A SEMINAR PAPER

ON

THE STAGE OF THE DESIGN OF 1.5kVA DC TO

AC POWER INVERTER

1.0

INTRODUCTION
The 1.5kVA DC to AC inverter is an electronic device that converts direct current
(DC) to alternating current (AC) through the employment of appropriate transformers,
switching and control circuitries. Power inverters are commonly used to supply AC power
from DC sources such as solar panels or batteries. These power inverters come in various
types and sizes. There are three main types of inverters namely; the square wave inverter,
the modified square inverter and the pure sine wave inverter. They all have their
advantages and disadvantages. The square wave and modified square wave inverters are
simple to construct with a relatively low cost. They both have similar outputs except that
the output goes to zero volts for a time before switching positive or negative. They are
compatible with most electronic devices except for sensitive or specialized equipments,
e.g. laser printers, with the modified square wave having an edge over the square wave
inverter. On the other hand, a pure sine wave inverter produces a nearly perfect sine wave
output (<3% total harmonic distortion) that is essentially the same as utility-supplied grid
power. Thus it is compatible with all AC electronic devices. Its design is more complex,
and costs 5 or 10 times more per unit power.

1.1

HISTORY OF INVERTERS
The origins of electromechanical inverters give a good understanding of the term

inverter. Early AC-to-DC converters used an induction or synchronous AC motor directlyconnected to a generator also called dynamo so that the generator's commutator reverses its
connections at exactly the right moments to produce DC. A later development is the synchronous

converter, in which the motor and generator windings are combined into one armature, with slip
rings at one end and a commutator at the other and only one field frame.
Furthermore, it is strongly debated that David Prince coined this commonly used
engineering term inverter. In 1925, he published an article where he cited the inverter. His
article contains almost all vital elements required by modern inverters and it is the earliest of
such publication to use that term in the open literature. His article explained how he took the
rectifier circuit and inverted it, turning in direct current at one end and drawing out alternating
current at the other (Owen, Edward L. 1996). Hence, an inverter is an inverted converter.
1.3

CONTRIBUTION TO KNOWLEDGE
a. Expansion of knowledge of basic electronics.
b.

Provision of a medium for harmonizing theoretical and practical

aspects of power systems and electronics.

1.4

1.4.1

INVERTER SPECIFICATIONS AND COMPONENTS

SPECIFICATIONS
i.
ii.
iii.

1.4.2

1500VA 1200W
220-240V AC
50HZ

COMPONENTS

i.
ii.
iii.

Transformer
Power MOSFET
Relay

iv.
v.
vi.
vii.
viii.
ix.

Oscillator
Overload Protector
Battery shutdown device
Voltage regulator
Timer relay
Lustrous housing

BLOCK DIAGRAM OF A BASIC INVERTER

Figure 1: Inverter System Block Diagram. (Source: http://www.circuittoday.com)

1.5

INVERTERS AND APPLICATIONS

Power inverters are devices which can convert electrical energy of DC form into that of AC.

They come in different shapes and sizes, from low power functions such as powering a car radio
to that of backing up a building in case of power outage. Inverters can come in many different
varieties, differing in price, power, efficiency and purpose. The purpose of a DC/AC power
inverter is typically to take DC power supplied by a battery, such as a 12 volt car battery, and
transform it into a 220 volt AC power source operating at 50 Hz, emulating the power available
at an ordinary household electrical outlet.

Figure 2 : Image of a typical inverter Source: http://www.smith-root.com

Power inverters are used today for many tasks like powering appliances in a car such as cell
phones, radios and televisions. They also come in handy for consumers who own camping
vehicles, boats and at construction sites where an electric grid may not be as accessible to hook
into. Inverters allow the user to provide AC power in areas where only batteries can be made
available, allowing portability and freeing the user of long power cords
2.0

OVERVIEW OF AN INVERTER
According to Merlin Grin, an inverter is a device which functions as an automatic switch

when Mains power supply is interrupted. In other words, it serves as a back-up for Mains supply.
The inverter consists of four stages; the transformer stage, the metal oxide semi-conductor field
effect transistor (MOSFET) stage, the oscillator stage and the automatic control stage. Its low
voltage power inversion is carried out with two steps. The first being the conversion of the low
voltage DC power to a high voltage DC source, and the second step being the conversion of the
high DC source to an AC waveform using pulse width modulation. Another method to complete
the desired outcome would be to first convert the low voltage DC power to AC, and then use a
transformer to boost the voltage to 220 volts. The components employed in the design of a power
inverter include; transistor, transformer, metal oxide semi-conductor field effect transistor

(MOSFET), oscillator, relay, integrated circuits etc. These components are connected in a closed
path to make up the circuit.

