Kwame Nkrumah University of

Science & Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

EE 366
POWER ELECTRONICS
Dr Francis Boafo Effah
Dept. of Electrical/Electronic Engineering
Faculty of Electrical & Computer Eng.
College of Engineering

1
Unit 1
Introduction to Power
Electronics

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 What is Power Electronics?
SIMPLE DEFINITION:
CONTROL/PROCESSING OF ELECTRICAL ENERGY USING
SEMICONDUCTOR SWITCHES AND ENERGY STORAGE ELEMENTS
(Inductors and Capacitors)

❖ Power Electronics is an ENABLING technology – it enables

other technologies to function:
▪ Computers and Communications
▪ Energy networks – smart grids – smart homes – renewable energies, etc.
▪ Electric and hybrid road transport
▪ More Electric Airplanes (e.g. Boeing 787)
▪ All Electric Ships
▪ Electric Motor Drives
❖ Power Electronics has a vital role to play in energy efficiency

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Power Electronics Applications (1)

1 cm
1W

200 m
2 GW

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Power Electronics Applications (2)
❖ Applications are vast spanning a huge power range
– some examples are given below.
❖ < 1kW
▪ Small electronic power supplies (e.g. PCs)
▪ White goods (e.g. washing machines etc)
▪ Lighting
❖ 1kW to 100kW (a 2 liter car engine is about 100 kW)
▪ Industrial motor drives (pumps, fans, robots etc.)
▪ Lifts
▪ Transportation (e.g. electric vehicles)
▪ Uninterruptible power supplies (UPS)

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 Power Electronics Applications (3)
❖ 100kW to 1MW
▪ Larger motor drives (paper mills, steel mills, etc.)
▪ Transportation (Trolleybuses, trams, etc.)
❖ 1MW to 10MW
▪ Very large industrial motor drives
▪ Industrial processes (furnaces, etc.)
▪ Transportation (e.g. Railway locomotives)
❖ 10MW to 1000+MW
▪ Transportation (e.g. ships – Frigate (20MW))
▪ Control of electricity distribution – High voltage DC links
(HVDC) – e.g. UK–France link (2000MW at ± 270kV DC)

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Utilization of Different switching
devices in Power Electronics

This is snapshot for a few years ago – boundaries are continually changing
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Some examples of where and why we use
Power Electronics
Power supplies for TVs, PCs, Laptops, mobile phones
Washing machines, Vacuum cleaners, Air conditioning, Fridges
Interface with Renewables (photovoltaics-PV)
Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs)
Connecting large power systems via DC (HVDC)
Max Power Point Tracking
Levitated Trains/Electric Trains
Different solar irradiation
Voltage
All/More Electric Airplanes

Current
Power

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 Why Power Electronics?
❖Power Electronics is an essential technology
in all future sustainable energy scenarios
❖Underpins the low-carbon economy
❖It is the only technology that can deliver
efficient and flexible control of electrical
energy.
❖The share of electrical energy controlled by
power electronics is expected to increase
from 40% in 2000 to 85% in 2025

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Why use switching? (1)
i Open Switch: i = 0, V = ? (depends on rest of circuit)

V Power Dissipation = Vi = 0

i
Closed Switch: V = 0, i = ? (depends on rest of circuit)
Power Dissipation = Vi = 0
V
“Switching” means that power electronic
converters are theoretically 100% efficient.
Switching on and off gives pulsed energy flow –
that’s why we also need energy storage
elements to give “smooth” control of power
flow.
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Why use switching? (2)
i Open Switch: i = 0, V = ? (depends on rest of circuit)

V Power Dissipation = Vi = 0

i Closed Switch: V = 0, i = ? (depends on rest of circuit)

V
Power Dissipation = Vi = 0

Energy storage elements smooth power flow:

Inductors smooth current – they don’t like you
trying to change their current since Energy=½Li2
Capacitors smooth voltage - they don’t like you
trying to change their voltage since Energy=½Cv2

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 Semiconductor Switches (1)
❖ Devices similar to those you have already
heard of (MOSFET, BJT, Diodes etc.) are
used – but they are often much bigger –
called “Power Devices.”
❖ In many electronic circuits (e.g. amplifiers),
devices are biased so that they operate in
their linear region – unsuitable for power
electronics – too much heat is generated in
the device.

