Abstract
This paper presents a new approach to system design of power inverters. The design starts with
the system co-simulation of the analog plant circuitry in Multisim and the FPGA controller in
LabVIEW.
The analog circuitry is comprised of a simplified electro-thermal model of a single-level, three
phase inverter and a passive load. The controller is comprised of several error amplifiers,
compensators and PWM generators. The co-simulation tools were used to analyze and compare
different IGBT modules and different control topologies to optimize performance with respect to
efficiency, thermal fatigue, and power quality. After co-simulation, the controller code was
compiled onto an FPGA target.
Because the analog plant and digital control system algorithms are co-simulated within a single
development tool, each subsystem is easily modified and tested in a simulation environment,
saving time and cost of validating large power electronics equipment. When simulation results
are optimized, the design is transferred from a simulation environment to physical hardware.
Mating connectors were designed to interface between the FPGA control hardware and a high
power 6-pack inverter module. This novel prototype structure, the inverter stack, allowed the
three PCBs to act as a single system with multiple functionalities.
Comparison between the co-simulation results and the hardware results showed very good
agreement, particularly during the start-up transient response.
This new co-simulation approach is a significant improvement in the rapid design of power
inverter systems. What’s more, since a power inverter is a critical component of many renewable
energy systems such as power wind turbines, solar panels, energy storage systems, and
hybrid/electric vehicles, the introduced advancements in development efficiency (accuracy, cost,
and time) are a significant addition to this industry.
Author(s) Biographies
Brian MacCleery received his bachelors and masters degrees in electrical engineering from
Virginia Tech where he completed his graduate research in electromechanical modeling and
simulation and led multidisciplinary student teams in the development of novel magnetic
levitation and propulsion designs for energy efficient rapid transit. Brian is the Principal Product
Manager for clean energy technology at National Instruments. His mission is to facilitate the
design, prototyping and deployment of advanced embedded systems technologies to make clean
energy less expensive and more abundant than fossil fuels.
