1678 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 57, NO.

5, MAY 2010

Soft-Switching Converter With HF Transformer for

Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Systems
Mario Cacciato, Member, IEEE, Alfio Consoli, Fellow, IEEE, Rosario Attanasio, and Francesco Gennaro

Abstract—In this paper, the design, realization, and perfor- A prototype has been realized, and a fully digital control
mance evaluation of a single-phase 3-kW dc/ac power converter, algorithm, including power management for grid-connected
using an active-bridge dc/dc converter and a full-bridge dc/ac, are operations and maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algo-
introduced, presenting a novel solution on the industrial scenario
for the considered application. Control algorithms, including the rithm, is implemented on a dedicated control board, equipped
maximum power point tracking, paralleling to the grid, and con- with last-generation 32-b microprocessor.
verter switching signals, are digitally implemented on a standard
microcontroller. II. S TATE OF THE A RT OF C OMMERCIAL PV C ONVERTERS
Index Terms—Distributed generation systems, phase-shift
modulation, photovoltaic (PV) power systems, synchronous
In addition to a PV generator, a typical PV grid-connected
phase-locked loop (PLL). system installation for residential and small commercial ap-
plications includes a dc/ac converter, and a battery pack in
I. I NTRODUCTION the case of stand-alone operation is also required. Off-the-
shelf dc/ac converters, in the power range of 1–5 kW, can be

O VER THE last few years, the interest in photovoltaic (PV)

applications has grown exponentially. By the end of 2006,
the total installed capacity of PV systems around the world
classified according to the following factors: the number of
power processing stages, the use of galvanic isolation either
with a high-frequency (HF) or low-frequency (LF) transformer,
had reached more than 6500-MWp power. Compared to the and the choice of decoupling stage placement between the
1200 MWp globally installed at the end of 2000, a growth inverter and energy source [3], [4].
at an average annual rate of more than 35% has been seen. During the last two decades, the topology choice of the
As PV systems need an interface based on power electronic inverter manufacturer has been based on a single-stage full-
converters to be connected with the grid or single load, the bridge (FB) inverter, connected to a centralized PV generator
PV market has become appealing for many power electronics characterized by series and parallel connection of several PV
manufacturers [1]. In fact, a PV generator exhibits nonlinear modules. Although this is one of the simplest ways to interface
voltage–current characteristics, and its maximum power point a PV array to the grid, problems caused by partial shading
varies with solar radiation and temperature. In order to suitably and possible mismatch between module and cell characteristics
connect the PV generator to the grid, single or multistage invert- have pushed the inverter manufactures and researchers to study
ers are used, addressing many specifications as high efficiency alternative topologies.
and large input voltage range. Nowadays, string or multistring configurations of PV mod-
Recent studies on the PV technical and economic targets ules and dual-stage dc/ac topologies are known as an efficient
report that, in order to meet the goal of reducing the energy solution for both power conversion and energy management.
cost for PV systems to $0.06/kWh by 2020, the PV inverter In fact, module operations are optimized under different con-
prices will need to decline to $0.25–0.30/Wp by 2020 [2]. ditions, ensuring maximum energy yield. As a consequence,
Improvements in design, technology, and manufacturing of PV system efficiency has been improved from 85%–90% of earlier
inverters are needed to achieve price and performance targets. products to nearly 95% of the most recent ones. Presently, some
This paper aims to outline the development and evaluation companies claim 98% efficiency for their inverters, obtained
of a converter architecture which is new for PV applications with transformerless topologies. Moreover, not only are trans-
with the aim of achieving significant reduction of production formers responsible for 3%–5% of total losses but they also
costs and high efficiency. Other peculiar characteristics of the negatively account for weight, cost, and component number.
proposed converter are integration level, galvanic isolation, and However, by providing the galvanic isolation required by some
wide input voltage range. countries’ standards, HF transformers are often used in modern
designs, being a good compromise in terms of cost, efficiency,
Manuscript received January 13, 2009; revised September 2, 2009. First and safety constraints.
published September 22, 2009; current version published April 14, 2010. System modularity is another desired feature, characterizing
M. Cacciato and A. Consoli are with the Department of Electrical, Electronic new inverters. As installation data show that 2–3-kW inverters
and System Engineering, University of Catania, 95125 Catania, Italy (e-mail:
[email protected]; [email protected]). dominate the market, new modules are generally designed
R. Attanasio and F. Gennaro are with STMicroelectronics, 95100 Catania, above 2-kW output power. Recently, some companies have also
Italy (e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]). introduced a “master–slave” concept between modules in order
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available online
at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org. to optimize system efficiency even under low-radiation-level
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TIE.2009.2032201 operation.

