1516 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 48, NO.

5, SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2012

Transition Control Strategy Between Standalone

and Grid-Connected Operations
of Voltage-Source Inverters
Md. Nayeem Arafat, Student Member, IEEE, Sreeshailam Palle,
Yilmaz Sozer, Member, IEEE, and Iqbal Husain, Fellow, IEEE

Abstract—This paper proposes a smooth transition control

strategy for voltage-source inverters between standalone (SA) and
grid-connected (GC) modes of operation. In the GC mode, the
amount of power exchanged with the utility grid is controlled by
regulating the phase currents. In the SA mode, the load voltage is
regulated by the inverter with its phase dictated by the inverter
control. The transition between SA and GC operations that will
ensure continuous power delivery to the load requires continuation
in the phase of the system voltage. The proportional–integral,
trapezoidal, sinusoidal, and staircase frequency variation tech-
niques have been analyzed to find the best approach for mini-
mizing the total harmonic distortion (THD). A smooth frequency
variation technique has been developed, which provides lower
THD on the voltage waveforms compared with the other tech-
niques. The new algorithm has been implemented on a 5-kW
single-phase utility interactive inverter having the SA operation
capability. The simulation and experimental results show that
the proposed technique provides seamless transition between the
inverter modes of operation with minimal distortion at the inverter
output voltage.
Fig. 1. Single-phase utility-interactive inverter system.
Index Terms—AC–DC power converters, distributed power
generation, uninterruptible power systems.
power electronic inverters. The utility interactive inverters play
an important role in the power distribution system [1]–[6].
I. I NTRODUCTION The grid-connected (GC) inverter should be able to operate in
GC and standalone (SA) modes in order to provide power to the
I N RECENT years, the demand for energy from renewable
sources has increased to address the energy crisis and
environmental pollution problems. This has resulted in the
emergency load during outages. An unexpected power disrup-
tion could cause injuries, fatalities, serious business disruption,
proliferation of renewable-based distributed energy sources for or data loss. Recently, lots of the sensitive devices such as life-
power generation into the grid; the penetration rate is expected support equipment, instrumentation plants, satellites, hospital
to increase in the coming years. Renewable energy sources such equipment, industrial controllers, microwave broadcasts, and
as wind turbines, photovoltaic power systems, and regenerative television engine rooms [7]–[9] require clean input voltage with
fuel cells typically provide dc output power. Distributed gen- low total harmonic distortion (THD). For example, there is a
eration systems are connected to the utility grid (UG) through specific power supply requirement from International Broad-
cast Center to maintain continuous and stable power supply
with low THD, which will allow uninterrupted sportscasts all
Manuscript received December 9, 2011; revised March 14, 2012; accepted around the world [10], [16]. The energy system used in this
March 18, 2012. Date of publication August 1, 2012; date of current version
September 14, 2012. Paper 2011-EMC-543.R1, presented at the 2011 IEEE
paper is the utility interactive inverter. In the case of utility
Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition, Phoenix, AZ, September 17–22, outage, the system disengages itself from the grid and provides
and approved for publication in the IEEE T RANSACTIONS ON I NDUSTRY sustainable and high-quality power to the critical loads.
A PPLICATIONS by the Electric Machines Committee of the IEEE Industry
Applications Society.
The utility interactive inverter with the SA operation capabil-
Md. N. Arafat, S. Palle, and Y. Sozer are with the Electric and Computer ity analyzed in this paper is shown in Fig. 1. The SA and GC
Engineering Department, The University of Akron, Akron, OH 44325 USA modes of inverter operation require different control methods.
(e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]).
I. Husain is with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Moreover, the transition between the two modes should be
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695 USA (e-mail: ihusain2@ seamless to minimize any sudden voltage change across the
ncsu.edu). emergency load or any sudden current change provided into
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available online
at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org. the grid. The transitions between the two modes should be fast
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TIA.2012.2210013 and precise to minimize the interruption in the power supply.
0093-9994/$31.00 © 2012 IEEE
ARAFAT et al.: TRANSITION CONTROL STRATEGY BETWEEN SA AND GC OPERATIONS 1517

