ideal three phase inverter
with six IGBTs acting as controlled switches is shown in Fig.
1. In this model the desired output voltage can be regulated
and line currents can be sinusoidal at unity power factor. The
inverter can be integrated to a grid by connecting filter circuits
in between [5].
Fig. 1 Standard Three phase inverter model
 IEEE International Conference on Technologies for Smart-City Energy Security and Power (ICSESP-2018), March 28-30, 2018, Bhubaneswar, India
For power conversion the three phase converter needs six
switching topologies which are used in micro grid systems. It
is needed to generate six PWM signals for the operation of
three phase inverters [6].
Depending upon the output waveform type, three phase
inverters that are having voltage wave as the independently
controlled ac output are called voltage source inverters or
VSIs. These inverters are widely used as a voltage source with
controllable voltage, phase and frequency in industrial
applications. In a three phase VSI simultaneous switching of
any leg cannot be done as it will cause a short circuit and
similarly inverter legs cannot be switched off simultaneously
to avoid undefined line voltages and states [7]. In a VSI
voltage is always having same polarity whereas the DC
current polarity reverses and so power reversal takes place.
The VSI is having bidirectional flow of DC current and so
converter valves needs to be bidirectional and as voltage does
not reverse so reverse voltage capability is not needed in turn
off devices. This can be achieved by using IGBTs or
MOSFETs with a parallel reverse diode [8].
Fig. 2 MATLAB Simulink model of voltage source inverter with Gate
pulse triggering
In Fig. 2 a MATLAB Simulink model of three phase
voltage source inverter using IGBTs as the switching device
with gate pulse triggering is being shown. This is a 180º
conduction mode VSI and the switches are triggered as per
calculated duty cycles for each of them. This VSI is supplied
with a DC voltage source of 440 Volts and it is supplying a
nonlinear RL load. The output voltage and current waveform
of the inverter is being analysed. Also THD results are
calculated using FFT (fast Fourier transform) toolbox. At the
DC input side a capacitor is provided for the unipolar voltage.
The value of the capacitor is enough to handle charging or
discharging currents according to the converter switching
sequence.
III. TOTAL HARMONIC DISTORTION
Presence of nonlinear devices in power system network
causes harmonic distortion. Here nonlinear components are
those whose current is not proportional to voltage applied. The
requirement of controlling harmonics is given in IEEE 519-
1992 standard [9]. Calculating effective value of harmonic
2
component in a distorted waveform is known as total
harmonic distortion or THD. THD analysis is important to
measure the quality of output current and voltage of the
inverter. Because of the presence of harmonics the output
waves can become non sinusoidal [10].
ටσ೓೘ೌೣ ௏೓మ
೓ಭభ
ܶ‫ܦܪ‬௏ ൌ (1)
௏భ
Where,
h is the order of harmonics,
Vh is the harmonic voltage,
V1 is the fundamental voltage.
Eq. (1) is used for calculation of THD in output voltage of
the inverter model.
ටσ೓೘ೌೣ ூ೓మ
೓ಭభ
ܶ‫ܦܪ‬ூ ൌ (2)
ூభ
Where,
Ih is the harmonic current
I1 is the fundamental current
Eq. (2) is the equation used for calculation of THD in
output current of the inverter [11].
In MATLAB simulation, FFT toolbox will be used for
the calculation of THD in output voltage and current of the
three phase VSI Simulink model developed.
IV. SPWM TECHNIQUES AND ITS IMPELEMENTATION IN THREE
PHASE VSI
Inverter outputs can be controlled by exercising pulse
width modulation techniques or PWM within the inverter.
PWM method is implemented in inverter by adjustment of ON
and OFF periods of inverter IGBTs. Among all other PWM
techniques SPWM technique is preferable as by using this
method direct control of inverter output voltage and frequency
can be done according to the sine functions used. In this
method the pulse amplitude remains constant while the duty
cycles are different for each period of time. By modulating the
width of pulses, inverter output voltage can control and
reduction of THD can be done [12].
The pulse signal generation in SPWM technique is being
done by comparing the sinusoidal reference signal with
triangular carrier signal of cut off frequency fc. The switching
devices will be ON whenever the reference sinusoidal signals
become greater than the carrier triangular wave [13]. The line
side Fundamental component frequencies and magnitudes can
be varied by varying modulation signal frequency and
magnitude [14]. Here in three phase voltage source inverter
three sine waves are needed as a reference signals and they are
phase shifted by 120° with the desired output voltage
frequency is taken. The signals are compared to a carrier
signal with very high frequency. The waveforms of sine and
triangular wave comparison and also pulse generation is
shown in Fig. 3 [15]
 IEEE International Conference on Technologies for Smart-City Energy Security and Power (ICSESP-2018), March 28-30, 2018, Bhubaneswar, India
Fig. 3 SPWM method: (a) Sinusoidal and triangular comparison;
(b) Generation of switching pulses.
The modulation index or MI of SPWM generator is the
ratio of reference signal amplitude and carrier signal
amplitude as given in eq. (3) [16].
஺ೝ
‫ܯ‬ൌ
஺೎
Where,
M is modulation index of SPWM generator,
Ar is reference signal amplitude,
Ac is carrier signal amplitude.
The modulation index of the SPWM generator needs to
maintain in between 0 to 1. As high the value of MI, the THD
will be less [17].
The SPWM technique is being implemented in the
proposed three phase voltage source inverter as shown in Fig.
4. Here the SPWM generator used is of three phase six pulse
bridge type having carrier frequency of 30 kHz and
modulation index or MI is taken 1 to get the best output result
from the VSI model, delivering a nonlinear load.
Fig. 4 Three-phase Voltage Source Inverter with Sine Pulse Width
Modulation generator
Advantages of using SPWM techniques in VSI [18]:
• Method implementation and controlling is easy.
• Linear operation in controlling outputs.
• Lesser dissipation of power.
•No degradation of device as there is no ageing or temperature
variation related effects.
• Digital microprocessor compatible.
• Switching losses are lower.
• DC power can be utilized more effectively by getting higher
output voltage with the same DC input.
• Lower order harmonics reduction in output voltage and
current of the VSI.
V. DESIGN OF LC FILTER CIRCUIT
In three phase VSI model for reduction of higher order
harmonics its needed to design LC filter circuit. As by using
SPWM tehnique the lower order harmonics can be reduced so,
(3) LC filter should designed as low pass filter for reduction of
higher order harmonics and economic. The inductor used in
the filter circuit should have current rating greater than or
equal to maximum value of inverter output current. The
inductor used can be of small value for reduction of ripples in
output. If we choose a large inductor then to counterbalance
the susbatntial voltage drops as shown in eq. 4, by transients
of load a similar capacotor will be needed [19].
௏ೝ೔೛೛೗೐೘ೌೣ ௑಴
ൌ (4)
௏ೌ೎ ௑೎ ା௑ಽ
ܺ௅ ൌ ʹߨ݂‫ܮ‬ (5)
ଵ
ܺ௖ ൌ (6)
ଶగ௙஼
Where,
Vripple max is maximum ripple output of the filter,
3
 IEEE International Conference on Technologies for Smart-City Energy Security and Power (ICSESP-2018), March 28-30, 2018, Bhubaneswar, India

