Here is a simple but powerful, stable and efficient schematic diagram for a 500W modified sine

wave inverter circuit. Originally I used a 555 timer and a CD4017 decade counter to produce the
modified sine wave, but then I thought a simple PIC micro controller with its internal clock
would produce a stable 50Hz/60Hz frequency without the need for two ICs. As you can see its a
very simple circuit. 220V transformer should be used for 220V voltage output. For 110V voltage
output use transformer with 110V rating.
Some information on this circuit. The PIC16F628A is programmed to produce a logic 5v signal
for 5ms at pin 17 then 15ms off. Then the same at pin 18, 5ms on then 15ms off (4.17ms for
60Hz). That is one cycle which is then looped. This results in the signals below on the
oscilloscope. (2 channel view) You can see the two 5v pulses from pins 17 & 18.
These two pins are then sent to the gates of the STP55NF06L (or STP36NF06L) logic
MOSFETs. These are special power MOSFETs that require just 5v to switch on fully. They
also have a very low 0.014 Source to Drain resistance when on which means they can switch
high currents without wasting power as heat. This keeps the whole system efficient. They do run
cool although a heat sink is required. The main losses in power will be within the transformer
itself. They are capable of switching loads up to 55A (or 30A for the STP36NF06L) which
makes this a powerful inverter if used with a large (~800VA) transformer. Of course you could
use a smaller transformer for small loads. The MOSFETs could be in parallel pairs for even
more power. Just give each its own 470 gate resistor and a 22k from each gate to source. I get
around 240v AC from the 10-0-10 with a 12v battery but as this circuit is so efficient a 12-0-12
should give you no less than 220v AC at 12v. Of course if you live in a country with 120v, you
can just use a 10-0-10v to 120v transformer. If you need 50Hz or 60Hz the PIC files ready to be
programmed are at the bottom of this page. The transformer is wired up in reverse. We are using
the low voltage side as the primary, and the high voltage side as the secondary. The low voltage
side must be centre tapped. I might add I have not tried this circuit at 500w as I dont have a
large enough transformer at the moment, but the 55A MOSFETs should be fine. I am going to

rewind the secondary of a microwave oven transformer with about 11-0-11v and see how that
goes, although I dont think they are the most efficient transformer cores around. Still, it could be
an easy and cheap way to make a 500w centre tapped transformer for this project. Will need
some chunky primary wire! Its certainly not worth buying a large transformer for this project.
For the price of that you could buy a commercial inverter or three. Thats no fun though is it!
Also dont forget that even to run a 100w load you will need 12v at almost 10A (calculator).
Small sealed lead acid batteries are not going to be much help apart from to light your Christmas
tree or charge your mobile phone.
The image below is the modified sine wave output you will get from this circuit. It is the same as
most of the commercial inverters that are out there that arent pure sine wave. The advantage for
the inverter with using a modified sine-wave is that the MOSFETs are either fully on or fully
off, never operating in their linear region which would cause heating and poor efficiency.

Here is a simple but powerful, stable and efficient schematic diagram for a 500w modified sine
wave inverter circuit. Originally I used a 555 timer and a CD4017 decade counter to produce the
modified sine wave, but then I thought a simple PIC micro controller with its internal clock
would produce a stable 50Hz frequency without the need for two ICs. As you can see its a very
simple circuit. The CD4017 and 555 Timer circuit can be seen here should anyone want to try
that.
Some information on this circuit. The PIC16F628A is programmed to produce a logic 5v signal
for 5ms at pin 17 then 15ms off. Then the same at pin 18, 5ms on then 15ms off (4.17ms for
60Hz). That is one cycle which is then looped. This results in the signals below on the
oscilloscope. (2 channel view) You can see the two 5v pulses from pins 17 & 18.

