Project Team
Students
Chloe Scarazzo
Electrical Engineering
Harrisburg
Faculty Mentors
Dr. Habib Ullah
Harrisburg
School of Science, Engineering, and Technology
Project
https://sites.psu.edu/mcreu/files/formidable/2/2024-07-22/MCREU_poster_inverters.pdf
Project Video
Project Abstract
An inverter is a device that converts DC power to AC power using a switching pattern. This inverter was designed to be used off-grid, and it is connected to the household’s load. Inverters are often designed to use pulse width modulation techniques, such as sinusoidal pulse width modulation (PWM), to control the inverter circuit’s switches. This technique involves comparing a sine wave and a triangle wave, and making an output signal with varying duty cycles based on this comparison.
The output of the inverter is then put through a filter, which makes a nearly pure sine wave output. The filter used in this inverter design was an LCL filter, which uses two inductors, a capacitor, and a resistor to output an almost pure sine wave with a Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) under 5% as per the guidelines of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). This AC output can then be used for nearly all applications.
At lower loads, the THD of the output for this inverter design can be under 1% but at higher loads it can be approximately 2%. The THD can be lowered by increasing the switching frequency. Increasing the switching frequency is generally unnecessary and can be inefficient because a higher switching frequency can lead to more ohmic loss.
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