NESciences, 2017, 2(2): 73-84

-RESEARCH ARTICLE-

A Comparison Study of Sinusoidal PWM and Space Vector PWM Techniques for Voltage
Source Inverter

Ömer Türksoy1*, Ünal Yılmaz2, Adnan Tan3, Ahmet Teke3

1Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Iskenderun Technical University,

Iskenderun/Hatay, Turkey
2Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Harran University, Sanliurfa, Turkey
3Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Cukurova University, Adana, Turkey

Abstract
In this paper, the methods used to control voltage source inverters, which have been intensively
investigated in recent years, are compared. Although the most efficient result is obtained with the
least number of switching elements in the inverter topologies, the method used in the switching is
at least as effective as the topology. Besides, the selected switching method to control the inverter
will play an effective role in suppressing harmonic components while producing the ideal output
voltage. There are many derivatives of pulse width modulation techniques that are commonly used
to control voltage source inverters. Some of widespread methods are sinusoidal pulse width
modulation and space vector pulse width modulation techniques. These modulation techniques
used for generating variable frequency and amplitude output voltage in voltage source inverters,
have been simulated by using MATLAB/SIMULINK. In addition, the total harmonic distortions
of the output voltages are compared. As a result of simulation studies, sinusoidal pulse width
modulation has been found to have more total harmonic distortion in output voltages of voltage
source inverters in the simulation. Space vector pulse width modulation has been shown to produce
a more efficient output voltage with less total harmonic distortion.

Keywords:
Space vector PWM, Sinusoidal PWM, total harmonic distortion, MATLAB/Simulink

Article history:
Received 17 April 2017, Accepted 05 June 2017, Available online 20 June 2017

*
Corresponding Author: Ömer Türksoy, e-mail: omer.turksoy@iste.edu.tr
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Introduction

DC-AC converters are known as inverters. The function of an inverter is to convert the DC input
voltage to a symmetrical AC output voltage of the desired amplitude and frequency. One of the
most common problems in the power electronics industry is low-order harmonics, which cause
distortions in voltage and current (Kumar, Michael, John, & Kumar, 2010). One solution to reduce
low-level harmonics in high-power converters is to use PWM control techniques. There are many
studies about PWM control techniques in the last decades (Ashish & Sanjiv, 2012; Colak &
Kabalci, 2016; Durgasukumar & Pathak, 2012; Jesmin F. Khan, 2013; Vural, 2016; Guoqiang,
Jianli, & Junwei, 2013; Wanchai, 2016; Gopalakrishnan & Narayanan, 2014; Oka & Matsuse,
2011). As can be seen from these studies; the point of density of the studies is low-order harmonics,
which is a common problem. In this study, SPWM and SVPWM techniques, which are the most
common PWM techniques, have been studied in detail and the six-pulse inverter circuit is
simulated with the help of MATLAB / Simulink and the controls that are controlled by these two
methods are examined for harmonics.
This paper is therefore organized as follows: An overview of inverter structure and its circuit
are presented in the next section. The most common used PWM techniques which SPWM and
SVPWM are presented in Section 2. The simulation results and discussions are presented in Section
3. Finally, the main concluding remarks of the paper are presented in the conclusions section.

Inverter Structure

The three-phase voltage source inverter (VSI) topology is presented in Figure 1. The output voltage
can be obtained by changing the DC input voltage and holding the inverter gain constant. On the
other hand, if the DC input voltage is fixed and cannot be controlled, the gain of the inverter can
be varied to obtain a variable output voltage. This is accomplished by pulse width modulation
(PWM) in the inverter (Bedford & Hoft, 1964; Rashid, 2003). Among PWM techniques, sinusoidal
pulse width modulation (SPWM) and space vector pulse width modulation (SVPWM) are the most
widely used techniques (Vural, 2016; Guoqiang, Jianli, & Junwei, 2013; Durgasukumar & Pathak,
2012; Wanchai, 2016; Colak & Kabalci, 2016; Gopalakrishnan & Narayanan, 2014; Jesmin F.
Khan, 2013; Oka & Matsuse, 2011. However, in the SPWM technique, the peak voltage of the
output voltage cannot exceed the DC supply voltage without operating in the over-modulation
region. The SVPWM is more flexible and can be programmed to synthesize the output voltage with
a numerical application.
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Figure 1. Three Phase VSI Topology

Sinusoidal PWM

The production of switching signals by sinusoidal PWM is shown in Figure 2. There are three
sinusoidal reference waves (Vra, Vrb, Vrc) each shifted by 120o. The carrier wave Vcr is compared
to the corresponding reference signal to produce the switching signals of a phase (Nandhakumar
& Jeevananthan, 2007). By comparing the carrier signal to the reference signals, the switch states
G1, G2, G3, G4, G5 and G6 shown in Fig. 2. The switching elements G1 and G4, G3 and G6, G5
and G2 are not open or closed at the same time. To explain the Figure 2, if the Vcr>Vra, G1 is off
and G4 is on state, Vcr<Vra, G1 is on and G4 off state, Vcr>Vrb, G3 is off and G6 is on state,
Vcr<Vra, G3 is on and G6 off state, the other rule is Vcr>Vrc, G2 is off and G5 is on state, Vcr<Vrc,
G2 is on and G5 off state. To determine the reference voltages, The signals can be regulated by the
equation (1.1)

Vr  A.sin  2 ft    (1.1)

Where A is the magnitude of the signal,  o is the phase shift angle, 2 f   , angular
velocity.