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Semiconductor Switches (2)
❖ In power electronics, devices are either OFF
(no base or gate drive) or ON (sufficient base
or gate drive to “saturate” the device)
❖ There are three basic classes of switching
devices:
▪ Controlled devices (“transistors” of various kinds) –
ON/OFF can be controlled by a gate or base terminal
▪ Uncontrolled devices (Diodes) – external circuit
conditions determine ON/OFF
▪ Latching Devices (Thyristors and Triacs) – special
devices with ON control via a gate, but OFF
determined by external circuit conditions
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 Power Electronic systems (1)
Power Converter
SUPPLY LOAD
Semiconductor switches,
Magnetics, Capacitors

Supply Control feedback,

Control Health, Protection
measurements Load Measurements
signals

Controller- Microprocessors / DSPs/ FPGAs /

VLSI/ digital/ analogue electronics

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 Power Electronic systems (2)
❖ The power converter matches the “supply”
characteristics to the “load” characteristics.
❖ An appropriate power converter exists for all load and
supply types (AC, DC, single phase, polyphase, fixed
frequency, variable frequency, fixed voltage, variable
voltage etc.)
❖ Power flow may be bidirectional (supply  load) or
unidirectional (supply  load)
❖ Switching technology gives very efficient power
conversion
❖ Digital control provides sophisticated functionality,
monitoring and protection capability for many systems
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 Course Outline
❖ Overview of Power Semiconductor Switches;
❖ Controlled Rectifiers: rectification, Inversion and
Commutation;
❖ DC-DC Converters: Step-Up, Step-Down Choppers
and Switch-Mode Regulators;
❖ Static Inverters: Square-wave Single-phase and
Three-phase Inverters, Pulse-Width-Modulated Single-
phase and Three-phase Inverters, Multi-Level
Inverters;
❖ A.C. Voltage Regulators: phase and integral control.

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Course Objectives (1)
❖ Provide an introduction to the technology of Power
Electronics at a level suitable for BSc Electrical and
Electronic Engineering students
❖ Demonstrate the key concepts using examples from
relatively low current applications (e.g. Electronic
Power Supplies)
❖ Cover the following specific topics:
▪ Introduction to power semiconductor devices
and their use
▪ Methods of analysis for power electronic
circuits

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Course Objectives (2)
❖ Cover the following specific topics:
▪ Power supplies for electronic equipment -
requirements
▪ Linear and switching regulators
▪ DC-DC converters
▪ Single-phase diode rectifiers
▪ Three-phase thyristor rectifiers
▪ Voltage source inverters
▪ High-power (multi-level) converter.

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Teaching and Learning Methods
❖ 24 lecture slots
❖ Used for lectures and examples classes as
appropriate
❖ Several example sheets cover the material in the course
❖ You need to do these!
❖ Two simulation projects
❖ Switch – Mode Power Supply (Flyback circuit)
❖ Multi-pulse Thyristor Rectifier
❖ Methods of assessment
❖ 15 % simulation project
❖ 15 % mid-semester examination – 1 hour
❖ 70% written test – 2 hours
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Recommended Books
❖ There are no essential books for this course.
However, the following books are excellent
and cover most of the material in this course.
▪ POWER ELECTRONICS: Converters, Applications and
Design by Mohan, Underland and Robbins, Wiley
Publishing, 2003
▪ High Power Converters and AC Drives, 2nd Edition by
Bin Wu and M. Narimani, Wiley, 2017
▪ Editor-in-Chief, Muhammad H. Rashid (2011), Power
Electronics Handbook, Third Edition, Elsevier Inc.

