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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 39, NO. 2, MARCH/APRIL 2003

Z-Source Inverter
Fang Zheng Peng, Senior Member, IEEE

AbstractThis paper presents an impedance-source (or

impedance-fed) power converter (abbreviated as Z-source converter) and its control method for implementing dc-to-ac, ac-to-dc,
ac-to-ac, and dc-to-dc power conversion. The Z-source converter
employs a unique impedance network (or circuit) to couple the
converter main circuit to the power source, thus providing unique
features that cannot be obtained in the traditional voltage-source
(or voltage-fed) and current-source (or current-fed) converters
where a capacitor and inductor are used, respectively. The
Z-source converter overcomes the conceptual and theoretical
barriers and limitations of the traditional voltage-source converter
(abbreviated as V-source converter) and current-source converter
(abbreviated as I-source converter) and provides a novel power
conversion concept. The Z-source concept can be applied to all
dc-to-ac, ac-to-dc, ac-to-ac, and dc-to-dc power conversion. To
describe the operating principle and control, this paper focuses
on an example: a Z-source inverter for dc-ac power conversion
needed in fuel cell applications. Simulation and experimental
results will be presented to demonstrate the new features.

Fig. 1.

Traditional V-source converter.

Index TermsConverter, current-source inverter, inverter,

voltage-source inverter, Z-Source inverter.

I. INTRODUCTION

HERE EXIST two traditional converters: voltage-source

(or voltage-fed) and current-source (or current-fed) converters (or inverters depending on power flow directions). Fig. 1
shows the traditional three-phase voltage-source converter (abbreviated as V-source converter) structure. A dc voltage source
supported by a relatively large capacitor feeds the main converter circuit, a three-phase bridge. The dc voltage source can
be a battery, fuel-cell stack, diode rectifier, and/or capacitor. Six
switches are used in the main circuit; each is traditionally composed of a power transistor and an antiparallel (or freewheeling)
diode to provide bidirectional current flow and unidirectional
voltage blocking capability. The V-source converter is widely
used. It, however, has the following conceptual and theoretical
barriers and limitations.
The ac output voltage is limited below and cannot exceed the dc-rail voltage or the dc-rail voltage has to be
greater than the ac input voltage. Therefore, the V-source
inverter is a buck (step-down) inverter for dc-to-ac power
conversion and the V-source converter is a boost (step-up)
rectifier (or boost converter) for ac-to-dc power converPaper IPCSD 02078, presented at the 2002 Industry Applications Society
Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA, October 1318, and approved for publication
in the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS by the Industrial Power
Converter Committee of the IEEE Industry Applications Society. Manuscript
submitted for review June 1, 2002 and released for publication December 2,
2002.
The author is with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824-1226 USA, and also with
the College of Electrical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027,
China (e-mail: [email protected]).
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TIA.2003.808920

Fig. 2. Traditional I-source converter.

sion. For applications where over drive is desirable and the

available dc voltage is limited, an additional dc-dc boost
converter is needed to obtain a desired ac output. The additional power converter stage increases system cost and
lowers efficiency.
The upper and lower devices of each phase leg cannot
be gated on simultaneously either by purpose or by EMI
noise. Otherwise, a shoot-through would occur and destroy the devices. The shoot-through problem by electromagnetic interference (EMI) noises misgating-on is a
major killer to the converters reliability. Dead time to
block both upper and lower devices has to be provided
in the V-source converter, which causes waveform distortion, etc.
An output LC filter is needed for providing a sinusoidal
voltage compared with the current-source inverter, which
causes additional power loss and control complexity.
Fig. 2 shows the traditional three-phase current-source
converter (abbreviated as I-source converter) structure. A dc
current source feeds the main converter circuit, a three-phase
bridge. The dc current source can be a relatively large dc
inductor fed by a voltage source such as a battery, fuel-cell
stack, diode rectifier, or thyristor converter. Six switches are