The utility-interactive inverters for distributed energy systems

reported in the literature [11]–[14], [17] have the capability
to operate in both GC and SA modes, but do not address the
issues of stresses on the converter and THD on the voltage
and current waveforms during transition. The harmonic currents
cause the transformer to overheat, resulting in reduced life and
rating, and stress the power-factor correction capacitors. The
harmonics in the voltage cause losses in the motors resulting
in increased heating, reduced power output, and shorter life
expectancy. The devices that use power-line carrier signals may
experience problems of false tripping or loss of synchronism in
the communication if harmonics exist at frequencies close to the
carrier signal [15]. Examples of such systems are synchronized
clocks, control modules for building management systems, and
ripple control relays for management of hot water load. Fig. 2. Single-phase PLL algorithm.
The synchronization of a small wind turbine and a full-
bridge converter with a local grid using a switch but without
a transition algorithm has been addressed in the literature [17].
In the method proposed in [17], high current passes through
the inverter phase after the grid recovers, and inverter seizes
the operation until the synchronization is achieved between the
inverter and the UG. The inverter system with the transition
algorithm that is being proposed in this paper has the capability
to work with the UG with high power quality in two modes of
operation. The IEEE 1547 code requires that the GC inverter
has to seize the operation if the UG is not available for safety
reasons. The inverter system is connected to the UG through
the switch and is also able to provide power to the local loads
when the grid is not available. The local loads are connected
to the inverter side of the switch such that the local loads get
their power from the inverter even if the switch is disconnected.
These loads are typically critical loads in the network and need
much attention in terms of quality and sustainability. When the
grid recovers, IEEE 1547 requires the inverter to wait certain
time to make sure that the grid is stabilized. This paper proposes Fig. 3. Renewable inverter controller based on PI current regulators.
to use this waiting time to achieve seamless transition and to
phase is assumed to be locked to the grid when the q-axis
provide the best quality voltage to the local loads.
voltage is zero. Based on the estimated phase, the utility current
The proposed algorithm makes smooth frequency transition
can be converted into the d–q domain in the same way as the
to match the system phase voltage with the grid voltage at the
utility voltage is converted; the regulation in the d–q domain
instant of connection to the grid. The continuation in phase
is easier and has better dynamic response characteristics. The
current and the delay in relay operation are taken into account in
currents of d–q axes dictate the real and reactive power flow
the algorithm. The proposed mode transition control algorithm
through the transmission line [21]–[23].
is given in Section II. The simulation results are presented
Fig. 3 shows the block diagram of the grid-interactive voltage
in Section III, and the experimental results are presented in
source inverter controller based on current regulation for the
Section IV. The summary and conclusions are given in
d-axis and q-axis components of the utility current. The cur-
Section V.
rents of d–q axes are controlled in their domain through
proportional–integral (PI) controllers and are converted into the
II. M ODE T RANSITION C ONTROL A LGORITHM
reference phase voltage. The cross coupling and feedforward
A. Current Control in GC Mode terms help linearize the system and simplify the controller
design. The reference voltages of the d–q axes are converted
In the GC mode, estimating the phase of the UG is essential
to inverter switch gate signals through a pulsewidth modulation
in processing the right amount of power. The phase-locked-loop
(PWM) generation algorithm.
(PLL) grid synchronization technique has been the preferred
method in the literature [18], [19] and is also used in this
B. Voltage Control in SA Mode
paper. The single-phase PLL algorithm is shown in Fig. 2 [20].
The grid voltage is shifted by 90◦ and converted into d–q-axes When the UG is not available or it is out of the specified
voltages based on the estimated phase. The loop filter brings range, the inverter controller immediately switches to the SA
the q-axis voltage to zero by adjusting the phase. The estimated mode of operation to provide sustainable power to the critical
1518 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 48, NO. 5, SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2012

Fig. 4. RMS voltage control in the SA mode.