0278-0046/$26.00 © 2010 IEEE

CACCIATO et al.: SOFT-SWITCHING CONVERTER WITH HF TRANSFORMER FOR GRID-CONNECTED PV SYSTEMS 1679

Fig. 1. Converter scheme.

It has to be considered that proper integration of the converter III. P ROPOSED C ONVERTER
system in the specific environment of the selected application
The scheme of the proposed converter is shown in Fig. 1. It is
can only be ensured by control. Control actions must allow
composed of an input bridge (M 1–M 4) connected to an active
interface and communication of the PV converter with the
bridge through an HF transformer, and an FB inverter used to
power grid and the user. They also must comply with mod-
generate a controlled 230-Vrms 50-Hz sinusoidal voltage.
ularity, reliability, and compatibility demands. Therefore, the
The active bridge, connected to the secondary of the trans-
control scheme of an efficient PV converter has to include an
former, is used to achieve ZVS operation for both input and
MPPT algorithm that is responsible for setting the PV field bias
output devices of the dc/dc converter (Fig. 2). Moreover, the
point in order to extract the maximum energy in all irradiation
current stress on the secondary-side switches is reduced. The
conditions; a grid synchronization control (GSC) algorithm
transformer provides galvanic isolation between the PV array
that is responsible for the initialization of the system, grid
and the ac output voltage, improving the overall safety of the
angle estimation, and anti-islanding monitoring; and a power
system. The leakage inductance of the transformer, which is
management control (PMC) algorithm that is responsible for
typically considered an unintended parasitic component with
the current injection into the grid. While performing all such
a negative impact on the power converter, is used in such
tasks, the converter system proposed in this paper will introduce
a topology as a power transfer element, thus eliminating the
some new aspects that will be detailed in the following. DSP
device overvoltage and the need of snubber circuits. Proper
microcontrollers are widely used to perform all control actions,
phase-shift control between the input bridge legs and the output
owing to their good performance with complex mathematical
bridge legs allows one to shape the transformer current, thus
operations and multiple pulsewidth modulation (PWM) outputs
achieving ZVS for all the power devices and voltage step-up
for drive signal generation.
from a minimum input of 150 V to a regulated 450-V dc. The
Over the last few years, many different inverter topologies
operating principle of the converter is based on the phase shift
have been designed and their performance investigated for grid
between the secondary leg (devices M 6 and M 7) and the first
connection in the power range of 1–5 kW. Among non-isolated
leg of the input bridge (devices M 1 and M 4). The input and
configurations, the cascade connection of a buck, boost, or
rectifier bridges generate two square waveforms, respectively,
buck–boost converter and an FB or half-bridge (HB) inverter
across the primary and secondary windings of the transformer,
seems to be very common, while the cascade connection of a
shifted by the angle δ. The effect of the primary voltage
current source FB dc/dc converter and an FB or HB inverter
V trasfprim and secondary voltage reflected to the primary
is often used when galvanic isolation and high conversion
V  trasfsec is to shape the inductance current according to the
ratios are required [5]. In both cases, decoupling capacitors for
ratio (V trasfprim /V  trasfsec ) [11]. Due to symmetry during
LF voltage ripple can be placed either on the low- or high-
the two halves of the switching period, the current expression
voltage side.
can be written as
HF link topologies are also suitable for this application [6]
but are not largely employed due to control issues and consid-  
1 Vbus
erable component count. Moreover, decoupling capacitors can iLlk (θ) = Vdc + θ
ωs Llk n
only be placed on the low-voltage side. Another class of con-
verters, whose performance evaluation has been recently started  
n ·δ+ Vdc − n
2 Vbus Vbus
π
by manufacturers, is represented by zero-voltage-transition − , 0≤θ≤δ (1)
2ωs Llk
phase-shift converters. Among those, the FB phase-shift con-  
verter is already used in telecom and server applications, where 1 Vbus
iLlk (θ) = Vdc − (θ − δ)
high power density and high efficiency are mandatory. Active ωs Llk n
bridges, first introduced in [7], also exploit the phase-shift  
concept in order to achieve zero-voltage switching (ZVS) for 2Vdc ·δ+ Vbus
n − Vdc π
+ , δ ≤θ≤π (2)
the power devices [8]–[10]. 2ωs Llk
1680 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 57, NO. 5, MAY 2010

