Introduction to Power Electronics

ECEN 4797/5797

Robert W. Erickson
University of Colorado, Boulder
Fall 2013

1.1 Introduction to Power Processing

Power
input

Switching
converter

Power
output

Control
input

Dc-dc conversion:
Ac-dc rectification:
Dc-ac inversion:
Ac-ac cycloconversion:

Change and control voltage magnitude

Possibly control dc voltage, ac current
Produce sinusoid of controllable
magnitude and frequency
Change and control voltage magnitude
and frequency

The switching converter is the brain of the power system, allowing

conversion of voltage and current levels with high efficiency, plus control
2

Control is invariably required

Power
input

Switching
converter

Power
output

Control
input
Feedforward

Feedback
Controller
Reference
3

Traditional analog
feedback
Sophisticated control
using inexpensive digital
microcontrollers

Electric Vehicle
Tesla Model S

Functions of the power

electronics:
1. Convert the DC battery
voltage to the variable AC
required to drive the AC motor
240 V battery
Variable-frequency, variablevoltage AC drives the motor
AC motor propels the rear
axle
Up to 330 kW (acceleration)
Up to 60 kW regenerative
braking
2. Control charging of the battery
Interface to 240 V 60 Hz 1 100 A circuit in garage
Control AC current waveform to be sinusoidal, unity
power factor
Control charging of battery to maximize life
4

Hybrid Vehicles
Prius

Power Electronics Module:

Convert the DC battery voltage to the

variable AC required to drive the AC motor

Includes dc-dc boost converter and dc3ac inverter

Control system can operate in all-electric

mode or in hybrid gas+electric mode

Partial-power electronics

Under the hood:

Gas engine
Power electronics module
5

Variable-Speed Wind Turbine Systems

AC generator produces wild ac:
frequency and amplitude change
with wind speed
Utility operates with constant frequency
(60 Hz) constant voltage ac
Power electronics changes the
frequency and voltage, and also
implements control functions

Cycloconverter, or
DC link system: rectifier, boost dcdc, inverter

Photovoltaic Solar Power Systems

Grid-tied solar: inverter converts
dc of solar panels to ac for grid
Stand-alone solar: dc-dc
converter interfaces solar
panels to batteries
A solar roof shingle system

PV
input
12100 V

Buck-boost
converter
(noninverting)

+
48 V

Controller

DC
Transformer
1:8
Zero-voltage
switching

Output

400 V

to
inverter

A standalone photovoltaic power system

The system constructed in ECEN 4517/5517 Power

Electronics and Photovoltaic Systems Laboratory

Computer power supply systems

Battery-powered and servers

iac(t)

ac line input
85265 Vrms

Display
backlighting

Buck
converter

Microprocessor

Charger
PWM
Rectifier

vac(t)

Inverter

Lithium
battery

Power
management

Boost
converter

Disk
drive

Laptop power system

iPhone power system and charger

Computer servers
Server farms

High Efficiency is Essential

=

Pout
Pin

1 1
Ploss = Pin Pout = Pout

High efficiency leads to low

power loss within converter
Small size and reliable operation
is then feasible
A good measure of converter
performance is the ratio of
output power to loss:
Pout

=
Ploss 1

Converters generally are losslimited, and technologies that

can produce large output power
while incurring small loss result
in small size and low cost

Pin

Converter

Large input power

10

Small
converter

Pout

Large output power

Devices available to the circuit designer

11

Devices available to the circuit designer

Signal processing: avoid magnetics

12

Devices available to the circuit designer

Power processing: avoid lossy elements

13

Power loss in an ideal switch

Switch closed: v(t)=0
Switch open:

i(t)=0

In either event: p(t)=v(t)i(t)=0

Ideal switch consumes zero power

14

A simple dc-dc converter example

Input source: 100V

Output load: 50V, 10A, 500W
How can this converter be realized?

15

Dissipative realization
Resistive voltage divider

16

Dissipative realization
Series pass regulator: transistor operates in
active region

17

Use of a SPDT switch

I
10 A

+
Vg
100 V

vs(t)

vs(t)

Vg
Vs = DVg

switch
position:

DTs

0
(1 D) Ts

18

v(t)
50 V

The switch changes the dc voltage level

vs(t)

Vg
Vs = DVg

switch
position:

DTs

0
(1 D) Ts

DC component of vs(t) = average value:

19

D = switch duty cycle

0D1
Ts = switching period
fs = switching frequency
= 1/Ts

Addition of low pass filter

Addition of (ideally lossless) LC low-pass filter, for
removal of switching harmonics:

Choose filter cutoff frequency f0 much smaller than switching frequency

fs

This circuit is known as the buck converter

20

Addition of control system

for regulation of output voltage

21

The boost converter

2

L
Vg

5Vg
4Vg

3Vg
2Vg
Vg
0
0

0.2

0.4

0.6

D
22

0.8

A single-phase inverter

Vg

vs(t)
+

+ v(t)
2

Load

vs(t)

H-bridge

23

Modulate switch
duty cycles to
obtain sinusoidal
low-frequency
component

Introduction to Power Electronics

ECEN 4797/5797
Instructor: Prof. Bob Erickson

Office: ECOT 356

Telephone: (303) 492-7003
Email: rwe@colorado.edu
Office hours: To be announced
Telephone office hours: To be announced

Course web site:

http://ece.colorado.edu/~ecen5797
Includes lecture slides, handouts, homework
assignments, links to online lecture files

Textbook:

Erickson and Maksimovic, Fundamentals of Power Electronics, second edition,

Springer, ISBN 0-7923-7270-0.