Fig. 6. Frequency variation techniques for transition from SA to UG.

the inverter is passed to the PI controller to obtain the required

frequency variation. The bandwidth of the controller is then tied
to the required phase adjustment time.
Fig. 5. Block diagram of the PI-based phase adjustment method to synchro- The closed-loop transfer function of the PI angle tracker is
nize the inverter voltage with the grid voltage.  1
θg (s) kp 1+sτ
loads. The phase starts with its value at the start of the tran- = sτ1+sτ s 1 (1)
θs (s) 1 + kp sτ s
sition (θGC−SA ) and continues with the constant rated utility
frequency. Different voltage regulation techniques for SA oper- where kp denote the gain of the PI-type filter. The transfer
ation are reported in the literature such as instantaneous, time functions of the closed-loop system can be rewritten in the
averaged, and predictive voltage controllers [20]. The RMS general second-order form as
regulation techniques have been used in this paper for the SA θg (s) 2ζωn s + ωn2
inverter operation. Hc (s) = = 2 (2)
θs (s) s + 2ζωn s + ωn2
Fig. 4 shows the RMS voltage control method of the SA in-

verters. The PI controller produces the right amount of inverter where ωn = kp /τ and ζ = kp /2ωn .
RMS voltage, and the result is multiplied with a sinusoidal vari- Trapezoidal Frequency Variation Technique: The phase de-
ation based on the estimated utility phase. The PWM signals are viation between the UG and the inverter output voltage is
generated from the reference sine-wave voltage for the inverter measured when the grid is available. Using the prescribed
to produce the desired output voltage. waiting time, the amount of the frequency deviation Δf is
obtained from Δf = |Δθdiff |/2π.TG . The phase is adjusted by
C. Transition From SA Mode to GC Mode
varying the inverter operating frequency with the trapezoidal
When the UG becomes available, the inverter controller shape, as shown in Fig. 6. When the phases of the inverter and
would detect its presence and connect UG within the prescribed the UG match, the inverter is connected to the UG at the voltage
time. Depending on the phase difference between the inverter zero crossing.
output voltage and the UG voltage at the instant of the UG’s The frequency of the inverter can be varied and adjusted for
availability, the inverter frequency could be adjusted to syn- the duration of connection time TG to synchronize with the
chronize the inverter and UG phases within a given connection phase of the UG, as shown in Fig. 6. The rate or slope for the
waiting time TG . This operation should be done with the transition can be obtained from
minimum impact on the critical loads and the UG. The available
y × T = x.Δf + (T − 2x).Δf (3)
frequency transition techniques have been explored and ana-
lyzed to evaluate their impact on the critical loads. The PI and where x is the time duration for the frequency transition, and
trapezoidal frequency variation technique were first evaluated Δf is the maximum frequency deviation in the phase adjust-
for the transition, and then two special cases are studied, i.e., ment algorithm.
abrupt frequency variation and triangular frequency variation. The frequencies during the transition are
The THD of the voltage wave shape was observed for each
Δf
case to find out the optimum condition for which the THD is f = 60 ∓ t when t1 ≤ t < t2 (4)
x
the minimum. In all the cases, the average frequency deviation f = 60 ∓ Δf when t2 ≤ t < t3 (5)
has been kept the same for the given waiting time TG . Δf
PI Frequency Variation Technique: In a typical uninterrupt- f = 60 ± t when t3 ≤ t < t1 + TG . (6)
x
ible power supply system, the practical method used for phase
adjustment is the closed-loop PI controller [11]–[13]. Fig. 5 The two special cases for frequency adjustment are described
shows the block diagram of the PI controller-based synchro- as follows.
nization technique of the inverter output voltage phase with 1) Abrupt frequency variation: If the initial duration is in-
the grid voltage phase. The angle error between the grid and stantaneous (i.e., x = 0 in Fig. 6), then there is a sharp
ARAFAT et al.: TRANSITION CONTROL STRATEGY BETWEEN SA AND GC OPERATIONS 1519