The two separate 5v pulses 180 apart

These two pins are then sent to the gates of the STP55NF06L (or STP36NF06L) logic
MOSFETs. These are special power MOSFETs that require just 5v to switch on fully. They
also have a very low 0.014 Source to Drain resistance when on which means they can switch
high currents without wasting power as heat. This keeps the whole system efficient. They do run
cool although a heat sink is required. The main losses in power will be within the transformer
itself. They are capable of switching loads up to 55A (or 30A for the STP36NF06L) which
makes this a powerful inverter if used with a large (~800VA) transformer. Of course you could
use a smaller transformer for small loads. The MOSFETs could be in parallel pairs for even
more power. Just give each its own 470 gate resistor and a 22k from each gate to source. I get
around 240v AC from the 10-0-10 with a 12v battery but as this circuit is so efficient a 12-0-12
should give you no less than 220v AC at 12v. Of course if you live in a country with 120v, you
can just use a 10-0-10v to 120v transformer. If you need 50Hz or 60Hz the PIC files ready to be
programmed are at the bottom of this page. The transformer is wired up in reverse. We are using
the low voltage side as the primary, and the high voltage side as the secondary. The low voltage
side must be centre tapped. I might add I have not tried this circuit at 500w as I dont have a
large enough transformer at the moment, but the 55A MOSFETs should be fine. I am going to
rewind the secondary of a microwave oven transformer with about 11-0-11v and see how that
goes, although I dont think they are the most efficient transformer cores around. Still, it could be
an easy and cheap way to make a 500w centre tapped transformer for this project. Will need
some chunky primary wire! Its certainly not worth buying a large transformer for this project.
For the price of that you could buy a commercial inverter or three. Thats no fun though is it!
Also dont forget that even to run a 100w load you will need 12v at almost 10A (calculator).

Small sealed lead acid batteries are not going to be much help apart from to light your Christmas
tree or charge your mobile phone.
The image below is the modified sine wave output you will get from this circuit. It is the same as
most of the commercial inverters that are out there that arent pure sine wave. The advantage for
the inverter with using a modified sine-wave is that the MOSFETs are either fully on or fully
off, never operating in their linear region which would cause heating and poor efficiency.

The modified sine wave, seen on the oscilloscope.

The prototype driver board.

Note the large 1000F capacitor and 47 resistor. These clean up the voltage spikes coming
from the transformer centre tap into the positive rail and protect the PIC from them. I learnt the
hard way and burnt out 2 PICs before looking into the problem with the scope. Dont think that
the 5v regulator will fix the spikes! It and the PIC got hot and then the PIC died. Twice! The
image below shows what the power supply looks like at each end of the 47resistor Left is
power supply end and right is regulator end. This is with no load on the transformer. The spikes
and waveform of them changes with load. The simple resistor and cap cleans it up. This works
because the 1000F capacitor will be seen as a low impedance to a voltage spike. The 47
resistor limits the current, so the spikes are dissipated in it as can be seen below.

If you wish to build this circuit you will need a PIC programmer to program the microchip with
the HEX file below. I would be interested to hear from anyone who has built this circuit and
what results you have

How to Make a 500 VA PWM Controlled Modified Sine Wave Inverter Circuit
This unique modified sine wave inverter concept has been designed and invented by me. The
entire unit along with the oscillator stage and the output stage can be easily built by any
electronic enthusiast at home. The present designed is able to support 500 VA of output load.
WARNING: The unit has not been tested practically, viewers discretion is advised.
Let's try to understand the circuit functioning in details:

The Oscillator Stage:

Looking at the circuit diagram above, we see a clever circuit design comprising both, the
oscillator as well as the PWM optimization feature included.
Here, the gates N1 and N2 are wired up as an oscillator, which primarily generates perfectly
uniform square wave pulses at its output. The frequency is set by adjusting values of the
associated 100K and the 0.01 uF capacitor. In this design it is fixed at the rate of around 50 Hz.
The values can be altered appropriately for getting a 60 Hz output.
The output from the oscillator is fed to the buffer stage consisting of four parallel and alternately
arranged NOT gates. The buffers are used for sustaining perfect pulses and for avoiding
degradation.
The output from the buffer is applied to the driver stages, where the two high-power darlington
transistors take the responsibility of amplifying the received pulses, so that it can be finally fed to

the output stage of this 500 VA inverter design.

Until this point the frequency is just an ordinary square wave. However the introduction of the
IC 555 stage entirely changes the scenario.
The IC 555 and its associated components are configured as a simple PWM generator. The markspace ratio of the PWM can be discretely adjusted with the help of the pot 100K.
The PWM output is integrated to the output of the oscillator stage via a diode. This arrangement
makes sure that the generated square wave pulses are broken into pieces or chopped as per the
setting of the PWM pulses.
This helps in reducing the total RMS value of the square wave pulses and optimize them as close
as possible to a sine wave RMS value.
The pulses generated at the bases of the driver transistors are thus perfectly modified to resemble
sine wave forms technically.