Fig. 2. DC/DC converter main waveforms.

and the power transferred to the output is all the power devices of the dc/dc converter, the following
equations must be satisfied:
2
   
Vdc δ
n · δ + Vdc − n
2 Vbus Vbus
Pav = dδ 1 − (3) π
ωs Llk π iLlk (0) = − <0 (4)
 V2ω s Llk 
2Vdc · δ + bus n − Vdc π
where Llk is the leakage inductance, Vdc is the input voltage, iLlk (δ) = <0 (5)
2ωs Llk
Vbus is the dc-link voltage, ωs = 2π · fs , δ is the phase-shift
angle, and d = ((Vbus /n)/Vdc ). In order to achieve ZVS for which means that d < 1/(1 − 2(δ/π)) and d > 1 − 2(δ/π).
CACCIATO et al.: SOFT-SWITCHING CONVERTER WITH HF TRANSFORMER FOR GRID-CONNECTED PV SYSTEMS 1681

Fig. 3. d versus input voltage for different n values.

Fig. 5. Output power versus phase angle.

TABLE I
C ONVERTER C HARACTERISTICS

Fig. 4. Output power versus input voltage and phase angle.

Fig. 3 shows the variation of the ratio d between V trasfprim

and V  trasfsec for different values of the turn ratio n.
Assuming a 450-V dc bus voltage and n = 1.5, it results to
0.5 ≤ d ≤ 1.9. Once the transformer turn ratio has been se-
lected, the phase-shift angle can be calculated in order to obtain
the desired output power for each value of the input voltage
and leakage inductance. As an example, fixing the leakage
inductance, the output power can be calculated as a function
of the phase angle and input voltage, as shown in Fig. 4.
In Fig. 5, the output power variations with respect to phase
angle and ZVS operation limits (red line) are shown for two val- As a result of power loss calculation and voltage and current
ues of input voltage. At 150-V input, soft-switching operation is ratings, 47-A 650-V power MosFET devices are selected for
obtained for phase-shift values greater than 30◦ . Independently the dc/dc converter featuring 60-mΩ RdsON and 30-A 600-V
from the output power transfer, the HF transformer leakage insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) for the dc/ac stage
inductance also determines the peak current value through the implementation. Each device in the dc/dc stage is connected
power devices. in parallel to a fast soft recovery diode. The choice of such a
The design parameters of the converter are listed in Table I. MosFET featuring low RdsON and gate charge, as well as diode
The dc/dc converter switching frequency was set at 35 kHz characteristics, is a critical aspect for those applications where
to take into account the limited range of ZVS operation with high efficiency is demanded.
input voltage levels different than 300 V. In those operating
conditions, higher switching frequencies would cause unwanted
IV. D IGITAL C ONTROL
additional losses due to hard switching. In other words, the
chosen switching frequency is a compromise to obtain good Control issues have been deeply investigated, and the
efficiency in all conditions. possibility of implementing the algorithm using a standard
1682 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 57, NO. 5, MAY 2010

Fig. 6. Block diagram of the implemented control algorithm.