TABLE I
THD OF THE T RAPEZOIDAL WAVEFORMS AND THE I NVERTER O UTPUT
VOLTAGE WAVEFORMS W ITH VARIOUS F REQUENCY D EVIATIONS

frequency transition effect in the system. The system

frequency is determined by the following: Fig. 7. THD and frequency deviation in the inverter output voltage during the
transition from SA to GC mode.
f = 60 ∓ Δf. (7)
brought back to the rated UG frequency within the designated
2) Triangular frequency variation: The other extreme case waiting time. The amount of frequency deviation Δf that needs
of the frequency variation algorithm is the condition to be applied can be obtained from
where x = TG /2. In this algorithm, Δf is the maximum
frequency variation. The applied frequency to the inverter |Δθdiff |
Δf = (10)
control is 2π.TG
Δf Tg where Δθdiff is the phase difference between the inverter output
f = 60 ∓ t when t1 ≤ t < t1 + (8) voltage and the UG voltage at the instant of grid availability.
x 2
Δf TG The system frequency is determined from the following
f = 60 ∓ t when t1 ≤ t t1 + T G . (9)
x 2 equation for smooth transition:
The objective is to minimize the frequency deviation fs = 60 ± fm sin ωt (11)
without disturbing the conditions of the critical loads.
One of the measures for the quality of the inverter out- where fm = π.Δf /2 and ω = 2π.2/TG .
put is the voltage THD. Different frequency transition Comparison of Phase Adjustment Techniques: The compar-
slopes or rates have been tested to compare the THDs of ison of the different frequency variation techniques has been
the inverter output voltage during the phase adjustment presented in Fig. 7. The objective of the algorithm is to adjust
period. The shapes of the frequency transition functions the inverter phase to the utility within the prescribed time
change with different slopes; each frequency transition with minimum frequency variation and minimum THD at the
function would have different harmonic contents. In order inverter output voltage.
to evaluate the shape of the functions, a negative cycle The initial duration x is varied from 0 to TG /2, which sweeps
has been added, and the THD of the frequency transition the frequency variation from the abrupt variation method to
function is calculated. the triangular variation method. In the simulation, the grid is
As shown in Table I, the THD of the output voltage waveform considered to be turned off at 0.3 s and returned at 3.3 s. The
changes with the frequency variation function. The THD of the inverter voltage is leading the grid voltage by 127◦ (2.4 rad)
frequency variation function and the THD of the output voltage at the time of interruption, and the total adjustment time is
waveform during the phase adjustment period correlate very prescribed as 4 s to synchronize the phase after the grid returns.
well. The function that has the minimum THD would cause As shown in Fig. 7, the optimum value of x is in between 1
the minimum THD at the inverter output voltage. This analysis and 1.2 s where the lowest THD and the frequency deviation
suggests that sinusoidal transition would give the minimum are obtained. The smooth frequency variation technique gives a
THD for the output voltage waveform of the inverter. THD of 0.88% for a frequency deviation of 1.099 Hz, which is
Smooth Frequency Variation Technique: The analysis of the better than all other values of x with the trapezoidal frequency
trapezoidal frequency variation with different parameters pro- variation technique.
vided the insight to develop the smooth frequency variation Fig. 8 shows the control strategy of the inverter at SA, GC,
technique. When the UG is available, the phase of the inverter and SA–GC transition modes. GC–SA mode transition instantly
output voltage is gradually adjusted according to the phase rela- occurs and does not require separate operating conditions.
tionship between the inverter output and the UG voltages until Initially, when the system is turned on, the controller reads the
they match. If the phase of the UG is greater than the inverter grid voltage through sensors, completes PLL calculations, and
output, the system frequency is increased and brought back to checks the grid availability. If the grid is available, the system
the rated utility frequency within the designated waiting time runs in GC modes where the inverter is controlled through
TG . Otherwise, the frequency of the system is decreased and current control. If the grid is not available, Vd , Vq , and f are out
1520 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 48, NO. 5, SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2012

