The 18-th International Conference on Electrical Machines, Drives and Power Systems ELMA 2023

June 29 - July 1 2023, Varna, Bulgaria

Inverter model optimization in Simulink software

environment
Mladen Proykov Neli Simeonova Vasil Ivanov
Faculty of Technical Science Faculty of Technical Science Faculty of Technical Science
University “Prof. d-r Asen Zlatarov University “Prof. d-r Asen Zlatarov University “Prof. d-r Asen Zlatarov
Burgas, Bulgaria Burgas, Bulgaria Burgas, Bulgaria
[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
2023 18th Conference on Electrical Machines, Drives and Power Systems (ELMA) | 979-8-3503-1127-3/23/$31.00 ©2023 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/ELMA58392.2023.10202524

Abstract — A model of an inverter with phase control was Fig. 2 below demonstrates a control scheme of a single-
synthesized in the Matlab/Simulink programming environment. phase bridge adjustable voltage inverter.
A comparative analysis was made between the operation of the
inverter with a phase - controlled algorithm, with an input
voltage duty factor of 50% / 50% and 35% / 50%. The active
power losses, the total harmonic distortion and harmonic
composition of the output voltage and current were determined
in the system for two operating modes of the inverter.

Keywords—PV system, simulation, V-A characteristic,

inverter, active power losses, high harmonics

I. INTRODUCTION
Mathematical models of inverters for photovoltaic
installations enable the study of their operation and their
impact on power systems. The shape of the output voltage of
inverters depends on the method of controlling the electronic Fig. 2. Control scheme for rectangular pulse control of a single - phase
bridge inverter.
elements in the scheme. The form of the load current at a
supply voltage with a strictly defined form depends on the An integrated circuit implementing PWM pulse width
parameters of the load. [1,2,3]. modulation is used. The scheme of fig. 2 has two outputs for
According to the output voltage of the inverters, single - generating control signals in the two half-periods of the output
phase and three - phase inverters have found the widest voltage. The pulses to the two arms of a single-phase voltage
application. [4,5]. An example diagram of an inverter control inverter for the lower transistors (a- b-) and those for the upper
system is presented in fig.1. ones (a+ b+) are inverse of each other.
Many schemes and algorithms for phase control of voltage
inverters are known, such as [6,7]:
▪ single - phase inverters with sinusoidal pulse width
modulation PWM control. In this type of inverters, the total
harmonic distortions of the output current and output voltage
are improved at the expense of complicated control and higher
cost;
▪ single - phase inverters with a modified sinusoid of the
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of an inverter system model. output voltage.

The control signals of the electronic elements are In this report, a phase - adjusted control pulse width device
implemented by means of symmetrical PWM control of the is modeled. This simulation method will be used in the current
"drivers" block. In non-adjustable output voltage mode, the systems.
PWM generator generates rectangular output voltage pulses The Sim Power Systems software is designed for
that are asymmetrical in half period. The main elements used modeling power devices. The Simscape section with the Sim
in the electrical schemes of inverters are electronic elements Power Systems library has a set of functional blocks modeling
controlled by a key method. Bipolar transistors with an active and passive elements, power sources, electric motors,
insulated gate (IGBT), powerful field transistors with an transformers, power lines, facilities and networks.
induced channel (power MOSFET) or thyristors switched off
by the gate (GTO-thyristors) are used.

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 The complex work of Simulink and Sim Power Systems
makes it possible to build a model of a complex
electrotechnical device based on the method of simulation and
functional modeling. The combination of S and SPS models
can not only simulate the operating modes of the devices in
the time domain, but also perform various types of analysis
(amplitude frequency response) [12.13].

Fig. 4. Schematic diagram of an inverter system model.