Vac is the maximum ripple output of the inverter,

XL is the indutor reactance,
Xc is the capacitor reactance,
L is inductance,
C is capacitance,
f is frequency.
Cut off frequency of low pass LC filter is
ଵ
݂௖ ൌ  (7)
ଶగξ௅஼

Charateristics impedance of the filter is

௅
ܼൌට (8)
஼

The low pass LC filter circuit is suitable for the network

where load impedance across C is high and above switching Fig. 6 Three phase VSI output current waveform when gate pulse
triggered
frequency [20].
The LC low pass filter circuit connected in T configuration
and designed in MATLAB simulink for harmonic reduction of
the three phase VSI model is shown in Fig. 5.

Fig. 5 Low pass LC filter circuit in T configartion

Fig. 7 Three phase VSI output voltage waveform when gate pulse
VI. SIMULATION RESULT ANALYSIS triggered
The output voltage and current waveforms of three phase
voltage source inverter with harmonic analysis using FFT
toolbox with Gate pulse triggering and SPWM triggering are
shown below using MATLAB simulink. The data considered
in this model is as follows:
Fundamental frequency = 50 Hz
Modulation index = 1
DC input voltage = 440 V
Carrier Frequency = 30 kHz
LC filter Cutoff Frequency = 5 kHz
The three phase VSI model triggered using gate pulses and
phase delay calculated for 180º conduction mode, the output
current and voltage waveforms are shown in Fig. 6 and 7. The
waveforms are distorted because of the presence of harmonics
and amount of total harmonic distortion has been calculated Fig. 8 Three phase VSI output current THD analysis when gate pulse
and shown in Fig. 8 and 9 by performing FFT analysis. triggered

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 IEEE International Conference on Technologies for Smart-City Energy Security and Power (ICSESP-2018), March 28-30, 2018, Bhubaneswar, India

Fig. 11 Three phase VSI output voltage waveform with SPWM generator
Fig. 9 Three phase VSI output voltage THD analysis when gate pulse
triggered

From Fig. 7 and 8 it can be seen tha the THD present in

output current of the three phase VSI is 42.1% and in output
voltage of VSI is 67.99% when it is only gate pulse triggered.
For reduction of harmonics and THD in output current and
voltage of three phase VSI SPWM generator circuit and LC
filter cicuit has been connected with the VSI model as shown
in Fig. 4 and now the wavforms of output current and voltage
waveform of VSI with SPWM generator and low pass LC
filter is beeing analysed and shown in Fig. 10 and 11. THD of
current and voltage ouputs of VSI, using FFT toolbox in
MATLAB are shown in Fig. 12 and 13.

Fig. 12 Three phase VSI output current THD analysis with SPWM
generator

Fig. 10 Three phase VSI output current waveform with SPWM generator
and filter

Fig. 13 Three phase VSI output voltage THD analysis with SPWM
generator

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 IEEE International Conference on Technologies for Smart-City Energy Security and Power (ICSESP-2018), March 28-30, 2018, Bhubaneswar, India
As shown in Fig. 11 and 12 the total harmonic distortion of
the three phase VSI with SPWM generator and LC filter
connection is 0.88% in output current waveform and 3.98% in
output voltage waveform. So, it can be seen that with the use
of SPWM generator and LC filter the total hramonic distortion
has been reduced to a great extent.
VII. CONCLUSION
In this paper, firstly a three phase voltage source inverter
model working at 440 V DC is designed using MTLAB
Simulink and then gate pulses are given in a calculated phase
delay interval for the device switching. Its output current and
voltage waveform with harmonic analysis is being done with
FFT toolbox. To reduce the harmonic content in output of VSI
a PWM technique which is sinusoidal pulse width modulation
or SPWM is being introduced and also a low pass LC filter
circuit is being designed. The three pahse VSI then gets
connected with the SPWM generator and LC filter circuit and
its output waveforms are being analyzed to find THD
response. As a result of application of SPWM technique with
the filter circuit the THD is being reduced below 5% level for
both current and voltage output which is given in IEEE
standard. So, the effectiveness of the methods being used for
reduction of THD in VSI output has been successfully
achieved.
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