Design of DC_AC Inverter/Drive Using Solar Array as an Auxiliary Power Source

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UAE University Electrical Engineering Graduation
Project I
Design of DC_AC Inverter/Drive Using Solar Array
as an Auxiliary Power Source
Aidah Abdullateef Haidar 200235208 Salwa Omar
200203207 Seham Faraj 200203203 Moza
Salem 200235528 Advisor Dr. Abbas Fardoun
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Solar Cell
Outline

• Introduction
• Gantt Chart
• Objective
• Background and theory
• Single phase circuit
• Hardware architecture
• Results
• Cost and economical impact
• Conclusion

Design of DC_AC inverter/Drive using Solar array
as a power source
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Introduction
Renewable energy resources have been attracting a
lot of attention in the Gulf countries in general
and UAE in particular. In this report, an AC
drive that utilizes solar energy as an auxiliary
source to charge a 12V DC battery is presented.
Solar energy is fed directly through an inverter
to a low voltage high current motor to optimize
the system efficiency. Utilizing solar energy
enhances the system power density in two folds.
It utilizes free available solar energy source,
hence, it allows the designer to use a smaller
battery which reduces the weight of the system.
These advantages results in a higher system power
density.
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Gantt Chart
Design of DC_AC inverter/Drive using Solar array
as a power source
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Project Objective

• The main objective of this project is to build
  a DC_AC inverter using Photovoltaic Arrays as and
  auxiliary power source.

Design of DC_AC inverter/Drive using Solar array
as a power source
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Solar Energy

• Solar technology is the conversion of sunlight
  into electricity
• Advantages
• Clean energy
• Free Input Power
• Require little maintenance

Design of DC_AC inverter/Drive using Solar array
as a power source
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DC/AC Inverter

• DC/AC inverter is an electronic circuit that is
  used to convert DC power to AC power.
• Possible Applications for the Project
• Proposal can be applied to the following with
  some modifications
• Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)
• Induction heating.
• Wheel chair

Design of DC_AC inverter/Drive using Solar array
as a power source
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GPI simulation circuit
Design of DC_AC inverter/Drive using Solar array
as a power source
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GPII circuit
Design of DC_AC inverter/Drive using Solar array
as a power source
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Three Phase circuit
Design of DC_AC inverter/Drive using Solar array
as a power source
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System Block Diagram
12V Battery Pack
Design of DC_AC inverter/Drive using Solar array
as a power source
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Parts

• The parts were ordered from DGM Distribution in
  Dubai and they are as follow
• MOSFET - IRF1312.
• Optocoupler HCPL 3120.
• Eurocard FR4 (Flame Retardant 4).
• Terminal Blocks.
• MOSFET/IGBT Driver IR2117.
• IC MOSFET Driver HI LO - IR2106.
• Heat Sink

Design of DC_AC inverter/Drive using Solar array
as a power source
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Parts

• The MOSFET IRF 1312
• Can withstand up to 80 V and 95 A.
• Has low resistance (10mO)
• Used for wide applications such as high frequency
  converters and in motors control.
• Can withstand up to 300 C soldering temperature
  for 10 seconds.

IRF 1312
Design of DC_AC inverter/Drive using Solar array
as a power source
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Parts

• The optocoupler HCPL 3120
• Used for isolation purpose.
• Enhancing the signals coming from dSPACE.
• Has many applications such as AC/brushless DC
  motors drives and inverters.
• The Terminal block
• Used for connecting the dSPACE signals in the
  board for protection purposes.

HCPL 3120
Terminal Block
Design of DC_AC inverter/Drive using Solar array
as a power source
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Parts

• Eurocard FR4 (Flame Retardant 4)
• At high frequencies, it has few losses.
• Absorbs less moisture.
• Has greater strength and stiffness.
• Highly flame resistant.

Eurocard FR4
Design of DC_AC inverter/Drive using Solar array
as a power source
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Parts

• The driver is used for driving the gate of the
  MOSFET and to enhance the signal coming from
  dSPACE.
• Two different types of drivers were ordered
• IR2117.
• IR2106.
• Both drivers are
• High voltage, high speed power MOSFET driver.
• Used to drive an N-channel power MOSFET.
• IR2106 was used in the connection, since it has
  independent high and low side referenced output
  channels it can drive two MOSFETs at the same
  time

IR2106
Design of DC_AC inverter/Drive using Solar array
as a power source
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Heat Sink

• Heat sink is a device designed to lower the
  temperature of an electronic device by
  dissipating heat into the surrounding air
• Power loss causes temperature rise.
• Typical case to ambient thermal resistance
  50?C/W, meaning that a 2watts loss results in 100
  degrees temperature rise.

