The development of cost effective distributed and renewable energy technologies can reduce the nations dependence on fossil fuels. However, alternative power sources such as wind turbines, fuel cells, and microturbines will require improvements in existing power inverter technologies, in order to make these systems feasible for widespread commercial or industrial use. Existing power inverters are large in size, expensive, limited in power capability, and prone to failure. This project will develop a DC/AC power converter that utilizes a modular design based upon a current-sourced motor drive. The new design will deliver a smaller, reliable, inverter that will operate more efficiently, deliver more power capability, and be more cost effective than what is presently available on the market. Phase I will design, prototype, build, and demonstrate a 5 kW, single phase, 240 VAC, pulse width modulated DC/AC inverter that includes a DC/DC converter, PWM power board, output filter, and DSP software controls. The performance, efficiency, size, reliability, scalability, and cost of the inverter will be evaluated.
Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: The energy conversion market is enormous, and products currently on the market are not meeting the needs. Applications for the technology should include private use (farm, home, RV, electric and hybrid-electric vehicles), new energy source use (photovoltaic, wind turbine, fuel cell), commercial use (construction sites, oil wells, telecommunications infrastructure), public utilities support (through distributed generation systems) and federal agency use (military applications, remote site support)
