Pulse Width Modulation

PWM is a method used to control the output voltage (amplitude and

frequency) of an inverter by modulating the width of the pulses of the
output waveform
Main advantages of PWM control:
 Filter requirement is reduced
 Amplitude and frequency can be control independently
 Significant reduction in THD of load current (inductive load)

Disadvantages of PWM control:

 Complex control circuit
 Higher switching losses

Two switching schemes for single-phase inverter:

 Bipolar switching scheme
 Unipolar switching scheme
 Pulse Width Modulation
Bipolar switching scheme
fsine
Frequency modulation index
ftri
ftri
Vm,tri
mf =
Vm,sine fsin
Amplitude modulation index
Vm,sin
ma =
Vm,tri

The amplitude of the

fundamental component of
vo is proportional to ma:

V1 = ma Vdc
 Bipolar Switching
Modulating
signal
Q1 and Q2

Carrier signal
Q3 and Q4

(vsine > vtri) : Q1 and Q2 ON; vo=Vdc

(vsine < vtri) : Q3 and Q4 ON; vo=-Vdc
 Bipolar Switching

Modulating
and carrier
signals
 Only two voltage levels
are there in the output
 Easier to implement
Gating
signals  Requires large filter at
the output
 Switching losses are
more
 Poor harmonic
performance
 Better suited for
Output
transformerless full
voltage bridge PV inverter.

Waveforms of Bipolar Switching

Unipolar switching scheme

Q1

Q4

Q3

Q2
Unipolar switching scheme

(vsine > vtri) : Q1 ON, Q4 OFF; va= Vdc

(vsine < vtri) : Q1 OFF, Q4 ON; va= 0
(-vsine > vtri) : Q3 ON, Q2 OFF; vb= Vdc
(-vsine < vtri) : Q3 OFF, Q2 ON; vb= 0

Vab = va - vb
 Unipolar Switching

Modulating
and carrier
 Three voltage levels are
signals there in the output
 Filter requirement is
less at the inverter
Gating output
signals
 Switching losses are
less
 Rather complicated to
implement
 Better harmonic
performance
 Most extensively used
Output
voltage
 Less suited for
transformerless full
bridge PV inverter
Waveforms of Unipolar Switching
Three-phase inverters
 Three-phase inverters
S1
S1 S3 S5
S2
S3
Vdc A
S4 n
B
S5 C
S6 S4
S6 S2

vAo Vdc o

vBo • THDV of line-line and line-n are both 31%

• THDI of line current depends on load,
vCo however it will be smaller than the single
phase
vAB

2 1
Vdc Vdc
vAn 3 3