Vr  A.sin  t    (1.1)

To determine the reference voltages for V(a-b-c) the following equations are used;

Vra  A.sin  wt  0o  (1.2)

Vrb  A.sin  wt  120o  (1.3)

Vrc  A.sin  wt  120o  (1.4)

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Figure 2. Sinusoidal PWM for three phase VSIs (Rashid, 2003)

The frequency of the output voltage is determined by the frequency of the reference signal. The
amplitude of the reference signal determines the modulation index and in turn determines the rms
value of the output voltage. The change of the rms value of the output voltage is possible by
changing the modulation index (Zhenyu, Arefeen, & Issa, 1997).

The simulated SPWM circuit in MATLAB/Simulink is shown in below Figure 3.

Figure 3. Simulated Sinusoidal PWM circuit in Matlab/Simulink

Space Vector PWM

Space vector PWM avoids unnecessary switching. This leads to excellent output performance, high
efficiency and reliability compared to similar inverters with conventional pulse width modulators
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(Ashish & Sanjiv, 2012). In the SVPWM method, the reference signals in the abc coordinates are
transformed to the normalized reference vector in the coordinates by the following transformation
matrix, which is generated by the order of application and the application period of the vectors
occurring in the switching states of the inverter.
Synthesis of voltage in Space Vector PWM applications; First, the transformation from a, b, c
to α-β is done.

1 1
V  Van  Vbn  Vcn
2 2
(2.1)
3 3
V  Van  Vbn  Vcn
2 2

The magnitude of the reference voltage

2 2
Vref  V   V  (2.2)

The angle between α-β is determined by the following equation.

 V 
  tan 1    t  2 ft (2.3)
 V 

The period of the vectors occurring in the switching states of the inverter is shown as a Clarke
matrix (Tabc-αβ) which is determined by the given equations ((2.1) and (2.2)).

 1 1
 1   
2 2 2
Tabc     (2.4)
3 3 3
0 2 2 

In the inverter topology shown in Figure 1, if the switching elements G1 and G4, G3 and G6,
G5 and G2 are not open or closed at the same time, eight different switching state vectors are
generated. These switching vectors and the output voltages generated in these switching states are
given in Table I at abc coordinates and normalized values in co-ordinates.
The simulated SVPWM circuit in MATLAB/Simulink is shown in below Figure 4.
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Figure 4. Simulated Space Vector PWM circuit in Matlab/Simulink

Table 1. Switching States of Space Vector Modulation

The representation of the vectors occurring in the switch cases at the coordinates is shown in
Figure 5. Among the space vectors that occur in switching states, there are six regions called
sectors.

Figure 5. Three dimensional space vectors

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The SVPWM method is applied in three basic steps;

Step I: The reference voltage in the abc coordinates is converted to the space vector normalized
to the DC voltage in the alpha-beta coordinates and the rotation angle in the coordinates of the
reference vector is determined.
Step II: The sector in which the reference vector is located is determined and it is determined
how long the vectors in the switching states must be applied in order to form the reference voltage.
Step III: Switching is performed according to the order in which the vectors in the switching
states are applied.

Simulation Results

SPWM and SVPWM techniques have been applied to a three-phase VSI. Output voltage and
current graphs of SPWM and SVPWM are given below in Figure 6-9.

Figure 6. Output voltage of VSI switched with SPWM

Figure 7. Output current of VSI switched with SPWM

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Figure 8. Output voltage of VSI switched with SVPWM

Figure 9. Output current of VSI switched with SVPWM

As can be seen from the graphs, the output graphs of the SPWM controlled inverter show less
degraded shapes.
Total harmonic distortion values of the output voltages and currents of VSI are given in Figure
10-13 and Table 2.

Figure 10. Total Harmonic Distortion of Output Voltages of VSI switched SPWM
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Figure 11. Total Harmonic Distortion of Output Current of VSI switched with SVPWM

Figure 12. Total Harmonic Distortion of Output Voltages of VSI switched with SVPWM
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Figure 13. Total Harmonic Distortion of Output Current of VSI switched with SVPWM

Figures 10-13 show the THD plots for R = 1Ω and L = 1mh. As seen in the figures, there is less
distortion in the output voltage and current of the inverter controlled by SVPWM. It is obvious that
the controls made with SVPWM in the power electronics industry will cause less loss. Table 2
gives the THD values of the output voltage and current of inverters controlled by SPWM and
SVPWM techniques for different load types.

Table 2. Total Harmonic Distortion(THD) for different type of load and switching technique

In Table 2, the inductive load value for the same resistive load value is increased, the resistive
load value for the same inductive load value is increased, the resistive and inductive load values
are increased, and the THD values of the output voltage and current are examined. As a result, the
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total harmonic distortion of the output current and voltage under different load conditions has been
found to be higher in SVPWM than in SPWM switching technique.

Conclusion

In this study, SPWM and SVPWM techniques used to switch voltage source inverters have been
simulated and compared under different types of load in MATLAB/SIMULINK. Figure 6, Figure
7, Figure 8 and Figure 9 show output voltage and current graphs of the voltage source inverter
switched with SPWM and SVPWM. When the THD value of these voltages and currents are
analyzed, THD value of the output voltage of the inverter which is controlled by SPWM is 8,15%,
THD value of the current was 4.09%, THD value of the output voltage was 5.77% and the THD
value of the current was 1.85% for the inverter controlled with SVPWM. In power systems, total
harmonic distortion is an important factor in terms of power quality. In this study, the SPWM and
SVPWM techniques used to switch voltage source inverters are compared in terms of THD. As a
result of analysis, SVPWM technique has been found to be a more efficient switching method in
terms of power quality. This study is a benchmarking in this respect. The aim of this study is to be
able to transmit energy which obtain from renewable energy resources in the most efficient way
possible and to choose the appropriate switching technique to minimize the harmonic rates to the
lowest possible level. The next step of this study will be used the inverter controlled by the
SVPWM technique with the renewable energy source for on-grid systems.

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