microcontroller is verified. The control board is equipped with

a microprocessor based on a 32-b CORTEX-M3 core with
suitable peripherals. The core, running at 72 MHz, is able
to perform up to 90 million instructions per second. A high-
performance CPU, based on Harward architecture, plus suit-
able peripherals such as advanced PWM, fast and accurate
A/D conversions [12 bit with double sample and hold (S&H)
circuit], and high-resolution timers, allows one to implement
sophisticated control algorithm. All PWMs are generated with
proper dead time, settable by software with some nanoseconds Fig. 7. PLL structure.
of resolution.
As shown in Fig. 6, the three main control issues regarding a
PV converter, namely, the MPPT, the GSC, and the PMC, have The most critical task of the PMC is the estimation of
been included within the system. PMC is based on the control the grid angle. To this aim, a PLL in a DQ reference frame
of the active and reactive power in d, q axis [12]–[16], while (DQ-PLL) has been used instead of a standard PLL approach
the implemented MPPT algorithm is an optimized version of (e.g., zero crossing method). The main features of a DQ-PLL
the perturb and observe method [17]–[19]. The inverter current are wider bandwidth, lower noise sensitivity, and higher ac-
is transformed, using Park equations, in the two components curacy compared with the standard PLL. The implementation
referred to the rotating dq reference frame of the grid voltage. of the DQ-PLL algorithm in the present converter system has
The two components Id and Iq are proportional to the active been noticeably improved from its original proposal in [20],
and reactive generated powers, respectively, and then, two syn- as all the required software and hardware operations regarding
chronous proportional–integral (PI) regulators have been used. the PLL have been performed with the same microcontroller of
The reference current value of d axis Id∗ is calculated in order the main digital control. This is clearly outlined in the block
to regulate the voltage of the dc bus Vbus . The reactive power scheme representing the PLL structure shown in Fig. 7.
is maintained at zero through Iq∗ , as only the injection of active The phase-shift modulation for the dc/dc stage has also been
power into the mains is allowed, according to the European implemented in the digital control loop. The adopted micro-
standards. PI outputs are transformed back into ac quantities, controller allows a high-resolution phase shift (13.8 ns), owing
using the inverse Park transformation, providing the signals for to 16-b timers, with a consequent large regulation range of δ.
inverter modulation. The implemented equations are: The PWM embedded peripheral has been configured in order
to generate a triangular carrier at 16 kHz with a resolution of
16.6 ns and programmable dead-time insertion to avoid cross-
Vd = Vα ∗ Sin(θe ) + Vβ ∗ Cos(θe )
conduction on the dc/ac stage.
Vq = Vα ∗ Cos(θe ) − Vβ ∗ Sin(θe ) (6) For the sake of security, the complementary pairs have to be
Vα = Vd ∗ Cos(θe ) − Vq ∗ Sin(θe ) disabled synchronously in the case of power stage failure/fault
Vβ = Vd ∗ Sin(θe ) + Vq ∗ Cos(θe ) (7) (e.g., overcurrent), and this is performed by a dedicated emer-
gency stop input embedded in the peripheral.
where θe is the grid angle estimated by the phase-locked In the case of an overcurrent or overvoltage event, the dc/dc
loop (PLL). converter modulation is first disabled by the control algorithm.
CACCIATO et al.: SOFT-SWITCHING CONVERTER WITH HF TRANSFORMER FOR GRID-CONNECTED PV SYSTEMS 1683

Then, the dc/ac modulation is disabled, and the interface relays TABLE II
C ONTROL B LOCK T IMING E XECUTION
are disconnected, preventing any power flow from the system
to the grid. After that, the control algorithm performs some
checks on the input and bus dc voltage values and on the
grid voltage and frequency values. If the sensed voltages are
in the allowable range (150–400-V input, 370–450-V bus dc,
230 Vrms +/−10%, and 49.7–50.3-Hz grid voltage), the dc/dc
converter is operated in burst mode in order to charge the bus
dc voltage at the minimum reference voltage level. The dc
bus voltage may never exceed 450 V and must never decrease
below the peak grid voltage plus the drop across the IGBTs and
LCL filter.
The minimum dc-bus voltage is set according to
 
√ Pdc ∗ Zc
Vbus ref _ min = 2 Vgrid_ max + (8)
Vgrid_ max

where Pdc is the average power on the dc bus, Vgrid_ max is the
maximum rms value of the grid voltage, and Zc is the output
LCL filter impedance.
Once the system is connected to the grid, the MPPT algo-
rithm is started to track the maximum available power.
The LCL filter is designed to reduce high-order harmonics
on the grid side [21]. The inductor value on the converter side
is chosen to obtain 10% current ripple according to
 
