Power Electronics

Course description

a) Power semiconductor devices.

Properties, static and switching characteristics of power semiconductor devices: Diode, Thyristor, Triac, GTO, MOSFET, IGBT. Cooling of of power semiconductors, thermal impedance, thermal model of the cooling system.

b) Fundamentals of power converters and control principles.

Single- and multiphase AC/DC  half and fully controlled converters with R, RL and RLE loads, continuous and discontinuous modes of operation, influence of freewheeling diode, active and reactive power, power factor, effect of source impedance commutation.

c) DC/DC converters, principles of step-down and step-up converters, analysis of buck, boost, buck-boost, half- and full-bridge converters, control of DC/DC converters.

d) Single- and multiphase DC/AC converters.  PWM and other modulation principles, single and multilevel converters.

e) Resonant converters, soft switching techniques (ZVS and ZCS).

f) high power converters without DC link (cycloconverters, matrix converters).

g) Applications of power converters in the field of power systems (passive and active compensators, active power filters).

Course is carried out on study programme

Electrical engineering 1st level

Objectives and competences

This course gives students basic knowledge of the following areas of power electronics needed in the master courses in the Electrical Engineering:

  • power electronic devices and their static and dynamic characteristics,
  • basic converter topologies and and their performance and
  • basic converter control principles.

After successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

  • explain the operation principle of the fundamental power electronics circuits,
  • calculate the power flow and thermal losses in power converters,
  • develop simulation models of basic power electronic system,
  • compare the performance of different power converters,
  • select appropriate converter topology for target application,
  • use fundamental power converters for power supply and motor drives in low and high power applications.

Learning and teaching methods

Lectures, solving of applied problems regarding power electronics, laboratory exercises in small groups (danger of high voltage), practical work includes building and testing of different power converters and report writing.

Intended learning outcomes

Student will be able to design fundamental power electronic circuits.

Student will be able to evaluate and interpret experimental data and reach conclusions.

Student will be able to solve power electronics related engineering problems.

Reference nosilca

1. PETKOVŠEK, Marko, LEBAN, Aleš, NEMEC, Mitja, VONČINA, Danijel, ZAJEC, Peter. Series active power filter for high-voltage synchronous generators = Serijski aktivni močnostni filter za visokonapetostne sinhronske generatorje. Informacije MIDEM, ISSN 0352-9045, Dec. 2013, vol. 43, no. 4, str. 228-234.

2. FLISAR, Uroš, VONČINA, Danijel, ZAJEC, Peter. Voltage sag independent operation of induction motor based on Z-source inverter. Compel, ISSN 0332-1649, 2012, vol. 31, no. 6, str. 1931-1944.

3. KOSMATIN, Peter, MILJAVEC, Damijan, VONČINA, Danijel. A novel control strategy for the switched reluctance generator. Przeglęad Elektrotechniczny, ISSN 0033-2097, 2012, rok 88, no. 7a, str. 49-53.

4. MODRIJAN, Gorazd, PETKOVŠEK, Marko, ZAJEC, Peter, VONČINA, Danijel. Precision B-H analyser with low THD secondary induced voltage. IEEE transactions on industrial electronics, ISSN 0278-0046. [Print ed.], Jan. 2008, vol. 55, issue 1, str. 364-370.

5. PEVEC, Boštjan, BAJEC, Primož, NASTRAN, Janez, VONČINA, Danijel. Optimizacija navorne karakteristike elektronsko komutiranega motorja v hibridnem pogonu = Torque characteristic optimization of brushless DC motor in the hybrid vehicle. Informacije MIDEM, ISSN 0352-9045, sep. 2007, letn. 37, št. 3, str. 182-188.

Study materials

1. J.Nastran: Močnostna elektronika-interna skripta, Univerza v Ljubljani, Fakulteta za elektrotehniko, Ljubljana, 2006

2. N. Mohan: Power Electronics – A first course, John Wiley & Sons, 2012

3. F. Lin Luo, H. Ye: Advanced DC/DC converters, CRC Press, New York 2003

4. N. Mohan, T. M. Undeland, W. P. Robbins: Power Electronics: Converters, Applications and 5. Design, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1989

6. T. Skvarenina: Power electronics handbook, CRC Press, New York, 2002

7. M. H. Rashid: Power electronics handbook, Academic Press, New York, 2001.

Bodi na tekočem

Univerza v Ljubljani, Fakulteta za elektrotehniko, Tržaška cesta 25, 1000 Ljubljana

E:  dekanat@fe.uni-lj.si T:  01 4768 411