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Syllabus and Teaching Schedule (1)
Week Lecture slot Topic
Introduction to power electronics,
application areas, examples of power control
using ideal switches.
Semiconductors as switches.
1 1-2 Basic assumptions for analysis of power
electronic circuits, zero loss switching,
inductance (capacitance) and the voltage
(current) time area method.

Controlled switch/diode commutation.

Examples using simple circuit topologies.
Review of power semiconductor technology,
2 3-4 current devices, speed, advantages and
disadvantages, application considerations.

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Syllabus and Teaching Schedule (2)
Week Lecture slot Material

Calculation of losses in power devices,

conduction loss, switching loss, control of
switching loss and safe operating area.
3 5-6 Power device ratings and their interpretation.
Steady state heatsink calculations.
Power supplies for electronic equipment,
requirements. Traditional linear power supply.
4 7-8
Linear regulators. Switch-mode power supply
(SMPS), basic arrangement and advantages.
Flyback switching regulators. Circuit topology
and principles of operation (non-isolated).
9-10
5 Isolated flyback converter, function of two
winding inductor. Boost converter.

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Syllabus and Teaching Schedule (3)
Week Lecture slot Material
Forward switching regulators. Circuit topology
and principles of operation (single transistor non-
6 11-12
isolated version). Isolated forward converter,
function of three winding transformer, principle
of feedback control. Comparison between
7 13-14 forward converter and flyback converter.
Single phase diode bridge rectifiers, inductive
and capacitive smoothing, overlap, voltage
15-16
8 doubler circuit.

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Syllabus and Teaching Schedule (4)
Week Lecture slot Material
3-phase diode rectifiers and thyristor converters
High-power (multi-pulse) diode and thyristor
9 17-18
circuits

10 19-20
PWM DC/AC voltage source converter circuits
11
21-22
High power (multi-level) voltage source
converter circuits

12 AC voltage regulators
23-24
Miscellaneous worked examples, contingency
and revision

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Analysis of Power Electronic Circuits
ASSUMPTIONS FOR ANALYSIS
❖ All semiconductor switches are treated as “IDEAL” switches
No forward voltage drop when they are conducting (ON)
No leakage current when they are blocking (OFF)
Instantaneous switching between the ON and OFF states
❖ Inductors are treated as “IDEAL.”
Zero resistance in the winding(s)
No power loss in the magnetic material (Zero eddy-current loss
and hysteresis loss)
❖ Capacitors are treated as “IDEAL.”
Zero series resistance in the capacitor
Zero power loss in the dielectric

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 Inductors and Capacitors (1)
❖ When dealing with power electronic circuits, it is
essential to consider inductors and capacitors as
energy storage elements.
❖ The abstract notion of inductors and capacitors as
impedances (jL and 1/jC) is often USELESS in
analysing power electronic circuits.
❖ Impedance is a concept of “Phasor Analysis”. “Phasor
Analysis” relates to “steady state” sinusoidal (AC)
conditions. These conditions do not apply to most
power electronic circuits.
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Inductors and Capacitors (2)
❖ Phasor analysis is a “Frequency Domain”
method where we analyse how a (linear)
circuit operates at different frequencies for
sinusoidal inputs.
❖ To understand power electronic circuits, we
need to look at the waveforms as a function of
time – we need a “Time Domain” analysis.
❖ This means differential equations for the energy
storage components.