0093-9994/03$17.00 2003 IEEE

PENG: Z-SOURCE INVERTER

used in the main circuit, each is traditionally composed of a

semiconductor switching device with reverse block capability
such as a gate-turn-off thyristor (GTO) and SCR or a power
transistor with a series diode to provide unidirectional current
flow and bidirectional voltage blocking. However, the I-source
converter has the following conceptual and theoretical barriers
and limitations.
The ac output voltage has to be greater than the original
dc voltage that feeds the dc inductor or the dc voltage produced is always smaller than the ac input voltage. Therefore, the I-source inverter is a boost inverter for dc-to-ac
power conversion and the I-source converter is a buck rectifier (or buck converter) for ac-to-dc power conversion.
For applications where a wide voltage range is desirable,
an additional dcdc buck (or boost) converter is needed.
The additional power conversion stage increases system
cost and lowers efficiency.
At least one of the upper devices and one of the lower devices have to be gated on and maintained on at any time.
Otherwise, an open circuit of the dc inductor would occur
and destroy the devices. The open-circuit problem by EMI
noises misgating-off is a major concern of the converters
reliability. Overlap time for safe current commutation is
needed in the I-source converter, which also causes waveform distortion, etc.
The main switches of the I-source converter have to block
reverse voltage that requires a series diode to be used in
combination with high-speed and high-performance transistors such as insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs).
This prevents the direct use of low-cost and high-performance IGBT modules and intelligent power modules
(IPMs).
In addition, both the V-source converter and the I-source converter have the following common problems.
They are either a boost or a buck converter and cannot be
a buckboost converter. That is, their obtainable output
voltage range is limited to either greater or smaller than
the input voltage.
Their main circuits cannot be interchangeable. In other
words, neither the V-source converter main circuit can be
used for the I-source converter, nor vice versa.
They are vulnerable to EMI noise in terms of reliability.
II. Z-SOURCE CONVERTER
To overcome the above problems of the traditional
V-source and I-source converters, this paper presents an
impedance-source (or impedance-fed) power converter (abbreviated as Z-source converter) and its control method for
implementing dc-to-ac, ac-to-dc, ac-to-ac, and dc-to-dc power
conversion. Fig. 3 shows the general Z-source converter
structure proposed. It employs a unique impedance network (or
circuit) to couple the converter main circuit to the power source,
load, or another converter, for providing unique features that
cannot be observed in the traditional V- and I-source converters
where a capacitor and inductor are used, respectively. The
Z-source converter overcomes the above-mentioned conceptual

505

Fig. 3.

General structure of the Z-source converter.

Fig. 4. Z-source converter structure using the antiparallel combination of

switching device and diode.

Fig. 5. Z-source converter structure using the series combination of switching

device and diode.

and theoretical barriers and limitations of the traditional

V-source converter and I-source converter and provides a novel
power conversion concept.
In Fig. 3, a two-port network that consists of a split-inductor
and
and capacitors
and
connected in X shape is
employed to provide an impedance source (Z-source) coupling
the converter (or inverter) to the dc source, load, or another converter. The dc source/or load can be either a voltage or a current
source/or load. Therefore, the dc source can be a battery, diode
rectifier, thyristor converter, fuel cell, an inductor, a capacitor,
or a combination of those. Switches used in the converter can
be a combination of switching devices and diodes such as the
antiparallel combination as shown in Fig. 1, the series combination as shown in Fig. 2, etc. As examples, Figs. 4 and 5 show
two three-phase Z-source inverter configurations. The inducand
can be provided through a split inductor or two
tance
separate inductors.
The Z-source concept can be applied to all dc-to-ac, ac-to-dc,
ac-to-ac, and dc-to-dc power conversion. To describe the operating principle and control, this paper focuses on an application

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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 39, NO. 2, MARCH/APRIL 2003

Fig. 6.

Traditional two-stage power conversion for fuel-cell applications.