Vgrid_pk 1 ma
Li = − (9)
ΔiL · fsw π 4

where Vgrid_pk is the grid peak voltage, ΔiL is the desired

current ripple, ma = Vgrid_pk /Vbus is the modulation index,
and fsw is the inverter switching frequency. Fig. 8. Photograph of the converter prototype.
The selection of the coupling reactor Lg is chosen in order to
achieve a further 20% reduction of the converter side current Electrolytic capacitors are used on the input side, in parallel
ripple. The selection of the filter capacitor must result in a with 0.1-μF polypropylene capacitors, to filter the dc input,
resonant frequency of the LCL filter in the range between ten which is of relevant importance for correct MPPT operation
times the line frequency and one half the switching frequency [22]. A bank of four 330-μF 500-V electrolytic capacitors,
to avoid stability problems caused by variations of the grid which are series and parallel connected, is placed on the inverter
impedance. A small damping resistor connected in series with bus to filter the 100-Hz ripple.
the capacitor is also added to improve control stability. The input bridge, consisting of four MosFETs, is connected
The entire control loop has been synchronized with the A–D to the HF transformer realized with an E70 core with N27
conversions triggered by the ON states of the two PWMs. This ferrite grade. Its proper design allows us to achieve the de-
brings benefits, in terms of accuracy, avoiding the acquisition sired value of leakage inductance without using any additional
of analog quantities (e.g., currents) during the commutations of inductor. The secondary winding is connected to the phase-
the power devices. The timing execution of the most relevant shifted bridge realized using four additional MosFETs with the
tasks is reported in Table II. same part number of those of the input bridge.
The entire control loop is executed in less than 27 μs The main experimental results are shown in Figs. 9–16. Fig. 9
(40% CPU load) with a sampling time of 64 μs. Further shows the driving signals of M 1 and M 6, together with the
code can be executed, in the remaining 60%, allowing the HF transformer current and the M 1 drain current under ZVS
implementation of some human–machine interface (HMI) such operation. The commutation of the device M 1 can be observed
as liquid crystal display driving or graphical user interface via in Fig. 10, where the control signal is shown together with the
serial peripheral interface in order to have a complete smart drain source voltage and drain current at 200-V input voltage
platform. and 5-A input current.
Fig. 11 shows the angle estimation of the DQ-PLL and the
grid voltage, while Fig. 12 shows the inverter output current
V. E XPERIMENTAL R ESULTS
resulting from the selection of a sawtooth Id∗ reference. Inverter
The prototype was built on a double-layer 70-μm printed output voltage and current are shown in Figs. 13 and 14,
circuit board, shown in Fig. 8. respectively, in the stand-alone and grid-connected operations.
1684 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 57, NO. 5, MAY 2010

Fig. 9. (ch1, ch2) Phase shift and control signals, (ch3) transformer input Fig. 12. Inverter output current with Id sawtooth reference.
current, and (ch4) primary current.

Fig. 13. Inverter output (ch2) voltage and (ch4) current in the stand-alone
Fig. 10. ZVS primary switch operation.
operation.

Fig. 11. DQ-PLL: Grid voltage angle estimation.

Fig. 14. (ch2) Inverter LC filter output voltage, (ch3) grid voltage,
(ch4) inverter current, and (f2) output instantaneous power waveforms in the
grid-connected operation.
The proposed converter performs a power factor value equal
to 0.993 and current total harmonic distortion percent equal to
3.7% at 2500-W output power. As for the performance of the bus dc voltage of 450 V and a capacitor rms ripple current
whole dc/ac converter system, it should be observed that, while of about 5 A, the resulting ripple voltage at 100 Hz, with a
a constant bus voltage has been considered during the analysis 4 × 470-μF capacitor bank, is about 12.5 V. Dividing such a
of the dc/dc stage, a ripple at the frequency double than the value by the transformer turn ratio, the effect on the primary
grid’s one is expected on the dc bus voltage. Considering a reflected voltage is a ripple of 8.3 V. As a consequence, the
CACCIATO et al.: SOFT-SWITCHING CONVERTER WITH HF TRANSFORMER FOR GRID-CONNECTED PV SYSTEMS 1685

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1686 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 57, NO. 5, MAY 2010

