I'm sorry if this post becomes long winded, but I wanted to include as much information as I can: I am part of a group that has had very limited experience with any sort of transistor's, AC voltage, Drivers, and very limited PIC programming.
The goal of a project:
The goal is to essentially create a "grid". This grid will operate at a safe 5VAC with a frequency of 60hz and hopefully a current around 0.5-1Ampere. Frequency and voltage should not vary within 2% tolerance. There will be a load that rectifies the power from the grid to power a couple of LEDs. At different times, alternative energy sources will generate DC voltage to go into the grid. This is assisted by a Connection which will both connect the alternative energy to the grid and shut off if unfavorable circumstances occur. These sources generate anywhere from 5-15 VDC along with 25mA of current (these are shaky numbers at best, the idea is to take dc and convert it to ac)
The restrictions:
We can not use ready built systems such as inverters. The grid is allowed to use one type of power electronic (ac-dc, ac-ac).
Issues:
We first tried to start with DC and create a sin wave generator (specifically a bubba oscillator) and amplify it using multiple op-amps. Our result was a 5vac with 25ma of current. We could not find a decent way of upping the current without hindering the wave form or putting it out of phase. We have very little (almost none) experience with PWM signals and how they can be used in a chip such as IR2110 with Mosfets in a Hbridge to generate the voltage we need (if anybody can explain it to me that would be righteous). We got frustrated with that and instead tried to go down the AC road.
When attempting AC we could not find a decent way to take 13VAC (which is our only option) and turn it down to 5VAC while still keeping the same waveform and a decent current. I looked into options of a dimmer circuit (using Triacs and Diacs) but when I multisimed it, it did not look very promising. But I know there must be a way I can use a switch to get the voltage I need, I just don't quite know what it is. But when it comes to connections we still need to know how to construct AC from DC.
The renewable energy systems are currently able to generate around 5VDC and 90mA... One renewable energy group can generate 90mA the other can generate 200mA... The connections team won't allow the renewable energies to hook into the grid until 5VDC is being generated... But we don't know how to invert it.
We have been working on it for quite some time and may lack the technical experience to accomplish most of the tasks. Assigned to us, I have attached a schematic of an inverter we attempted to build and the actual guidelines for the project. If you need any clarification (that I may have forgotten) please ask.
The goal of a project:
The goal is to essentially create a "grid". This grid will operate at a safe 5VAC with a frequency of 60hz and hopefully a current around 0.5-1Ampere. Frequency and voltage should not vary within 2% tolerance. There will be a load that rectifies the power from the grid to power a couple of LEDs. At different times, alternative energy sources will generate DC voltage to go into the grid. This is assisted by a Connection which will both connect the alternative energy to the grid and shut off if unfavorable circumstances occur. These sources generate anywhere from 5-15 VDC along with 25mA of current (these are shaky numbers at best, the idea is to take dc and convert it to ac)
The restrictions:
We can not use ready built systems such as inverters. The grid is allowed to use one type of power electronic (ac-dc, ac-ac).
Issues:
We first tried to start with DC and create a sin wave generator (specifically a bubba oscillator) and amplify it using multiple op-amps. Our result was a 5vac with 25ma of current. We could not find a decent way of upping the current without hindering the wave form or putting it out of phase. We have very little (almost none) experience with PWM signals and how they can be used in a chip such as IR2110 with Mosfets in a Hbridge to generate the voltage we need (if anybody can explain it to me that would be righteous). We got frustrated with that and instead tried to go down the AC road.
When attempting AC we could not find a decent way to take 13VAC (which is our only option) and turn it down to 5VAC while still keeping the same waveform and a decent current. I looked into options of a dimmer circuit (using Triacs and Diacs) but when I multisimed it, it did not look very promising. But I know there must be a way I can use a switch to get the voltage I need, I just don't quite know what it is. But when it comes to connections we still need to know how to construct AC from DC.
The renewable energy systems are currently able to generate around 5VDC and 90mA... One renewable energy group can generate 90mA the other can generate 200mA... The connections team won't allow the renewable energies to hook into the grid until 5VDC is being generated... But we don't know how to invert it.
We have been working on it for quite some time and may lack the technical experience to accomplish most of the tasks. Assigned to us, I have attached a schematic of an inverter we attempted to build and the actual guidelines for the project. If you need any clarification (that I may have forgotten) please ask.
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