Fig. 9. Equivalent circuit of the Z-source inverter viewed from the dc link
when the inverter bridge is in the shoot-through zero state.

Fig. 7. Z-source inverter for fuel-cell applications.

example of the Z-source converter: a Z-source inverter for dc-ac

power conversion needed for fuel-cell applications.
Fig. 6 shows the traditional two-stage power conversion for
fuel-cell applications. Because fuel cells usually produce a
voltage that changes widely (2:1 ratio) depending on current
drawn from the stacks. For fuel-cell vehicles and distributed
power generation, a boost dcdc converter is needed because
the V-source inverter cannot produce an ac voltage that is
greater than the dc voltage. Fig. 7 shows a Z-source inverter for
such fuel-cell applications, which can directly produce an ac
voltage greater and less than the fuel-cell voltage. The diode in
series with the fuel cell in Figs. 6 and 7 is usually needed for
preventing reverse current flow.
III. EQUIVALENT CIRCUIT, OPERATING PRINCIPLE,
CONTROL

Fig. 8. Equivalent circuit of the Z-source inverter viewed from the dc link.

AND

The unique feature of the Z-source inverter is that the output

ac voltage can be any value between zero and infinity regardless of the fuel-cell voltage. That is, the Z-source inverter is a
buckboost inverter that has a wide range of obtainable voltage.
The traditional V- and I-source inverters cannot provide such
feature.
To describe the operating principle and control of the
Z-source inverter in Fig. 7, let us briefly examine the Z-source
inverter structure. In Fig. 7, the three-phase Z-source inverter
bridge has nine permissible switching states (vectors) unlike
the traditional three-phase V-source inverter that has eight. The
traditional three-phase V-source inverter has six active vectors
when the dc voltage is impressed across the load and two zero
vectors when the load terminals are shorted through either
the lower or upper three devices, respectively. However, the
three-phase Z-source inverter bridge has one extra zero state

Fig. 10. Equivalent circuit of the Z-source inverter viewed from the dc link
when the inverter bridge is in one of the eight nonshoot-through switching states.

(or vector) when the load terminals are shorted through both
the upper and lower devices of any one phase leg (i.e., both
devices are gated on), any two phase legs, or all three phase
legs. This shoot-through zero state (or vector) is forbidden
in the traditional V-source inverter, because it would cause
a shoot-through. We call this third zero state (vector) the
shoot-through zero state (or vector), which can be generated
by seven different ways: shoot-through via any one phase leg,
combinations of any two phase legs, and all three phase legs.
The Z-source network makes the shoot-through zero state
possible. This shoot-through zero state provides the unique
buck-boost feature to the inverter.
Fig. 8 shows the equivalent circuit of the Z-source inverter
shown in Fig. 7 when viewed from the dc link. The inverter
bridge is equivalent to a short circuit when the inverter bridge is
in the shoot-through zero state, as shown in Fig. 9, whereas the
inverter bridge becomes an equivalent current source as shown
in Fig. 10 when in one of the six active states. Note that the
inverter bridge can be also represented by a current source with

PENG: Z-SOURCE INVERTER

507

Fig. 11. Traditional carrier-based PWM control without shoot-through zero

states, where the traditional zero states (vectors) V
and V
are generated
every switching cycle and determined by the references.

