AUTOMATIC VOLTAGE REGULATION (AVR)

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OPERATION THEORY

Most cheap portable generators have fixed excitation. In such machines, when an alternator is
loaded, its terminal voltage Vout drops due to its internal impedance. This impedance is formed
of leakage reactance, armature reactance and armature resistance. The Vout also depends on
the power factor of the load. To maintain Vout within tighter limits, more expensive models use
an AVR. It controls output by sensing the voltage at a power-generating coil and comparing it to
a stable reference. The error signal is then used to adjust an average value of the field current.
Note that all AVRs are generally slow to respond to fast transient loads. Some high-end models,
such as Honda EB10000 use more accurate digital DAVR.
 The block diagram to the right
illustrates the basic concepts used in stabilizing the output of gensets with self-excited
alternators. Here is how it works. When the rotor is rotated by the engine, an AC voltage is
generated in the excitation winding. This AC is converted to DC by the rectifier bridge "RB"and
filter capacitor "C". The detection circuit compares a voltage representing Vout with a target value
and turns ON and OFF the transistor "Q". When "Q" is ON, a current flows through the field
winding. When "Q" is OFF, the field current is decaying while continue flowing via free-wheeling
diode "D". The rotor may include a small permanent magnet to provide some baseline current
when "Q" is OFF. By properly varying duty cycle of the operation of the transistor "Q" the
Vout can be regulated. Note that "Q" can also work in a linear mode, but its heat dissipation will
increase.

REGULATOR SCHEMATIC

The diagram below shows a generic AVR implementation. This type of circuit has been around
for years. Its numerous variations are found in both portable generators and automotive
alternators and are described in various patents, such as General Motor's US3376496 for 3-
phase applications and
Honda's US6522106.

A rectifier RB1 with capacitor C1 produces DC level close to the peak of Vout. A small resistor
R1 limits C1 charge current and prevents sinewave "clipping". In theory it may be omitted. If the
divider R2-R3-R4 is properly set, when Vout is below its required value, Q1 will be OFF, Q2 will
be forward biased via R6, and Darlington pair Q2, Q3 will energize the field winding.
Conversely, when Vout raises and voltage at the cathode of D1 exceeds approximately Vz+0.7
volt, Q1 opens and shuts down both Q2 and Q3.
Here is a possible parts list, which is slightly modified from what was provided in
this discussion: RB1/RB2=GBU6J, R1=10Ω /1W, C1=2.2μ/250V, R2=56k, R3=2.49k,
R4=0...2k (pot), R5=2.49k, C2=0.01μ, D1=1N4738 (Vz=8.2V), Q1=MPSA06, Q2=2N6515,
Q3=BU931T, D2,D3=1N4005, C3=470μ/200V. Of course, different manufacturers may use
different configurations. For example, here you can see a reverse engineered Generac
regulator that uses SCRs and UJT. Many modern machines often use a MOSFET instead of a
bipolar transistors Q2-Q3 to lower switching losses. You just need to protect its gate with an
additional zener.

HOW IS AC VOLTAGE PRODUCED?

Any electric generator requires the following three main components to work:
 conductor to carry a current;
 magnetic field;

 relative motion between the conductor and the magnetic field.

In portable generators the above motion is created by an internal combustion engine. Note that
although the terms generator and alternator are often used interchangeably, the former often
refers to a set combining an engine and an alternator. Such a set is commonly known
asgenset.
Most educational diagrams of the alternators for simplicity show a power producing coil spinning
between two poles of a permanent magnet. In such an arrangement, the output current from the
rotating armature has to flow through slip rings and brushes

(seeanimation). This reduces reliability of the

system, causes additional power losses due to contact resistances, and requires frequent
maintenance. That's why this arrangement is found only in small machines. Since the process
of electromagnetic induction depends only on the relative motion between a wire and the
magnetic field, in practice, most alternators haverevolving field and a stationary armature.
The obvious advantage of a stationary armature is that it can be connected directly to the
electrical outlets.

The magnitude of induced AC voltage Vout is a function of two things: the magnetic field strength
and rotation speed. In the system with one pair of magnetic poles shown above, each time the
rotor makes one complete revolution, one AC cycle is generated. Since we want to produce a
fixed frequency (60 or 50 Hz), in synchronous generators the field has to spin at a constant
RPM. This is accomplished by the governor that maintains constant rotation of the shaft under a
variety of conditions by adjusting the fuel that feeds the engine. In general, the frequency of
output voltage depends upon RPM and the number of magnetic poles. If the rotor has more
poles, every time two adjacent poles (a north and a south) have passed one coil, the induced
voltage will have varied through one complete AC cycle. For a given rotation speed, the
frequency of Vout is F=RPM×P/60, where P is the number of pole pairs. For two poles (P=1):
F=RPM/60, that is for 60Hz the shaft has to spin at 3600 revolutions per minute. That's how
most conventional home generators operate. Note that there is a separate class of inverter-
generators, in which alternator output is rectified and then converted back to AC by an
electronic circuitry. In such devices RPM is variable.

SELF EXCITATION

At a fixed speed, the Vout can be control only by varying the field strength. A permanent magnet
obviously has a fixed magnetization and can't accomplish this task. That's why practical gensets
normally use electromagnets in which the field is produced by a current flow through their

coil. This current is driven by a separate source called an exciter,

which can be external or internal. In modern alternators the electromagnet is often "self-
excited". Self excitation means that the field current is created within the alternator itself. There
are many different types of exciters, depending on the design and type of generator. This
conceptual schematic shows an example of wiring of a self-excited portable generator. AC
voltage from an auxiliary winding of the armature is rectified by solid-state diodes and applied
to field coil. The current in this winding generates magnetic flux. An engine spins this
assembly, which produces revolving magnetic field inside stator. The rectifier bridge can also be
mounted on the rotor. Since the excitation voltage is lower than output AC and because it drives
lesser currents, the issues with slip rings and brushes are minimized.