The Output Stage:

The output stage is quite straight forward in its design. The two winding of the transformer are
configured to the two individual channels, consisting of banks of power transistors.
The power transistors at both the limbs are arranged in parallel to increase the overall current

through the winding so as to produce the desired 500 watts of power.

However to restrict thermal runaway situations with the parallel connections, the transistors are
connected with a low value, high wattage wire wound resistor at their emitters. This inhibits any
single transistor from getting over loaded and fall into the above situation.
The bases of the assembly are integrated to the driver stage discussed in the previous section.

The battery is connected across the center tap and the ground of the transformer and also to the
relevant points in the circuit.
Switching ON power immediately starts the inverter, providing rich modified sine wave AC at
its output, ready to be used with any load upto 500 VA.
The component details are supplied in the diagram itself.

The above design can also be modified into a 500 watt PWM controlled mosfet sine wave
inverter by replacing the driver transistors simply by a few mosfets. The design shown below

would provide about 150 watts of power, for obtaining 500 watts, more number of mosfets may
be required to be connected in parallel with the existing two mosfets.

500W Modified Sine Wave Inverter

Here is a simple but powerful, stable and efficient schematic diagram for a 500W modified sine
wave inverter circuit. Originally I used a 555 timer and a CD4017 decade counter to produce the
modified sine wave, but then I thought a simple PIC micro controller with its internal clock
would produce a stable 50Hz/60Hz frequency without the need for two ICs. As you can see its a
very simple circuit. 220V transformer should be used for 220V voltage output. For 110V voltage
output use transformer with 110V rating.

Some information on this circuit. The PIC16F628A is programmed to produce a logic 5v signal for 5ms at
pin 17 then 15ms off. Then the same at pin 18, 5ms on then 15ms off (4.17ms for 60Hz). That is one
cycle which is then looped. This results in the signals below on the oscilloscope. (2 channel view) You can
see the two 5v pulses from pins 17 & 18.
These two pins are then sent to the gates of the STP55NF06L (or STP36NF06L) logic MOSFET's. These are
special power MOSFET's that require just 5v to switch on fully. They also have a very low 0.014 Source
to Drain resistance when on which means they can switch high currents without wasting power as heat.
This keeps the whole system efficient. They do run cool although a heat sink is required. The main losses
in power will be within the transformer itself. They are capable of switching loads up to 55A (or 30A for
the STP36NF06L) which makes this a powerful inverter if used with a large (~800VA) transformer. Of
course you could use a smaller transformer for small loads. The MOSFET's could be in parallel pairs for
even more power. Just give each its own 470 gate resistor and a 22k from each gate to source. I get
around 240v AC from the 10-0-10 with a 12v battery but as this circuit is so efficient a 12-0-12 should
give you no less than 220v AC at 12v. Of course if you live in a country with 120v, you can just use a 100-10v to 120v transformer. If you need 50Hz or 60Hz the PIC files ready to be programmed are at the
bottom of this page. The transformer is wired up in reverse. We are using the low voltage side as the
primary, and the high voltage side as the secondary. The low voltage side must be centre tapped. I might
add I have not tried this circuit at 500w as I don't have a large enough transformer at the moment, but