zero value (i.e., an open circuit) when it is in one of the two

traditional zero states. Therefore, Fig. 10 shows the equivalent
circuit of the Z-source inverter viewed from the dc link when the
inverter bridge is in one of the eight nonshoot-through switching
states.
All the traditional pulsewidth-modulation (PWM) schemes
can be used to control the Z-source inverter and their theoretical
inputoutput relationships still hold. Fig. 11 shows the traditional PWM switching sequence based on the triangular carrier
method. In every switching cycle, the two nonshoot-through
zero states are used along with two adjacent active states to
synthesize the desired voltage. When the dc voltage is high
enough to generate the desired ac voltage, the traditional PWM
of Fig. 11 is used. While the dc voltage is not enough to
directly generate a desired output voltage, a modified PWM
with shoot-through zero states will be used as shown in Fig. 12
to boost voltage. It should be noted that each phase leg still
switches on and off once per switching cycle. Without change
the total zero-state time interval, shoot-through zero states
are evenly allocated into each phase. That is, the active states
are unchanged. However, the equivalent dc-link voltage to
the inverter is boosted because of the shoot-through states.
The detailed relationship will be analyzed in the next section.
It is noticeable here that the equivalent switching frequency
viewed from the Z-source network is six times the switching
frequency of the main inverter, which greatly reduces the
required inductance of the Z-source network.

IV. CIRCUIT ANALYSIS AND OBTAINABLE OUTPUT VOLTAGE

Assuming that the inductors
and
have the same inductance

and
and capacitors
and capacitance
, re-

Fig. 12. Modified carrier-based PWM control with shoot-through zero states
that are evenly distributed among the three phase legs, while the equivalent
active vectors are unchanged.

spectively, the Z-source network becomes symmetrical. From

the symmetry and the equivalent circuits, we have
(1)
Given that the inverter bridge is in the shoot-through zero state
for an interval of , during a switching cycle, and from the
equivalent circuit, Fig. 9, one has
(2)
Now consider that the inverter bridge is in one of the eight nonshoot-through states for an interval of , during the switching
cycle, . From the equivalent circuit, Fig. 10, one has
(3)
is the dc source voltage and
.
where
The average voltage of the inductors over one switching peshould be zero in steady state, from (2) and (3), thus,
riod
we have
(4)
or
(5)
Similarly, the average dc-link voltage across the inverter bridge
can be found as follows:

(6)

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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 39, NO. 2, MARCH/APRIL 2003

The peak dc-link voltage across the inverter bridge is expressed

in (3) and can be rewritten as
(7)
where
(8)
is the boost factor resulting from the shoot-through zero state.
The peak dc-link voltage is the equivalent dc-link voltage of
the inverter. On the other side, the output peak phase voltage
from the inverter can be expressed as
(9)
is the modulation index. Using (7), (9) can be further
where
expressed as
(10)
For the traditional V-source PWM inverter, we have the well. Equation (10) shows that
known relationship:
the output voltage can be stepped up and down by choosing an
,
appropriate buckboost factor
(11)
From (1), (5) and (8), the capacitor voltage can expressed as
(12)
is determined by the modulation
The buckboost factor
and boost factor . The boost factor as expressed
index
in (8) can be controlled by duty cycle (i.e., interval ratio) of the
shoot-through zero state over the nonshoot-through states of the
inverter PWM.
Note that the shoot-through zero state does not affect the
PWM control of the inverter, because it equivalently produce
the same zero voltage to the load terminal. The available shootthrough period is limited by the zero-state period that is determined by the modulation index.
V. INDUCTOR

CAPACITOR REQUIREMENT
Z-SOURCE NETWORK

AND

OF THE

For the traditional V-source inverter, the dc capacitor is the

sole energy storage and filtering element to suppress voltage
ripple and serve temporary storage. For the traditional I-source
inverter, the dc inductor is the sole energy storage/filtering
element to suppress current ripple and serve temporary storage.
The Z-source network is a combination of two inductors and
two capacitors. This combined circuit, the Z-source network is
the energy storage/filtering element for the Z-source inverter.
The Z-source network provides a second-order filter and is more
effective to suppress voltage and current ripples than capacitor
or inductor used alone in the traditional inverters. Therefore,
the inductor and capacitor requirement should be smaller than
the traditional inverters. Detailed design guide and formulas of
the Z-source network will be presented in a near future paper.
A brief discussion is given below in terms of physical sizes
and
) are
and requirements. When the two inductors (

Fig. 13. Simulation and prototype system configuration.