Fig. 8. State diagram of the operating mode transitions.

of range. The inverter runs in SA mode, taking the grid phase as

the initial phase; generates the phase using (12); and continues
to check for whether the grid is available or not as follows:

θs = θGC−SA + fs dt. (12)

If the grid is available, the inverter goes into the SA–GC

transition mode. During the transition mode, the phase is ad-
justed using the smooth frequency variation algorithm. Once
the phases match, the inverter starts checking for the zero
crossing of the grid voltage. The inverter runs in the voltage
control mode during this transition time until the zero crossing Fig. 9. Inverter output voltage, grid current, inverter current, and load current
is detected. After the zero crossing event, the inverter starts during transition from GC to SA.
operating in the current control mode. There is a typical delay
time for the operation of the relays.

III. S IMULATION R ESULTS

The mode transition algorithm has been simulated based
on a 5-kW, 20-V-dc, and 120-V-ac single-phase bidirectional
inverter.
Fig. 9 shows the operation of the inverter during the transition
from the GC to the SA mode. The simulation starts with the grid
connected, but the grid is disconnected at 0.03 s. During the GC
operation, the inverter regulates the output current, and its phase
is synchronized with the grid through the PLL algorithm. The
inverter delivers 5-kW power: 3 kW of which is delivered to
the grid, and 2 kW is delivered to the local load. After the grid
disconnects, the inverter changes its mode to voltage control
and only provides 2 kW to the local loads.
When the grid becomes available during the SA mode of op-
eration, the inverter starts the SA–GC transition mode. During
this mode of operation, the inverter phase is gradually adjusted
to the grid phase within the prescribed time. The inverter
Fig. 10. Inverter output voltage synchronization with grid voltage after the
regulates the local voltage during the transition mode and grid returns with the leading phase using the PI phase adjustment technique.
connects at the voltage zero crossing after the phase adjustment
is completed. within 0.365 s, the bandwidth of the controller is adjusted with
The PI-based phase adjustment technique has been tested and kp and τ values of 25.27 and 12.35, respectively. As shown in
presented in Fig. 10. The UG is recovered at 3.3 s, with a phase Figs. 10 and 11, the frequency deviation with the PI controller
of 26.7◦ (0.466 rad) less than the inverter output voltage. In is much higher than that with the smooth frequency variation
order to match the phase of inverter output voltage with the grid technique.
ARAFAT et al.: TRANSITION CONTROL STRATEGY BETWEEN SA AND GC OPERATIONS 1521

Fig. 11. Inverter voltage synchronization with grid voltage after the grid
returns with lagging phase using the smooth frequency variation technique.

Fig. 13. THD analysis of the inverter output voltage during transition from
SA to GC mode. (a) Smooth frequency variation method. (b) Abrupt frequency
variation method. (c) PI frequency variation method.

TABLE II
THD OF THE G RID C URRENT AT D IFFERENT O UTPUT P OWER

Fig. 12. Inverter output voltage synchronization with grid voltage after the
grid returns with leading phase using smooth frequency variation technique.