Design of DC_AC inverter/Drive using Solar array
as a power source
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Heat Sink (cont.)
TJ TAmb PLoss R ?JA TJ 206.5?C
Design of DC_AC inverter/Drive using Solar array
as a power source
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Heat Sink (cont.)
TJ TAmb PLoss (R ?JC R?CH R?HA ) R?CH R?HA
50.4?C/W
Parameter Max Unit
R?JC Junction-to-case 1 ?C/W
R?JA Junction-to-ambient 62 ?C/W
Design of DC_AC inverter/Drive using Solar array
as a power source
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Open Loop Controller (dSPACE)

• dSPACE is the worlds leading producer of
  engineering tools for testing and developing
  mechatronic control systems

Design of DC_AC inverter/Drive using Solar array
as a power source
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D-SPACE

• dSPACE tools are used in many different
  industries including
• automotives and aerospace
• Education and research
• Medicine
• Robotics

Design of DC_AC inverter/Drive using Solar array
as a power source
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Generating the pulses using d-SPACE.
Design of DC_AC inverter/Drive using Solar array
as a power source
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Generating the pulses using d-SPACE.
This part of the circuit will be replaced by the
output of the dSPACE
Design of DC_AC inverter/Drive using Solar array
as a power source
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Measuring Critical point

• Rise Time 32.4ns.

Fall Time 42ns.
Design of DC_AC inverter/Drive using Solar array
as a power source
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Measuring Critical point (cont.)

• The positive and negative pulses

Period 50 us
Pulse width 73us
Design of DC_AC inverter/Drive using Solar array
as a power source
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Measuring Critical point (cont.)

• The dead-time is between the inverting and the
  non-inverted signals

• Dead-time 1.36us.

Design of DC_AC inverter/Drive using Solar array
as a power source
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Single Phase Circuit
The high side gate driver output
This figure shows the high side gate driver
output signal, which will trigger the upper MOSFET
Design of DC_AC inverter/Drive using Solar array
as a power source
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Single Phase Circuit (cont.)
The low side gate driver output
This figure shows the Low side gate driver output
signal, which will trigger the upper MOSFET
Design of DC_AC inverter/Drive using Solar array
as a power source
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Three Phase circuit
Design of DC_AC inverter/Drive using Solar array
as a power source
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Three Phase Results
Three phase circuit results when connecting a
resistive load
The output voltage of the three phase circuit is
six step signal with Vp-p 10.5V
220 Ohm
220 Ohm
220 Ohm
Design of DC_AC inverter/Drive using Solar array
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Three Phase Results
Three phase circuit results when connecting a
resistive load
The output voltage of the three phase circuit is
six step signal with Vp-p 10.5V
12 Ohm
12 Ohm
12 Ohm
Design of DC_AC inverter/Drive using Solar array
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Three Phase Results
Three phase circuit results when connecting a
resistive load
12 Ohm
12 Ohm
12 Ohm
The output current of each phase is almost
sinusoidal signal except for phase 1
Design of DC_AC inverter/Drive using Solar array
as a power source
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Three Phase Results
Three phase circuit results when connecting an AC
motor
The output voltage is not pure sinusoidal signal
and Vp-p was equal to 1.38 V
AC Motor
Design of DC_AC inverter/Drive using Solar array
as a power source
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Three Phase Results
Three phase circuit results when connecting a
resistive load in series with an AC motor
The shape of the output signal became smoother
and Vp-p was equal to 2.56V
8 Ohm
8 Ohm
8 Ohm
Design of DC_AC inverter/Drive using Solar array
as a power source
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Three Phase Results
Three phase circuit results when connecting a
resistive load in series with an AC motor
The shape of the output signal became smoother
and Vp-p was equal to 4.03V
2 Ohm
2 Ohm
2 Ohm
Design of DC_AC inverter/Drive using Solar array
as a power source
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Comparison between Simulation and designed
Inverter Results.
Small part of the positive half cycle of the
current signal is clipped due to problems in the
gating signals.
Design of DC_AC inverter/Drive using Solar array
as a power source
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Economical Effect

• Comparing inverters in the market with our
  design, it is obvious that the cost of our
  project is very suitable and reasonable.
• Extra equipment that were used to test the
  inverter such as motor, dSPACE program, resistors
  and the capacitors were given from university.

List of used components and cost
Design of DC_AC inverter/Drive using Solar array
as a power source
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Environmental effect

• Solar energy was used as a power source in
  this project.
• Solar energy is
• Clean source of energy
• Available everywhere during the day.
• Instead of using diesel generator in case of
  power failure, solar cell can save electricity in
  batteries and with DC/AC inverter we can have AC
  current.

Design of DC_AC inverter/Drive using Solar array
as a power source
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Conclusion

• AC signal was produced from a DC input signal
  using the inverter circuit.
• Three phase AC signal was used to run an AC motor
  effectively.
• Heat sink was added to the circuit to reduce the
  losses in the circuit.
• Although the work in the lab was time consuming,
  an invaluable experience was gained.
• The AC signal was not perfectly sinusoidal due to
  some problems in the gating signals from the
  dSPACE. But it is an acceptable result.
• The project utilizes free available solar energy
  source, hence, it allows the designer to use a
  smaller battery which reduces the weight of the
  system. These advantages resulted in a higher
  system power density.
• This project highlights the importance of the
  renewable energy in producing electricity.

Design of DC_AC inverter/Drive using Solar array
as a power source
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Acknowledgments

• Without the cooperation of many individuals,
  this project would have not been possible. We
  would like to express our gratitude to our
  project advisor Dr. Abbas Fardoun for his
  encouragement and guidance. Special thanks go to
  engineer Ahmed Abd Rabou and engineer Fadia for
  their assistance in the lab work. Also, we would
  like to thank Dr. Ahmed Gaouda, Prof. Hassan
  Noura, and Prof. Abdulrazaq Zekri and for serving
  as members of our final examination committee.

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Thank you