small and approach zero, the Z-source network reduces to two

and
) in parallel and becomes a traditional
capacitors (
V-source. Therefore, a traditional V-source inverters capacitor
requirements and physical size is the worst case requirement
for the Z-source network. Considering additional filtering and
energy storage provided by the inductors, the Z-source network
should require less capacitance and smaller size compared
with the traditional V-source inverter. Similarly, when the
and
) are small and approach zero, the
two capacitors (
Z-source network reduces to two inductors ( and ) in series
and becomes a traditional I-source. Therefore, a traditional
I-source inverters inductor requirements and physical size is the
worst case requirement for the Z-source network. Considering
additional filtering and energy storage by the capacitors, the
Z-source network should require less inductance and smaller
size compared with the traditional I-source inverter.
VI. SIMULATION RESULTS, PROTOTYPE,
EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

AND

Simulations have been performed to confirm the above analysis. Fig. 13 shows the circuit configuration and Fig. 14 shows
simulation waveforms when the fuel-cell stack voltage is
V and the Z-source network parameters are
H and
F. The purpose of the system is to produce a three-phase 208-V rms power
from the fuel-cell stack whose voltage changes 150 340 V dc
depending on load current. From the simulation waveforms of
Fig. 14, it is clear that the capacitor voltage was boosted to
V and the output line-to-line was 208 V rms or
294 V peak. In this case, the modulation index was set to
, and the shoot-through duty cycle was set to
, and switching frequency was 10 kHz. The shoot-through
zero state was populated evenly among the three phase legs,
achieving an equivalent switching frequency of 60 kHz viewed
from the Z-source network. Therefore, the required dc inductance is minimized. From the above analysis, we have the following theoretical calculations:
(13)
V

V
(14)

(15)

PENG: Z-SOURCE INVERTER

509

Fig. 15. Experimental waveforms when the fuel-cell voltage is low, inverter
modulation index M = 0:642, and shoot-through period ratio T =T = 0:358
(V and V
: 200V/div, V
: 2 200V/div, i : 50 A/div, and time: 4
ms/div).

Fig. 14. Simulation waveforms when the fuel-cell voltage V = 150 V,

inverter modulation index M = 0:642, and shoot-through duty cycle
T =T = 0:358.

Equation (15) is the phase peak voltage, which implies that the
line-to-line voltage is 208 V rms or 294 V peak. The above theoretical values are quite consistent with the simulation results.
The simulation proved the Z-source inverter concept.
A prototype as shown in Fig. 13 has been constructed. The
same parameters as the simulation were used. Figs. 15 and 16
show experimental results. When the fuel-cell voltage is low,
as shown in Fig. 15, the shoot-through state was used to boost
the voltage in order to maintain the desired output voltage.
The waveforms are consistent with the simulation results.
When the fuel-cell voltage is high enough to produce the
desired output voltage, the shoot-through state was not used, as
shown in Fig. 16, where the traditional PWM control without
shoot-through was used. By controlling the shoot-through state
or the boost factor , the desired output
duty cycle
voltage can be obtained regardless of the fuel cell voltage.
VII. CONCLUSIONS
This paper has presented an impedance-source power
converter for implementing dc-to-ac, ac-to-dc, ac-to-ac, and
dc-to-dc power conversion. The Z-source converter employs a
unique impedance network (or circuit) to couple the converter
main circuit to the power source, thus providing unique features
that cannot be observed in the traditional voltage-source and
current-source converters where a capacitor and inductor are
used, respectively. The Z-source converter overcomes the
conceptual and theoretical barriers and limitations of the traditional voltage-source converter and current-source converter
and provides a novel power conversion concept. The Z-source

Fig. 16. Experimental waveforms when the fuel-cell voltage is high. Inverter
modulation index M = 1:0, and without using the shoot-through state or
shoot-through period ratio T =T = 0.