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 Inductors
VL (t ) = L
di (t )
i
+ dt
Often this is more usefully stated in the
integral form
L v t2
1
- i (t 2 ) − i (t1 ) =  VL (t )dt
L t1
This leads to the “Voltage–time area rule.”
Change in current = (area under voltage versus time curve)/Inductance

VTA Shorthand for Voltage-Time-Area

I =
L
We will use this “rule” extensively in analysing power electronic circuits

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 Inductors: Special Case
From before, for an inductor, we had:
𝑡2
1
𝑖 𝑡2 − 𝑖 𝑡1 = න 𝑉𝐿 𝑡 𝑑𝑡
𝐿
𝑡1

If the current at t2 is equal to the current at t1 then:

𝑡2
1
𝑖 𝑡2 − 𝑖 𝑡1 = 0 = න 𝑉𝐿 𝑡 𝑑𝑡
𝐿
𝑡1

Hence in this case the area under the voltage waveform between t1 and t2 is
zero and consequently the average voltage across the inductor between t1 and
t2 is zero.
This situation is very common in power electronic circuits where the inductor
current varies periodically and is identical in shape from one period to the next.
Under such conditions, the average voltage across the inductor taken over one
period is zero.
This is an IMPORTANT RESULT which we will use again and again.
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 Capacitors
iC (t ) = C
dv(t )
i
dt
+ Often this is more usefully stated in the
v integral form
C t2
1
- v(t 2 ) − v(t1 ) =  iC (t )dt
C t1
This leads to the “Current–time area rule”
Change in voltage = (area under current versus time curve)/Capacitance
ITA
V = Shorthand for Current-Time-Area
C
We will use this “rule” extensively in analysing power electronic circuits
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 Capacitors: Special Case
t2
1
v(t 2 ) − v(t1 ) =  iC (t )dt
C t1
If the voltage at t2 is equal to the voltage at t1 then:
t2
1
v(t 2 ) − v(t1 ) = 0 = 
C t1
iC (t )dt

Hence, in this case, the area under the current waveform between t1 and t2 is
zero, and consequently, the average current through the capacitor between
t1 and t2 is zero.
This situation is common in power electronic circuits where the capacitor
voltage varies periodically and is identical in shape from one period to the
next. Under such conditions, the average current through the capacitor taken
over one period is zero.
This is an IMPORTANT RESULT which we will use again and again.
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 Commutation (1)
Consider a simple circuit
Note: The “base drive circuit” is not shown, but
V we assume that such a circuit is there to turn the
E transistor ON and OFF upon command from a
control circuit of some kind (also not shown).
X
S is operated as follows:
S
E
ON OFF ON OFF

dT (1-d)T
T T
T → Switching period, 1/T → Switching frequency
d → Duty cycle (0  d  1) – often quoted as a %
Normally T is kept constant and d is varied by the controller to
control the current in R and L (representing a load of some sort)
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 Commutation (2)
CIRCUIT OPERATION
❖ Assume initially i = 0
❖ When S is first turned ON, V = E and i increases exponentially (with a time
constant L/R)
❖ When S is turned OFF, “i” tries to decay
❖ The voltage across the inductor reverses polarity (remember V=Ldi/dt and
di/dt is now negative)
❖ If there were no diode in the circuit, the voltage across the inductor would
reach a very large value, and so would the voltage at point X
❖ then either S blows up or L blows up
❖ With the diode in the circuit, the voltage at point X rises to E, then D turns ON,
“clamping” the voltage at X to E.
❖ Current now flows through R, L and D
❖ We say the current has commutated from S to D
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Commutation (3)
CIRCUIT OPERATION
Current flows through R, L and D are driven by the ENERGY STORED IN L
This is called “freewheeling” (analogy between inductors and
flywheels) - D is called a “freewheel diode.”
Current amplitude decays exponentially as the energy in the inductor is
used up (dissipated in R)
Assume S is turned back ON before the current decays ultimately to
zero
When S is turned ON again, the current transfers back to S
(commutates), and the process repeats
Commutation takes place very quickly (typically 10ns for low-power
devices to 10s for huge devices)
We will assume commutation is instantaneous for analysing circuits.
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 Steady state operation (1)
Can we calculate the average value of the load current in the previous
circuit in the steady state?
Hard way → to find equations defining the current trajectories + lots of
pages of algebra!!
An easy way → is to use the fact that the average voltage across the
inductor is zero:
𝑉 𝑡 = 𝑉𝐿 𝑡 + 𝑉𝑅 (𝑡) →𝑉ത = 𝑉𝐿 + 𝑉𝑅 → 𝑉ത = 𝑉𝑅 → 𝑖 ҧ = 𝑉ത𝑅 Τ𝑅 = 𝑉/𝑅
ത