2.1

THE POWER MOSFET

A power MOSFET is a specific type of metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor

(MOSFET) designed to handle significant power levels. Compared to the other power
semiconductor devices, for example, the insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) and thyristor,
its main advantages are high commutation speed and good efficiency at low voltages. It shares
with the IGBT an isolated gate that makes it easy to drive. It was made possible by the evolution
of CMOS technology, developed for manufacturing Integrated circuits in the late 1970s. The
power MOSFET shares its operating principle with its low-power counterpart, the lateral
MOSFET . The power MOSFET is the most widely used low-voltage (that is, less than 200 V)
switch. It can be found in most power supplies, DC to DC converters, and low voltage motor
controllers.

A Power MOSFET consists of a four terminal component; the source, drain, body and the
gate. The source is where the charge carriers enter the gate channel while the drain is where they
leave it. The charge carriers are either electrons (n-channel) or holes (p-channel). The body is the
underlying semiconductor layer that is doped the opposite way to the source and drain. A power

MOSFET may be thought of as a variable resistor whose drain-source resistance is a function of

the voltage difference on the gate-source pins. If there is no potential difference between the
gate-source, then the drain-source resistance is very high and may be thought of as an open
switch, so no current may flow through the drain-source pins. When there is a large gate-source
potential difference, the drain-source resistance is very low and may be thought of as closed
switch, current may flow through the drain-source pins. Power MOSFETs have a different
structure than the lateral MOSFET: as with most power devices, their structure is vertical and not
planar. In a planar structure, the current and breakdown voltage ratings are both functions of the
channel dimensions (respectively width and length of the channel), resulting in inefficient use of
the "silicon estate". With a vertical structure, the voltage rating of the transistor is a function of
the doping and thickness of the N epitaxial layer (see cross section), while the current rating is a
function of the channel width. This makes possible for the transistor to sustain both high
blocking voltage and high current within a compact piece of silicon.
It is worth noting that power MOSFETs with lateral structure exist. They are mainly used in
high-end audio amplifiers. Their advantage is a better behaviour in the saturated region
(corresponding to the linear region of a bipolar transistor) than the vertical MOSFETs. Vertical
MOSFETs are designed for switching applications, so they are only used in On or Off states.

Figure 3 Power Mosfet Images

Source http://www.en.wikepedia.org

2.2 The Driver (MOSFET) Design

The oscillator produces small current, but the driver stage is responsible for amplifying the
voltage. The driver used for this project is a power MOSFET based on the fact that it does not
suffer from thermal breakdown and majorly it aids paralleling since it has a positive onresistance unlike bipolar transistors which will require a current equalising resistor. The numbers
of the MOSFET used which is a function of the power handling capacity of the inverter
determines the output from the MOSFET circuit.

VGS

Figure 4: MOSFET Circuit arrangement

2.2.1 Gate Limiting Resistance (RG): This is used to avoid the breakdown of the gate oxide
caused by electrostatic discharge (Horowitz &Winfield, 1989).

2.2.2 Pull down Resistance (RGS): This is to prevent damage that may be caused due to floating
and therefore forms a circuit path for static discharge (Horowitz &Winfield, 1989).
2.2.3 Threshold Voltage(VGS (th)): The minimum gate source which produces N-type inversion
and hence drains current is called threshold voltage (VGS (th))
2.3 MOSFET Parameters Determination and Selection Procedure
The kind of MOSFET to be used is based on the magnitude of the drain current, switching
frequency and the ease at which MOSFET can be combined to meet the power handling capacity
of the inverter (1500VA). Considering different MOSFETs available in market, IRF250 will be
chosen based on the factors stated above.