concept can be applied to almost all dc-to-ac, ac-to-dc, ac-to-ac,

and dc-to-dc power conversion.
This paper focused on an examplea Z-source inverter
for fuel-cell applications. Through the example, the paper
described the operating principle, analyzed the circuit characteristics, and demonstrated its concept and superiority.
Analytical, simulation, and experimental results have been
presented. The Z-source inverter can boostbuck voltage,
minimize component count, increase efficiency, and reduce
cost.
It should be noted again that the Z-source concept can be applied to the entire spectrum of power conversion. Based on the
concept, it is apparent that many Z-source conversion circuits
can be derived. As another example, the Z-source concept can
be easily applied to adjustable-speed drive (ASD) systems as
shown in Fig. 17. The Z-source rectifier/inverter system can produce an output voltage greater than the ac input voltage by controlling the boost factor, which is impossible for the traditional

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[7] W. Leonard, Control of Electric Drives. New York: Springer-Verlag,

1985.
[8] R. E. Tarter, Principles of Solid-State Power Conversion. Indianapolis,
IN: Sams, 1985.
[9] R. D. Middlebrook and S. Cuk, Advances in Switched-Mode Power Conversion. Pasadena, CA: TESLAco, 1981, vol. I and II.

Fig. 17. Z-source rectifier/inverter system for adjustable-speed drives.

ASD systems. Due to the page limit, detailed analysis and description of the system and other Z-source conversion circuits
will be presented in future papers.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The author would like to thank his graduate students and
visiting scholars for their assistance with prototyping and
experiments.
REFERENCES
[1] K. Thorborg, Power Electronics. London, U.K.: Prentice-Hall International (U.K.) Ltd., 1988.
[2] M. H. Rashid, Power Electronics, 2nd ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1993.
[3] N. Mohan, W. P. Robbin, and T. Undeland, Power Electronics: Converters, Applications, and Design, 2nd ed. New York: Wiley, 1995.
[4] A. M. Trzynadlowski, Introduction to Modern Power Electronics. New York: Wiley, 1998.
[5] B. K. Bose, Modern Power Electronics and AC Drives. Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Prentice-Hall PTR, 2002.
[6] P. T. Krein, Elements of Power Electronics. London, U.K.: Oxford
Univ. Press, 1998.

Fang Zheng Peng (M92SM96) received the B.S.

degree from Wuhan University, Wuhan, China, in
1983, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Nagaoka
University of Technology, Nagaoka, Japan, in 1987
and 1990, respectively, all in electrical engineering.
From 1990 to 1992, he was a Research Scientist
with Toyo Electric Manufacturing Company, Ltd.,
engaged in research and development of active
power filters, flexible ac transmission systems
(FACTS) applications, and motor drives. From 1992
to 1994, he was a Research Assistant Professor with
Tokyo Institute of Technology, where he initiated a multilevel inverter program
for FACTS applications and a speed-sensorless vector control project. From
1994 to 2000, he was with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and, from
1994 to 1997, he was a Research Assistant Professor at the University of
Tennessee, Knoxville. He was a Staff Member and Lead (Principal) Scientist
of the Power Electronics and Electric Machinery Research Center at ORNL
from 1997 to 2000. In 2000, he joined Michigan State University, East Lansing,
as an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer
Engineering. He is also currently a specially invited Adjunct Professor at
Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China. He is the holder of ten patents.
Dr. Peng has received numerous awards, including the 1996 First Prize Paper
Award and the 1995 Second Prize Paper Award from the Industrial Power Converter Committee at the IEEE Industry Applications Society Annual Meeting;
the 1996 Advanced Technology Award of the Inventors Clubs of America, Inc.,
the International Hall of Fame; the 1991 First Prize Paper Award from the IEEE
TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS; the 1990 Best Paper Award from
the Transactions of the Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan; and the Promotion Award of the Electrical Academy. He has been an Associate Editor of
the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS since 1997 and Chair of the
Technical Committee for Rectifiers and Inverters of the IEEE Power Electronics
Society.