the 55A MOSFET's should be fine. I am going to rewind the secondary of a microwave oven transformer
with about 11-0-11v and see how that goes, although I don't think they are the most efficient
transformer cores around. Still, it could be an easy and cheap way to make a 500w centre tapped
transformer for this project. Will need some chunky primary wire! Its certainly not worth buying a large
transformer for this project. For the price of that you could buy a commercial inverter or three. That's no
fun though is it! Also don't forget that even to run a 100w load you will need 12v at almost 10A
(calculator). Small sealed lead acid batteries are not going to be much help apart from to light your
Christmas tree or charge your mobile phone.
The image below is the modified sine wave output you will get from this circuit. It is the same as most of
the commercial inverters that are out there that aren't pure sine wave. The advantage for the inverter
with using a modified sine-wave is that the MOSFET's are either fully on or fully off, never operating in
their linear region which would cause heating and poor efficiency.
Note the large 1000F capacitor and 47 resistor. These clean up the voltage spikes coming from the
transformer centre tap into the positive rail and protect the PIC from them. I learnt the hard way and
burnt out 2 PIC's before looking into the problem with the scope. Don't think that the 5v regulator will
fix the spikes! It and the PIC got hot and then the PIC died. Twice! The image below shows what the
power supply looks like at each end of the 47 resistor Left is power supply end and right is regulator
end. This is with no load on the transformer. The spikes and waveform of them changes with load. The
simple resistor and cap cleans it up. This works because the 1000F capacitor will be seen as a low
impedance to a voltage spike. The 47 resistor limits the current, so the spikes are dissipated in it as can
be seen below.
If you wish to build this circuit you will need a PIC programmer to program the microchip with the HEX
file below.
Disclaimer: This circuit provides high voltage so great care should be taken not to become a part of the
circuit when operating! Also this inverter produces a modified sine wave that is unregulated. If you put
15v in (or more) you will get much more than the 240v out just as with 10v you would get under 200v
output. Output voltage differs with input voltage so as your battery discharges, so will your handy mains
supply. While its fine running some light bulbs or simple mains equipment, I wouldn't use it for that new
plasma TV or anything expensive if you are unsure! Most things will be happy with a modified sine wave
and its certainly much better than the basic square wave inverters that are about. Bottom line is I accept
no responsibility for damage to equipment or yourself as a result of the information on this page.

Pure Sine Wave Inverter, Using IC 555

The proposed circuit generates accurately spaced PWM pulses which imitates a sine wave very
closely and thus can be considered as good as its sine wave counter part design.
Here we use two stages for creating the required PWM pulses, the stage comprising the ICs
741 and the other comprising the IC 555. Lets learn the whole concept in details.
How the Circuit Functions The PWM Stage
The circuit diagram of the proposed pure sine wave inverter can be understood with the
following points:
The two op amps are basically arranged to generate the required sample source voltages for the
IC 555.
The couple of outputs from this stage is responsible for the generation of square waves and
triangular waves.

The second stage which is actually the heart of the circuit consists of the IC 555. Here the IC is
wired in a monostable mode with the square waves from the op amp stage applied to its trigger
pin #2 and the triangular waves applied to its control voltage pin # 5.
The square wave input triggers the monostable to generate a chain of pulses at the output where
as the triangular signal modulates the width of this output square wave pulses.
The output from the IC 555 now follows the instructions from the op amp stage and optimizes
its output in response to the two input signals, producing the sine equivalent PWM pulses.

Now its just a matter of appropriately feeding the PWM pulses to the output stages of an
inverter consisting of the output devices, the transformer and the battery.
The Output Stage

The above PWM output is applied to the output stage as shown in the figure.
Transistors T1 and T2 receive the PWM pulses at their bases and switch the battery voltage into
the transformer winding according to the duty cycles of the PWM optimized waveform.

Expected PWM waveform from the above circuit

The other two transistors make sure that the conduction of T1 and T2 takes place in tandem, that
is alternately so that the output o from the transformer generates one complete AC cycle with the
two halves of the PWM pulses.
Parts List for the proposed homemade pure sine wave inverter circuit
R1, R2, R3, R8, R9, R10 = 10K,
R7 = 8K2,
R11, R14, R15, R16 = 1K,
R12, R13 = 33 Ohms 5 Watt,
R4 = 1M preset,
R5 = 150 K preset,
R6 = 1K5
C1 = 0.1 uF,
C2 = 100 pF,
IC1 = TL 072,
IC2 = 555,
T1, T2 = BDY29,
T5, T6 = TIP 127,
T3, T4 = TIP122
Transformer = 12 0 12 V, 200 Watts,
Battery = 12 volts, 100 AH.

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Modifying Square Wave Inverters to Sine Wave Equivalents

written by: Swagatam edited by: Lamar Stonecypher updated: 11/23/2011

Basically the working waveform of the modified sine wave power inverter circuit presented here has been carved by
positioning many discrete square waves in succession. This structure replicates almost an actual sine wave and
provides an efficiency that may probably exceed 90%.