2.4 Determination of IRF250 Switching Frequency

This has to do with the rate at which the MOSFET turns on and off. In determining the switching
frequency of the MOSFET, it is required to know the following parameters:
2.4.1 Td (off) Turn-off Delay Time
Turn-off delay time is the time from when the gatesource voltage drops below 90% of the gate
drive voltage to when the drain current drops below 90% of the specified current(Jonathan ,
2006).
2.4.2 Tr Rise Time
Rise time is the time between the drain current rising from 10% to 90%, start to stop of the
specified current(Jonathan ,2006).
2.4.3 Tf Fall Time

Fall time is the time between the drain current falling from 90% to 10%, start to stop of the
specified current(Jonathan ,2006).
2.4.4 Td (on) Turn-on Delay Time
Turn-on delay time is the time from when the gatesource voltage rises past 10% of the gate drive
voltage to when the drain current rises past 10% of the specified current(Jonathan ,2006).
The total time required for the switching can be obtained by adding these parameters together.
This is given by the equation 3.5 below (International Rectifier document, 2002):
Total time = Td (off) + Tr+ Tf + Td (on).........................................................................1.0
Switching frequency (F) is then given in eqn.3.6,
F=

1
Total time ......................................................................................................1.1

2.5 Determination of the Numbers of MOSFET Required

The numbers of the MOSFET (NO) required for paralleling given depends on the maximum
handling capacity of the inverter (1200W) and the maximum power dissipation of the MOSFET.
The maximum power dissipation of IRF250 MOSFET is 150W (IRF250 Data Sheet, 1999).
N o=

Inverter handling capacity

MOSFET maximum power dessipation ..............................................................1.2

N 0=

1200
=8
150

It is better to use just eight MOSFETs i.e. four paralleled against four for the following reasons:

(1) Any number of MOSFETs can be paralleled up, but note that the gate capacitance adds
up as you parallel more MOSFETs, and eventually the MOSFET driver will not be able
to drive them( International Rectifier document, 2002).
(2) The higher the number of MOSFETs, the higher the power dissipation and this leads to
higher rate of discharge of the battery.
MOSFET is very easy to parallel up unlike bipolar transistor which will require the use of
equalising resistors since the collector current increases as the number of the transistor increases.

Figure 5: The driver circuit

2.6 Determination of the Power Dissipation (PD)
The power dissipation when the MOSFET is turned on can be calculated using the equation 1.3
below (Jonathan, 2006):

PD =I 2D R DS (ON ) ....................................................................................................1.3
Where,

and

PD

R DS(ON)

is the power dissipation,

2
D

is the square of the maximum continuous current,

is the drain-source on state resistance.

3.0

CONCLUSION
The 1.5kVA inverter will be designed and constructed as an alternative source of power for

an office using a power MOSFET. The design will put into consideration the ease of accessing
components and at a reduced cost. All circuits to be used for the design will be carried out on the
printed circuit board (PCB) software (software for circuit design and simulation) for system
simulation before the major design.
This project will expose me to know that in designing and constructing any system, step by
step process is required. This will also add to my mentality that cordial human interaction is very
important in all ramifications and also to know the importance of more than one hand in
achieving a given task.

REFERENCES

Horowitz P. & Winfield H. (1989), Art of Electronics (Second Ed.) .Cambridge University
Press. Pp 111-117, Pp 312.

Ian F. Crowley and Ho Fong Leung (2011),

PWM Techniques: A pure sine wave inverter,

Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Inverter System Block diagrams, Available at: http://www.circuittoday.com
Inverter Images, Available at: http://www.smith-root.com
Inverter Output Waveform(2011), PC Guide.
Inverter waveforms, Available at: http://puresinewave.com
Jim Doucet, Dan Eggleston & Jeremy Shaw(2006), DC/AC pure sine wave inverter,
Worcester polytechnic institute.

Owen, Edward L. (January/February 1996). "Origins of the Inverter". IEEE Industry

Applications Magazine: History Department (IEEE) 2 (1): 6466. Date 25/11/2010

Roland Anthony, Design and construction of 600VA inverter, Regent University College of Science
and Technology, Ghana.

Theraja B.L, & Theraja A.K,(2005).Electrical Technology .Scand &company

1145- 1147,Pp 2408, Pg 2429-2730.

Ltd.,india.Pg