BRUSHLESS GENERATORS

A brushless system actually contains two alternators on one shaft. The larger one produces
power as described above. The smaller one is the exciter. It has stationary field coils and a
rotating armature with a rectifier. It produces a DC voltage which is fed directly to the field coils
of the main alternator. Such a configuration is the most reliable from mechanical standpoint
because brushes and slip rings are not used. However, brushless gensets without AVR provide
poor power quality.

FIELD FLASHING
As we have seen above, for self excitation we need AC voltage in the armature. This voltage
obviously appears only when an alternator starts. But how does it start before its armature
produces voltage? Normally, the initial magnetic field is induced by residual magnetism in
electromagnet's cores. When the genset shaft starts spinning, this residual magnetism causes a
small voltage to be generated in the armature. It strengthens the magnetic field and allows the
coil to generate a higher voltage, which is turn increases the flux, and so on. This process
continues until the output voltage reaches the required level.

The residual magnetism of the electromagnet core may be lost or weakened by external
magnetic fields from any source, or by non-operation for a long time. If the core lost its residual
magnetization, the engine will spin, but no output will be produced. In this case, to start the
device you may need to do so-called field flashing. If your owner's operation manual does not
provide recommendations for your particular model, here is a typical procedure. First of all stop
the engine and turn the circuit breakers off. Then disconnect leads of the field coil from the
brushes (note the polarity of the leads). Then briefly apply voltage from an external 12V battery
or another DC source in series with a current limiting resistor to the field coil while observing
polarity. You can use 10-20 Ohm 25W resistor or a light bulb. Be sure to connect "plus" of the
battery to the lead that was attached to the positive brush. Allow the field to be flashed for some
10 seconds, then remove the external voltage source. Finally, reconnect the coil terminals.
Some models may provide automatic field flashing. For example, in the devices equipped with
electric start, initial field can be created by a current driven from a starting battery during engine
cranking.

When the load on a generator varies, its terminal voltage changes because of internal
impedance of the windings. The only practical method to keep it constant is to control the
amount of current flowing through the electromagnet's coil. For the details and some schematics
see our tutorial on how automatic voltage regulators work.

Power factor (PF) is one of the most important but often misunderstood quantities of AC power.
It is sometimes incorrectly referred to as a characteristic of power quality. In reality, PF is a
property of the load downstream of the electric source, rather than a property of the source
itself. There is another common misconception that PF is just cosφ, where φ is the phase angle
between the voltage and current. This is true only in an ideal case of a linear circuit with
sinusoidal input. In general, power factor is much more than cosφ, as you can learn from
our tutorial.

How does PF have to be taken into account by design engineers and when should it be
corrected? There are three main scenarios:
 When you design an AC source, such as a generator, you need to make sure it will
handle a specified range of load power factors. Alternatively, you may need to specify a
minimum allowable PF of the equipment powered from this source. For example, a capacitive
load can make an electric generator unstable.
 When you design an AC-powered electronic power supply, you may have to meet the
PF and harmonic limits of the applicable standards and/or specific requirements of the upstream
source. This is usually accomplished by introducing active or passive power factor correction
(PFC) circuit internal to the power supply.

 When you deal with electrical system in an industrial or commercial facility where the
load properties are given, you may need to add external components (such as PFC capacitors)
to raise the PF to an acceptable level to avoid surcharge or penalty fee.

This site is designed as a quick educational reference source for all information related to power
factor correction techniques. Here you will find tutorials and calculators intended for newbie
engineers, students and hobbyists. We will also discuss the question of whether or not
homeowners and consumers should worry about PF of their appliances.

WHAT's PFC?

In general, the power factor (PF) can vary between 0 and 1. The higher PF, the more effectively
electricity is being used. Therefore power factor correction refers to any technique that
increases PF with the goal being unity power factor. The two reasons of imperfect PF are
current distortions and phase shift between voltage and current harmonics of the same
frequency. Likewise, there are two main categories of PF correction techniques.

The harmonic distortions are caused by non-linear components, such as rectifier bridge in DC
power supplies which is connected directly to a large energy storage capacitor. These
distortions can be corrected on the power supply design stage by introducing various passive or
active PFC circuits (see for example active PFC). The major source of the V-I phase shift is
industrial induction motors that from the circuit standpoint present inductive loads. Their effect
can be reduced by adding external PFC capacitors.

WHY IMPROVE YOUR POWER FACTOR?

There are several reasons for correcting PF depending on your application. We know that when
PF<1, there are AC currents circulating in the line that do not transfer working power, but cause
heat dissipation in the wiring, create extra load to the generators, and require larger electricity
generating equipment. That's why electric utilities may charge large customers an additional fee
when PF< 0.95, bill them for total kVA, or add surcharges for excess kVARs. So, for an
industrial facility there may be energy cost savings benefits from PFC.

As for electronics, there are regulations such as EN61000-3-2, that limit harmonics that certain
types of products (PCs, TV sets, etc) can inject into the mains. Even though there are no
international standards that directly regulate PF, correcting it automatically lowers harmonic
distortions. So, for PSU designers the main reason to use PFC is to meet a specific harmonic
content requirement for their application, even though it may not provide any direct cost benefits
neither to the manufacturer or the user.

Finally, in household applications low PF reduces outlets and circuit breaker capabilities. Other
than that, contrary to common misconception, homeowners and consumers do not benefit from
PFC (see Do I need power factor correctionfor more details)