Low Voltage VFD Motor Drive

Two-thirds of the world’s industrial electricity runs electric motors in applications such as HVAC (Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning), water pumping and industrial drives. Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs) can reduce the electric energy consumption of constant speed AC induction motors by up to 80%, but only a tiny percentage of large AC motors uses variable speed or VFDs.

VFD products are mature products, but wide spread adoption is limited by the harmful harmonic energy generated by convention VFD products. IPC has developed and pilot tested a low harmonic VFD that eliminates these problems. This VFD prototype has been operating smoothly since July 2010 controlling a standard non-inverter grade AC induction motor.

The major benefits of IPC’s low harmonic VFD include:

Convention VFDs will destroy lower cost, non-inverter grade AC induction motors, while the IPC VFD can reliably use standard, non-inverter grade AC induction motors since little damaging harmonic energy is created and transferred to the motor. This enables simple, low cost efficiency upgrades on installed motor systems such as commercial chiller systems, as there is no need to replace the motor with a new more expensive inverter grade motor.
Conventional VFDs may require IEEE 519 filters to protect the utility grid from their damaging harmonic energy. IEEE 519 filters can cost more than a conventional VFD of the same power level. The IPC VFD is inherently IEEE 519 compliant eliminating the need for expensive utility filters.
The IPC VFD is more energy efficient than a conventional VFD. Conventional VFD’s waste energy in harmonics that must be dissipated in the VFD, motor or utility filter. The IPC VFD does not create these harmonics at the source, eliminating the energy loss.
Motors using the IPC VFD operate quietly like induction motors running directly on utility power. Motors using conventional VFD’s are noisy due to harmonic dissipation in the motors and may require hearing protection by maintenance personnel.
System reliability is improved, both for the VFD and the AC motor.

VFD Pilot Whitepaper

“IPC’s inverter offers an architecture that we believe will become a standard for commercial scale rooftop systems, the largest segment of the US solar market.”

- Roger Jennings, General Manager, Texas Solar Power Company.

“IPC’s current-modulation electronic power converter topology improves cost, efficiency, and reliability. It is one of the most significant advances in power electronics in decades, which is critically required for the clean-energy industry.”

– Dr. Hamid Toliyat, Professor and Director of Electric Machines & Power Electronics Lab, Texas A&M University