IGBT transistors (T1 ÷ T4) with built - in diodes to the E

- C transition are controlled by rectangular pulse generators
(fig. 5). For T1 and T2, fixed phases defining two fill factors
50% (35%) and for T3 and T4 50% (50%) are set, for both
Fig. 3. Schematic diagram of an inverter system model.
simulation modes.
The modeled voltage inverter shown in fig. 3 converts
direct voltage (DC) to alternating voltage (AC).
The power part of the inverter is built with the simulation
blocks from Sim Power Systems IGBT21, IGBT22, IGBT23,
IGBT24, Vdc, R and L, reflecting only their electrical
parameters and characteristics.
The control and monitoring system of the power part of
the model includes in its Simulink architecture the functional
blocks Scope, I2, V2, Pulse, G21, G22, G23, G24, reflecting only Fig. 5. Models created in the subsystem of fig. 4 as rectangular pulse
the work algorithm and mathematical modeling functions. generators with fixed duty cycle.
In the analysis of a given virtual model, it is appropriate to
use the mathematical synthesizer of differential equations II. PRACTICAL RESEARCH
embedded in the Sim Power Systems library. In the present study, performance evaluation and
optimization of an inverter model under different start - up
The calculation format of the equations is different and is modes has been done:
performed according to the instructions [8,9].
1) The model with a non - adjustable control algorithm
In conducting the present study, the following stages of
modeling and measurement of a voltage inverter with phase 50% / 50%.
control of the output voltage were followed: The values of the generated higher harmonics of the output
voltage are shown in fig. 6.
▪ Setting the output parameters of the inverter system;
▪ Measurement of current and voltage curves in two modes
with different filling factors;
▪ Calculation of the magnitudes of harmonics with
sequential numbers h3, h5, h7, as well as their initial phases
through the powergui block;
▪ Active power losses in the system are calculated by
summing the active power losses generated by higher
harmonics;
▪ The efficiency of the inverter system is determined by
the total active power consumed in both modes of operation.
First, it is necessary to construct the structural diagram of
the model. The system of consumer, control and inverter is
modeled in Fig. 4 in programming environment "Simulink"
with several blocks: constant current source (Udc), bridge
single-phase voltage inverter (Uac, f1) and active inductive Fig. 6. The values of the generated higher harmonics of the output voltage
load (RT-L). Also included are measuring instruments – under the phase-controlled algorithm 50%/50%.
oscilloscopes [10,11].
From figure 6, the parameters of the voltage harmonics are
reported: first fundamental harmonic Uh1 = 267,8V and initial
phase ψU1 = 0,40; third harmonic Uh3 = 89,6V and initial phase

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ψU3 = 0,10; fifth harmonic Uh5 = 53,8V and initial phase ψU5 φ1 = ψU1 - ψI1 (2)
= - 0,10; seventh harmonic Uh7 = 38,4V and initial phase ψU7
= - 0,20. where: ψU1 - initial phase of the first harmonic of the voltage;
The constant components of voltage and current are ψI1 - initial phase of the first harmonic of current.
reported: U0 = 0,96V; I0 = 10,93A.
The active useful power Puseful supplied to the load is
The total harmonic distortion of the voltage is: THDU = determinated according to the formula:
48,49%.
The values of the generated higher harmonics of the Puseful = P0 + P1 = 10,5 + 6406 = 6416,5W
output current are shown in figure 7.
The active power losses Plosses in the supply line, due to the
presence of higher harmonics, was calculated:

Plosses = P3 + P5 + P7 = 372 + 116 + 57,6 = 548,6W

The expression of active power losses in the inverter

system with an asymmetric control algorithm 50% / 50% in
percentages Plosses, %, is determined according to the formula:

Plosses % = (Plosses / Pusefull).100 = 8,5%.

2) The model with a phase-controlled algorithm

35%/50%.
The values of the generated higher harmonics of the output
voltage are shown in figure 8.

Fig. 7. The values of the generated higher harmonics of the output current
in the phase-controlled algorithm 50%/50%..

The results reported from the amplitude - frequency

characteristic for the effective values and initial phases for the
harmonics of the output current, at the half - period
conductivity interval programmed in this way, are: first
fundamental harmonic Ih1 = 29,9A and initial phase ψI1 = -
40,90; third harmonic Ih3 = 4,94A and initial phase ψI3 = -
36,60; fifth harmonic Ih5 = 2,4A and initial phase ψI5 = - 26,80;
seventh harmonic Ih7 = 1,58A and initial phase ψI7 = - 20,40.
The total harmonic distortion of the current is: THDI =
29,42%. Fig. 8. The values of the generated higher harmonics of the output voltage in
the phase - controlled algorithm 35%/50%.
The power losses along the line to the load are calculated
by summing the active powers of the most influential From figure 8, the parameters of the voltage harmonics are
harmonics, with consecutive numbers h3, h5 and h7. reported: first fundamental harmonic Uh1 = 238,9V and initial
The integrated active power is calculated by the Fourier phase ψU1 = 27,10; third harmonic Uh3 = 14,2V and initial
series, summing the harmonics of the spectrum: phase ψU3 = 77,80; fifth harmonic Uh5 = 38V and initial phase
ψU5 = - 44,80; seventh harmonic Uh7 =38V and initial phase
ψU7 = 8,40.
Pout = U0.I0 + ∑Uh.Ih.cosφh (1)
The constant components of voltage and current are
where: Uh - voltage of the corresponding harmonic with index reported: U0 = 0,47V; I0 = 5,2A.
h; Ih - current of the corresponding harmonic with index h;
The total harmonic distortion of the voltage is: THDU =
φh - dephasing angle between current and voltage for the
29,7%.
corresponding harmonic with index h.
The values of the generated higher harmonics of the output
The phase difference accounting for the shift between the current are shown in figure 9.
initial voltage and current phases is determined for the first
harmonic by formula:

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 by the simulations.The spectrum of the harmonic composition
in the output voltage with a 50%/50% phase control algorithm
is not suitable for powering sensitive consumers [5]. For this,
with this type of load, the model scheme with the 35%/50%
phase control algorithm is implemented.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This work was supported by European Regional
Development Fund through the Operational Program
“Science and Education for Smart Growth” under contract
UNITe № BG05M2OP001-1.001-004 (2018-2023).
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