Mario Cacciato (S’98–M’01) received the M.S. Rosario Attanasio was born in Catania, Italy, in
degree in electrical engineering (cum laude) from 1977. He received the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees
the University of Catania, Catania, Italy, in 1996, in electrical engineering from the University of
and the Ph.D. degree in electronic engineering from Catania, Catania, in 2003 and 2006, respectively.
the University of Reggio Calabria, Reggio Calabria, He is currently a Senior Application Engineer in
Italy, in 2000. the Power Systems Group, Industrial and Multiseg-
In 2000, he joined the Department of Electrical ment Sector, STMicroelectronics, Catania. He is the
Engineering, University of Rome “La Sapienza,” author of more than ten technical papers published
Rome, Italy, as an Assistant Professor. Since 2004, in journals and proceedings of international confer-
he has been with the Department of Electrical, ences. He has also participated in research projects
Electronics and System Engineering, University of funded by Italian and foreign agencies. His major
Catania, where he is currently teaching courses on electrical drives. His research interests include power electronics converters and control, renewable
main scientific interests include power electronics, control of electric drives, energies, and electromagnetic compatibility.
electromagnetic compatibility, renewable energies, and hydrogen applications. Dr. Attanasio is a member of the AEIT, the Italian Electric Association.
He is the author of more than 60 technical papers, published in journals
and proceedings of international conferences. He has also participated in
several research projects funded by Italian and foreign agencies such as the Francesco Gennaro received the M.S. (cum laude)
Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca, Consiglio Nazionale and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the
delle Ricerche, Ente per le Nuove Tecnologie, l’Energia e l’Ambiente, and the University of Catania, Catania, Italy, in 1996 and
European Community. 2000, respectively.
Dr. Cacciato is a member of the AEIT, the Italian Electric Association, where In 1999, he was a Visiting Scholar at the Uni-
he is currently a member of the Scientific Board of the Automation Group. versity of Wisconsin, Madison, and a New Product
Development Engineer at Soft Switching Technolo-
gies Corporation, Madison. After one year as an
Alfio Consoli (M’79–SM’88–F’00) was with the Associate Researcher in the Department of Electrical
R&D Unit, FIAT, Turin, Italy in 1973–1974. Since and Electronic Engineering, University of Catania,
1975, he has been a Professor of electrical machines he joined STMicroelectronics, Catania, as a Senior
at the University of Catania, Catania, Italy, teaching Application Engineer for high-voltage smart power ICs, where he is cur-
in the areas of electrical machines, electrical drives, rently the Power Converters Team Manager in the Systems Lab, Application
and power electronics, where he is currently the Laboratory of Industrial and Multisegment Sector, developing system solu-
Head of the Center for Promotion and Transfer of tions in several application fields, e.g., low-power industrial converters, and
Innovation Technology, which he created in 1999. photovoltaic and fuel cell systems. He is also involved in funded project
Since 1980, he has been visiting the U.S. for research technical management and development. He is the author of more than
and teaching assignments. Since 1987, he has been 30 papers on power converters and is the holder of four international patents
responsible for the Ph.D. program in electrical en- on power converters.
gineering and is currently the Coordinator of the Ph.D. program in energy at
the Scuola Superiore of Catania, Catania. His research activities include energy
conversion systems, electrical drives, robotics, and power electronics, having
been performed in the frame of industry cooperation, national, and international
research programs. He has authored or coauthored over 300 technical papers
and is the holder of four international patents. He is the coauthor and the coed-
itor of the book Modern Electric Drives (Kluwer, 2000). He is also the author
of Electrical Motors within the Italian National Encyclopedia “Treccani.”
Dr. Consoli is a Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE Industry Applications
Society (IAS)/Power Electronics Society (PELS). He is the past President
of Converters, Machines, and Electrical Drives, which is the Association of
Italian Professors of Power Electronics. He is an Associate Editor of the IEEE
T RANSACTIONS ON P OWER E LECTRONICS and a member of the Advisory
Committee of the IEEE PELS as the Chairman of the Motor Drives Committee.
He is also a member of the Italian Electric Association (AEI) and a member
of the Executive Committee and the International Steering Committee of the
European Power Electronics Association. Among his international achieve-
ments are two IEEE awards—the best paper published in the IEEE T RANS -
ACTIONS ON P OWER E LECTRONICS and the best paper presented at the IEEE
IAS Annual Meeting.