Prerequisite:

A 3-4 semester sequence of undergraduate EE circuits and electronics courses

(at Univ. of Colorado: ECEN 3250)
24

Coursework in Power Electronics

at the University of Colorado

Power electronics courses

ECEN 4797/5797 (this course): Intro to power
electronics (Fall)

ECEN 5807 Modeling and Control of Power Electronics Systems (Alt

Spring semesters, including S 15)
ECEN 5817 Resonant and Soft-Switching Techniques in Power
Electronics (Alt Spring semesters, including S 14)
ECEN 4517/5517 Power Electronics Laboratory (Spring)

Professional Certificate in Power Electronics

ECEN 5797, 5807, and 5817
Formats for this course
On-campus, for senior or graduate credit
Web-based lectures: recorded with ECHO 360
system, with viewing through the Flash viewer. For
technical help, contact
25

Grading
Homework
Due at beginning of class on date listed on Lecture Schedule
web page
Submit online via D2L dropbox; late homework not accepted
Homework counts 50% of grade
You may speak with others about the homework, but turn in
your own work
Homework and exam problems of additional depth and
complexity for those earning graduate credit; separately
graded
Exams
Midterm exam: one-week take-home exam, 17% of grade
Final exam: five-day take-home exam, 33% of grade
26
See course schedule page
for dates

Desire-2-Learn (D2L) Site

learn.colorado.edu

Log on with your campus IdentiKey

Dropbox for submission of homework and exams

Scan, save as pdf, then upload to the D2L dropbox
For on-campus students: a scanner is available within the SRC
Automatic deadline at beginning of class
A log of your grades for all assignments
When grading is complete, your grade will appear online
Running total of your overall course grade
Grader will post comments and annotations online
Homework solutions
Posted within D2L after submission deadline
Student discussion forum
You can post questions and discussions with your classmates
Normally questions will not be answered by Prof. Erickson
Posting of homework solutions in the forum is prohibited
27

Off-campus students
Viewing of lectures
Lectures are normally available online by the end of the day of the
on-campus lecture
Assignments
Use the D2L site to upload your pdf file: same as for on-campus
students
Generally, by Friday the lectures will finish covering the material
needed for the homework assignment due the following Friday. So
you can work the homework over the weekend.
Check out the D2L student forums
Due dates and times are the same as for the on-campus students
Educational Officers
Not needed
See course vitals page
Link to academic calendar for CAETE students, including add/drop
28

Key dates

Drop deadlines

September 11: last day to drop the course and receive full tuition refund, with
no W grade appearing on transcript
November 1: last day to drop the course via MyCUInfo

Tentative exam dates

Midterm exam: 1 week take-home exam. Available through D2L on Oct. 18,
due on Oct. 25.
Final exam: Four day take-home exam. Available through D2L on Dec. 13,
due on Dec. 17.

Grades assigned in December appear on your permanent

university transcript
Campus holidays
Labor day: Sept. 2
Fall break / Thanksgiving holiday: Nov. 25-29

29

1.3 Elements of power electronics

Power electronics incorporates concepts from the fields of
analog circuits
electronic devices
control systems
power systems
magnetics
electric machines
numerical simulation

30

Part I. Converters in equilibrium

Inductor waveforms

Averaged equivalent circuit

Predicted efficiency

Discontinuous conduction mode

Transformer isolation
31

Switch realization: semiconductor devices

The IGBT

Switching loss

32

Part I. Converters in equilibrium

2. Principles of steady state converter analysis

3. Steady-state equivalent circuit modeling, losses, and efficiency
4. Switch realization
5. The discontinuous conduction mode
6. Converter circuits

33

Part II. Converter dynamics and control

Closed-loop converter system

Averaging the waveforms

Small-signal
averaged
equivalent circuit
34

Part II. Converter dynamics and control

7.

Ac modeling

8.

Converter transfer functions

9.

Controller design

10.

Input filter design

11.

Ac and dc equivalent circuit modeling of the discontinuous

conduction mode

12.

Current-programmed control

35

Part III. Magnetics

transformer
design

the
proximity
effect

transformer
size vs.
switching
frequency

36

Part III. Magnetics

13.

Basic magnetics theory

14.

Inductor design

15.

Transformer design

37