In the condition presented in Fig. 11, the grid becomes

available at 3.3 s, with a phase of 26.7◦ (0.466 rad) less than
the inverter output voltage. The smooth frequency variation
technique gradually decreases the inverter operating frequency
from 60 to 58 Hz and then back to 60 Hz. The phases of
the UG and the inverter output voltage match at 3.678 s. The
inverter is connected to the grid at the zero crossing level of inverter frequency is gradually increased from 60 to 62 Hz and
the inverter output voltage to minimize the inrush current from then gradually decreases to 60 Hz. The phases of the UG and
the inverter to the UG. The simulation of the smooth frequency the inverter output voltage match at 3.678 s.
variation technique when the phase voltage of the inverter is The smooth frequency variation, abrupt frequency variation,
less than the grid voltage is shown in Fig. 12. At 3.3 s, the and PI-based frequency variation phase adjustment techniques
grid returns, and the grid voltage is leading the inverter by have been simulated, and the results are presented in Fig. 13
26.7◦ . Using the frequency-increasing technique algorithm, the and Table II. As shown in these results, the smooth frequency
1522 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 48, NO. 5, SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2012

Fig. 16. Steady-state load voltage and load current with 20 A peak magnitude.

Fig. 14. Experimental setup.

Fig. 15. Steady-state inverter current and grid voltage in GC mode for Id =
30 A and Iq = 0 A, which would produce 30 A peak current.

variation phase adjustment technique significantly reduces the

THD of the inverter output voltage during the SA–GC transition
period.

IV. E XPERIMENTAL R ESULTS

A 5-kW, 200-V-dc, 120-V-ac, utility interactive single-phase
inverter has been developed for experimental verification, as Fig. 17. Transition from GC mode to SA mode. (a) Switch status. (b) Inverter
shown in Fig. 14. The control algorithms have been imple- voltage. (c) Load current.
mented using the BF506F digital signal processor from Analog
Devices. The analog-to-digital converter sampling and PWM age control mode. The time that is required to wait before
switching rates are kept at 20 kHz. connecting into the grid is prescribed by the utilities. During
Fig. 15 shows the steady-state test results for inverter current the waiting time, the inverter adjusts its phase to the utility.
of 21 A (RMS) in the GC mode with a unity power factor. When the phase difference becomes zero after the transition
The steady-state inverter output current and the load voltage waiting time, the inverter waits for the zero crossing of the
in the SA mode are presented in Fig. 16. Both the voltage and utility voltage to command the relays to be turned on. The
current regulators perform well and produce sinusoidal voltage inverter still runs in SA mode during the relay connection time
and current waveforms. The transition operation from GC to because of the delay time in the relays. In order to have better
SA is presented in Fig. 17. Initially, the inverter runs in the transition during the relay connection time, the inverter runs
current control mode during GC mode of operation; the inverter in the current control mode with the command current set at
controller immediately transitions into the voltage control mode the same value that was in producing the correct magnitude
after disconnection of the grid from the circuit. The transition of inverter output voltage. When the relay is connected, the
is seamless, except a minor increase in the load voltage. inverter continues to operate the current regulation mode. The
The most challenging event is the transition from SA to operation of the inverter during this transition period is shown
GC mode of operation. Initially, the inverter runs in the volt- in Fig. 18.
ARAFAT et al.: TRANSITION CONTROL STRATEGY BETWEEN SA AND GC OPERATIONS 1523

Fig. 20. Grid voltage, load voltage, and inverter output current during SA–GC
transition mode.

Fig. 21. Inverter output voltage frequency during SA–GC transition mode.

Fig. 18. (a) Transition from SA to GC mode. (b) Detailed view of transition
from SA to GC mode.

Fig. 19. Inverter phase adjustment to utility during SA–GC transition mode.

