This simulator models a 5 kVA, 230 V, 50 Hz single-phase grid-following solar inverter with ideal PV maximum-power availability feeding an averaged 98%-efficient boost stage, a 400 V DC link, and an averaged current-controlled bridge exporting to the utility. Start it up, watch the precharge-synchronize-export sequence, and explore what makes it disconnect.
• A real-time 3D cutaway of the inverter's power path — DC link, switching bridge and filter stages — with home view, auto-rotate and expand-3D scene tools, plus tappable components with anchored callout labels. • Operate and investigate controls: start inverter, stop inverter, reset trip, run time, step 100 ms and advance 10 seconds. • Fixture selectors: utility grid present or lost/disconnected, cooling fan working or failed, and an injected detector fault (none, insulation/ground fault, gate driver failure). • A Waveforms & energy tab with a grid-voltage-and-injected-current chart (normalized to compare phase and magnitude), a bridge-switching illustration chart with a selectable waveform window (20 ms, 2 ms or 0.5 ms) comparing the bipolar PWM voltage against the sinusoidal reference, a real-power-history chart (AC export versus PV input actually used), and a DC-link-voltage-history chart showing precharge, regulation and retained charge after disconnection. • Live measurements, a sequence-of-events log, and the full energy-and-control equation set (apparent power, DC-link energy balance, boost-stage limit, reactive-power priority, bridge voltage phasor and an illustrative switching-ripple estimate). • An Experiments & tests tab with 15 guided experiments (normal startup, cloud crosses array, hot PV cells, export curtailment, reactive priority, leading current, grid loss, frequency excursion, voltage sag, cooling failure, ground-fault detector, gate-driver failure, switching tradeoff, filter tradeoff, residual energy), a Model verification bench that runs automated model checks, and a diagnostic challenge. • A Learn & assess tab with a 6-question knowledge-check quiz and a written scope-and-references statement linking to US Department of Energy inverter and grid-services material.
The inverter moves through an explicit state sequence: PRECHARGE, where the DC link charges toward its 400 V target with the AC contactor still open; SYNC, where the phase-locked loop qualifies the grid for at least one continuous second within the voltage/frequency envelope before closing the contactor; and EXPORTING, where the current-controlled bridge delivers real power (with reactive power taking priority within the 5 kVA apparent-power limit) while the DC-link energy balance keeps the bus regulated.
A trip can latch for several independent reasons modeled explicitly: grid loss (this is a grid-following design with no backup island supply — a lost grid means no export, full stop), a voltage/frequency excursion sustained for the 200 ms teaching envelope, an injected ground fault or gate-driver fault, DC-link over/undervoltage, or thermal shutdown above 95°C driven by a first-order heat-balance model that responds to whether the cooling fan is working. Reset trip is explicitly blocked until the grid is healthy, the injected fault is cleared and the unit has cooled below 70°C — trying to reset early is one of the built-in diagnostic exercises.
The waveform window lets you zoom from a full 20 ms grid cycle down to a 0.5 ms slice to see individual switching transitions in the bridge-illustration chart — but that chart is an ideal comparator illustration of bipolar PWM against the sinusoidal reference, not a solved switching circuit, and the control model itself is averaged. The illustrative ripple estimate scales with DC-link voltage and switching frequency but is not a harmonic-distortion or THD prediction.
This is a teaching model of one 5 kVA, 230 V, 50 Hz grid-following inverter. It does not model a battery, backup output, grid-forming control, an actual MPPT search algorithm, semiconductor commutation, a detailed PLL, LCL filter resonances, leakage-current networks or active islanding detection. The 195-253 V, 47.5-51.5 Hz and 200 ms trip envelope is a teaching configuration, not a certified interconnection setting, and sub-cycle switching transients and contact arcing are outside scope.
This is a grid-following inverter design with no backup island supply. Grid-following operation requires a valid grid reference to synchronize to; when the grid is lost the AC contactor opens and the trip latches, so no AC export occurs regardless of available PV power or DC-link charge. This is one of the simulator's built-in diagnostic challenges.
On start, the inverter enters PRECHARGE (DC link charges toward 400 V, AC contactor open), then SYNC (the phase-locked loop must qualify the grid within its voltage/frequency envelope for one continuous second), and finally EXPORTING (the current-controlled bridge delivers real power with reactive power prioritized within the 5 kVA limit).
Reset trip requires the grid to be healthy, any injected fault (ground fault or gate-driver failure) to be cleared, and the modeled temperature to be below 70°C. Attempting to reset while any of those conditions is unmet is deliberately blocked and is one of the simulator's diagnostic exercises.
It models one 5 kVA, 230 V, 50 Hz grid-following inverter with an averaged 98% boost stage and an averaged current-controlled bridge. It excludes battery storage, backup/island output, grid-forming control, an actual MPPT search algorithm, semiconductor-level switching, a detailed PLL, LCL resonances and certified anti-islanding detection. The trip envelope is a teaching configuration, not a certified interconnection setting.