Every electronic enthusiast will know how difficult it is to design an efficient sine wave inverter circuit. A sine wave
being an exponentially varying waveform is difficult to optimize. Also, unless a PWM technique is employed, the
transistors may dissipate too much of power in the form of heat, wasting precious battery power. A modified sine
wave inverter is relatively easier to design and the cost involved in building one is also much cheaper.
The present circuit design incorporates a modified version thats quite unique in its concept and may be understood
even by an electronic novice. The idea has been exclusively designed by me, but has not been practically tested.
Although it looks impeccable, I would definitely like to hear if anybody feels the design may not be practically
successful.
Before going through the circuit details, it would be important to asses a typical modified sine wave structure derived
from multiple square waves.

Modifying Sine Wave Using Discrete Square Waves

Referring to the figure alongside (click to enlarge) we can see an interesting design of a
single modified sine wave cycle made by chopping a few square waves. Here, each positive and negative half cycle
contain 3 discrete individual narrow square waves, each block is separated by a notch, the center two pillars" are
identical but are twice in magnitude than the extreme ones.
The average value of this special arrangement of discrete square waves effectively imitates a sinusoidal wave. This
configuration is as good as a pure sine AC waveform and thus will be suitable to operate almost all appliances safely
(my assumption).
In fact the present design is much more efficient than the usual circuits shown on many websites. From this circuit its
possible to get an efficiency of almost 90%, because here the output devices are either turned fully ON or fully off.
Lets assess how the circuit actually functions.

Parts List
You will require the following parts for building this modified sine wave inverter:
R1, R2, R3 = 10K, 1/4 Watt, CFR 5% (Approximate Value),
R4-----R7 = 1K, 1Watt,
D1----D4 = 1N4148,
D5----D16 = 1N4007,
D17, D18 = 1N5408,
T1, T3, T5, T7 = TIP122,

T2, T4, T6, T8 = BDY29,

IC1, 2 = 4017,
General Purpose Board, Heatsink, Connecting Wires etc.
Transformer = As per requirement, (Please modify the base resistors accordingly).
Battery = As per the transformer used.

Circuit Description

To create the particular waveform explained in the previous page for this modified sine
wave power inverter, first of all obviously we need a square wave generator.
Primarily, we need to break each square wave into pieces so that they are equally spaced with notches and also to
make them grow in size gradually from start to the center and reduce as it ends.
Ideally we may think of a PWM IC for this, but the condition is also very effectively met using a couple of Johnson
decade counters. The circuit may be understood as follows:
We know that the IC 4017 produces a continuously shifting sequential logic high pulse across its 10 outputs in the
order: 3-2-4-7-10-5-6-9-11.
Here, two 4017 ICs are cascaded to provide the above sequence in 20 continuous steps. D1---D4 are appropriately
configured to make both the ICs conduct in tandem.
If you inspect the outputs of each IC carefully, you will find that a few of the alternate pin-out sequences are cleverly
skipped, while the remaining are joined together through diodes.
The diode junction goes to the base of the power transistors. These transistors respond and conduct exactly
according to the switched pin-out sequences and remain shut-off intermediately due to the skipped pin-outs,
producing pulses exactly as shown in the diagram.
The above DC pulses are forced through the windings of the transformer where it is stepped up to the required
primary voltage level.
The frequency of the AC will particularly depend on the input clock pulses applied to the ICs.
Since the outputs shift in response to every rising edge of the input clock, one complete sequence from the start of
IC1 (pin #2) to the end of the IC2 (pin #9) constitutes a single AC pulse. However, since one complete sequence
should happen 50 times (for 50Hz) per second, implies that the input clock should have a frequency of 50 20 =
1000 Hz or 1 KHz or 1.2 KHz to get 60 Hz (for 120 volt Outputs).
The circuit incorporates a simple oscillator circuit using IC 4049, however other standard oscillator configurations may
also be tried. For example a simple oscillator circuit using IC 4060 as discussed HERE may be employed for driving
the above circuit.

How to Modify a Square Wave Inverter into a Sine Wave Inverter - Concept
Explored
The post explains a few circuit concepts which can be employed for converting or modifying any
ordinary square wave inverter to a sophisticated sine wave inverter design.