We know the waveform of V(t) and can find its average easily
𝑑𝐸𝑇
𝑉ത = 𝑇 = dE →𝑖 ҧ = 𝑑𝐸/𝑅

With this simple circuit, we can control the current in an inductive load by
varying the duty cycle, and there is no power loss (except in the load!)
For example, the same idea is used in many electric railway locomotives,
disc drive motor controllers and other applications.
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 Steady state operation (2)
Definition of steady state operation for any circuit with a periodic
switching action
❖ For any inductor in the circuit, the value of the current in that
inductor will be the same at the start of every switching cycle.
❖ For any capacitor in the circuit, the value of the voltage across
that capacitor will be the same at the start of every switching
cycle.
HENCE IN A STEADY STATE
❖ The average voltage across every inductor in the circuit is zero
❖ The average current through every capacitor in the circuit is zero
IN THIS COURSE, WE WILL ONLY DEAL WITH CIRCUITS IN THE STEADY
STATE (USING THE ABOVE DEFINITION)

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 Four “Rules”
From the previous discussion, we will apply the following
four rules to circuits that we analyse:
❖ I = voltage-time area/inductance (VTA/L)
❖ V = current time area/capacitance (ITA/C)
And for a circuit with a periodic switching action (most
circuits we look at)
❖ The average voltage across all inductors (taken over a
period) = zero
❖ Average current through all capacitors (taken over a
period) = zero
You MUST understand and remember what is on this page!!
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 Example Circuit – more explanation
Consider a specific example of the circuit we looked at
in the introductory notes.
VR 15mH

VLOAD ILOAD D

VL 10W 100V

Q
S

The purpose of the circuit is to control the average

current in the load by switching Q
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 Example Circuit
To control the current, Q is switched at a constant
frequency and with a variable duty cycle (d), as we
discussed before.
100
ON OFF ON OFF

dT (1-d)T

T T
In the simulation results that follow, T is set to 1ms (f =1kHz)

d is set to 0.7 (70%) for the first set of results and to 0.3
(30%) for the second set
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Simulation Results: d=0.7
LOAD VOLTAGE AVERAGE = 70 V

Q
ON D
ON

LOAD CURRENT

TRANSIENT
STEADY STATE = AVERAGE = 7A

INDUCTOR VOLTAGE
AVERAGE = 0

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Simulation Results: d=0.7
LOAD CURRENT

STEADY
STATE
TRANSIENT MEAN = 7A

INDUCTOR ENERGY
STORE RELEASE

STORED = RELEASED

=> STEADY STATE

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Simulation Results: d=0.3
AVERAGE = 30 V

MEAN = 3 A

MEAN = 0

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Simulation Results: d=0.3

MEAN = 3A

INDUCTOR ENERGY

STORED
= RELEASED

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 Comments on Simulation Results (1)
❖In each case, the current starts at zero and
gradually builds up until the energy stored in
the inductor when Q is ON balances the
energy lost from the inductor when Q is OFF –
this is the equilibrium condition (or steady state
condition)
❖When we get to the steady state condition, the
average voltage across the inductor is zero in
each cycle, and the current has a regular
pattern (i.e. it is the same in every cycle)

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 Comments on Simulation Results (2)
❖The duty cycle determines the average current
when we reach the steady state
▪ When d = 0.7, the average current is 7A
▪ When d = 0.3, the average current is 3 A
▪ These values agree with what we expect from the
analysis in the introduction.
❖Even though we did not prove it – the
efficiency is 100% - the only power loss in the
circuit is in the load.
❖In this course – for the future – we will only be
interested in the steady-state operation of the
circuits we look at.
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End of Unit 1

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