Evaluation of Power Quality and Losses in Single-Phase H-Bridge Inverters: A Comparative Study of IGBT and GaN Devices

This paper presents a comprehensive performance analysis of a single-phase H-bridge inverter using Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBTs) and Gallium Nitride (GaN) devices, comparing power quality and efficiency. The primary focus of the study is to evaluate the total harmonic distortion (THD) of voltage and current waveforms and to analyze power losses across different operating frequencies with different values of the output filter inductor. Simulations were carried out using both device technologies to assess their behavior at various switching frequencies. The results indicate that GaN-based inverters exhibit superior performance in terms of lower THD and reduced switching losses, especially at higher operating frequencies, compared to IGBT-based inverters. The findings of this study highlight the trade-offs between power quality, efficiency, and operating frequency, providing insights into the suitability of IGBT and GaN devices for different inverter applications.