Before studying the various designs explained in this article, it would be interesting to know the factors
which typically makes a sine wave inverter more desirable than a square wave design.
Inverters basically involve frequency or oscillations for implementing the boost and inversion actions.
The frequency as we know is generation of pulses at some uniform and calculated pattern, for example
a typical inverter frequency may be rated at 50Hz or 50 positive pulses per second.
The fundamental frequency waveform of an inverter is in the form of square wave pulses.
As we all know a square wave is never suitable for operating sophisticated electronic equipment such as
TV, music players, computers etc.
The AC (alternating current) mains that we acquire at our domestic mains outlet also consists of
pulsating current frequency, but these are in the form of sinusoidal waves or sine waves.
It's normally at 50Hz or 60Hz depending upon the particular country utility specs.
The above mentioned sine curve of our home AC waveform refers to the exponentially rising voltage
peaks which constitute the 50 cycles of the frequency.
Since our domestic AC is generated through magnetic turbines, the wave form is inherently a sine wave,
so doesn't require any processing further and becomes directly usable in homes for all types of
appliances.
Conversely in inverters, the fundamental waveform are in the shape of square waves which needs
thorough processing in order to make the unit compatible with all types of equipment.
Difference between Square Wave and Sine Wave
As shown in the figure, a square wave and sine wave may have identical peak voltage levels but the
RMS value or the root mean square value may not be identical. This aspect is what that makes a square
wave particularly different from a sine wave even though the peak value may be the same.
Therefore a square wave inverter working with 12V DC would generate an output equivalent to say

220V just like a sine wave inverter operating with the same battery but if you measure the output RMS
of both the inverters, it would differ considerably.

In the above diagram, the green colored waveform is the sine waveform, while the orange depicts the
square waveform. The shaded portion is the excess RMS which needs to be leveled of in order to make
both the RMS values as close as possible.
Converting a square wave inverter into a sine wave equivalent thus basically means allowing the square
wave inverer to produce the required peak value of say 220V yet having an RMS just about equal to its
sine wave counterpart.
How to Convert/Modify a Square Waveform to Sine Waveform Equivalent
This can be done either by carving a square wave sample into a sine wave form, or simply by chopping a
sample square waveform into well calculated smaller pieces such that its RMS becomes very close to a
standard mains AC RMS value.
For carving a square wave to a perfect sine wave, we can employ a wien bridge oscillator or
more precisely a "bubba oscillator" and feed it to a sine wave processor stage. This method would be
too complex and is therefore not a recommended idea for implementing an existing square wave
inverter to a sine wave inverter.
The more feasible idea would be to chop the associated square wave at the base of the output devices
to the required RMS degree.
One classic example is shown below:
The first diagram shows an square wave inverter circuit. By adding a simple AMV chopper we can break
down the pulses at the base of the relevant mosfets to the required degree.

Modified square wave to sine wave equivalent inverter version of the above circuit.
Here the lower AMV generate pulses at high frequency whose mark/space ratio can be suitably altered
with the help of preset VR1. This PWM controlled output is applied to the gates of the mosfets in order
to tailor their conduction into the stipulated RMS value.

Expected typical waveform pattern from the above modification

Parts List
R1, R2, = 27K,
R3, R4, R5, R6, R7,R8, R9, R10 = 1K Ohms,
C1,C2 = 0.47uF/100V metallized
C3, C4 = 680pF
T1, T2, T5, T6 = BC547,
T3, T4 = any 30V, 10amp mosfet, N-channel.
D1, D2 = 1N4148
VR1 = 47K preset
Transformer = 9-0-9V, 8 amp
Battery = 12V,10AH

The above conversion or modification will provide around 70% of efficiency with the
achieved RMS matching. If you are interested in getting better and precise matching then
probably a an IC 556 PWM waveform processor would be required.
You would want to refer to this article which shows the principle behind modifying
a square waveform into a sine waveform using a couple of IC555.
The output from the above mentioned circuit can be similarly fed to the gtae or the base of
the relevant power devices which are present in the existing square inverter unit.
A more comprehensive approach may be witnessed in the this article where an IC 556 is
used for extracting precise PWM based modified sine wave equivalents from a square wave
sample source.
This waveform is integrated with the existing output devices for implementing the
intended modifications.

The above examples teach us the simpler methods through which any existing ordinary
square wave inverter may be modified into a sine wave inverter desgns.