The phase adjustment of the inverter during the transition pe-

Fig. 22. THD analysis of inverter output voltage during SA–GC transition:
riod is shown in Fig. 19. As shown in Fig. 20, the inverter output (a) using smooth frequency variation method and (b) using abrupt frequency
and the utility voltages are in phase when the relay is turned variation method.
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on. The transition is seamless, and there is no disturbance in [13] R. Tirumala and N. Mohan, “Seamless transfer of a grid-connected PWM
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loop control strategy for single-phase voltage source UPS inverters,” IEEE trical and electronics engineering from Osmania
Trans. Power Electron., vol. 11, no. 4, pp. 532–541, Jul. 1996. University, Hyderabad, India, in May 2007. He is
[10] M. Zhang, Y. Zhang, Z. Bo, X. Dong, B. Caunce, and A. Klimek, “Opti- currently working toward the Ph.D. degree in the
mum power supply solution for the 2008 Olympic International Broadcast Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
Centre,” in Proc. IPEC, 2007, pp. 827–831. The University of Akron, Akron, OH.
[11] Z. Yao, L. Xiao, and Y. Yan, “Seamless transfer of single-phase grid- From September 2007 to July 2009, he was a
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IEEE Trans. Power Electron., vol. 25, no. 6, pp. 1597–1603, Jun. 2010. abad. His research interests include control design
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regulation for parallel-connected UPS system under independent control,” systems, utility interactive power electronic systems,
in Proc. ICPE, Oct. 2007, pp. 576–580. and vehicle-to-grid systems.
ARAFAT et al.: TRANSITION CONTROL STRATEGY BETWEEN SA AND GC OPERATIONS 1525

Yilmaz Sozer (M’04) received the B.S. degree in Iqbal Husain (S’89–M’89–SM’99–F’09) received
electrical engineering from Middle East Technical the B.Sc. degree from Bangladesh University of
University, Ankara, Turkey, and the M.S. and Ph.D. Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh, in
degrees in electric power engineering from Rensse- 1987, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Texas
laer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY. A&M University, College Station, in 1989 and 1993,
His graduate work focused on power electronics respectively.
and the development of control algorithms for elec- He was a Lecturer at Texas A&M University and
tric machines. After the completion of his doctoral a Consulting Engineer with Delco Chassis, Dayton,
degree, he worked with Advanced Energy Conver- OH. In 1996 and 1997, he worked at Wright Patter-
sion, Schenectady, NY, and developed expertise in son AFB Laboratories as a Summer Researcher. In
all aspects of electronic power conversion and its 2001, he was a Visiting Professor at Oregon State
control. Since August 2009, he has been a faculty member of the Department University, Corvallis. He is currently a Distinguished Professor in the Depart-
of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The University of Akron, Akron, OH, ment of Electrical and Computer Engineering, North Carolina State University,
where he is currently developing a research and teaching program on alternative Raleigh, where he is engaged in teaching and research. He is also the Codirector
energy systems. His research interests include the areas of control and modeling of the Advanced Transportation Energy Center (ATEC), and a faculty member
of electrical drives, alternative energy systems, design of electric machines, with the NSF FREEDM Engineering Research Center. He was at The Uni-
integrated and belt-driven starter/alternator systems, high-power isolated dc/dc versity of Akron, Akron, OH, prior to joining North Carolina State University,
converter systems, large industrial static power conversion systems that inter- where he built a successful electric and hybrid vehicles program. He has worked
face energy storage, and distributed generation sources with the electric utility. extensively in the development of switched reluctance and permanent-magnet
Dr. Sozer has been involved in IEEE activities that support power electronics, motor drives for various automotive and industrial applications. His research
electric machines, and alternative energy systems. He is serving as an Associate interests include the areas of control and modeling of electrical drives, design
Editor for the Electric Machines Committee of the IEEE T RANSACTIONS ON of electric machines, development of power conditioning circuits, and design
I NDUSTRY A PPLICATIONS and as a Secretary of the Renewable Energy System and modeling of electric and hybrid vehicle systems.
Committee of the IEEE Industry Applications Society. Dr. Husain is a Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE Industry Applications
Society for 2012–2013. He was a recipient of the 2006 SAE Vincent Bendix
Automotive Electronics Engineering Award, the 2004 College of Engineering
Outstanding Researcher Award, the 2000 IEEE Third Millennium Medal,
and the 1998 IEEE Industry Applications Society (IAS) Outstanding Young
Member Award. He is also the recipient of the 2006 IEEE Industry Applications
Magazine paper award and four IEEE IAS Committee prize paper awards.