Design aspects of a power hardware in loop simulator

Power hardware in loop (PHIL) is a simulation technique which allows testing of a power hardware under test (HUT) under various operating conditions. Using PHIL simulations, the behavior of power HUT can be examined when it is integrated to the system without building the complete system. In this paper, various design aspects to construct a PHIL simulator are described. Details of necessary system components such as real time simulator, interface algorithm, power amplifier, interface card, and sensors are provided. MATLAB/SIMULINK based real time simulation platform is used to implement the PHIL simulator. Bidirectional power amplifier having excellent dynamic performance is constructed to realize the PHIL simulator. Working methodology and various implementation aspects of the simulator are discussed. Validity, efficacy, and stability of the PHIL simulator are confirmed using experimental results.