636
2, MARCH 2007
Comparison of Voltage-Source and Current-Source
Shunt Active Power Filters
Mikko Routimo, Student Member, IEEE, Mika Salo, and Heikki Tuusa
AbstractIn recent years, active power filters have been widely
studied. The research has mainly concentrated on voltage-source
active filters, but some attention has also been paid to an al-
ternativeto current-source active filters. Since voltage-source
pulsewidth modulation (PWM) technology is widely used in in-
dustrial applications, this has also been more common in active
filter use. In addition, current-source technology has been said to
have drawbacks compared to voltage-source systems, such as high
on-state losses in the PWM bridge and inefficient inductive energy
storage element on the dc side of the bridge.
In the paper, the two active filter topologies are compared. First,
the main circuits and space-vector modulation techniques used are
studied and the digital control systems are presented. The filtering
performances of the systems with different kinds of nonlinear load
are examined and finally the power losses of the active filters are
studied. The comparison is based on measurements with the pro-
totypes built. The results clearly show the properties of the active
filters examined. In addition, the results prove that current-source
active filters also offer a considerable choice for harmonic filtering.
Index TermsCurrent-source active filters (CSAPFs), pulse-
width modulation (PWM), voltage-source active filters (VSAPFs).
I. INTRODUCTION
I N recent years active power filters have been widely studied.
The research has mainly concentrated on voltage-source ac-
tive filters [VSAPFs, Fig. 1(a)], e.g., [1], but some attention has
also been paid to an alternativeto current-source active filters
[CSAPFs, Fig. 1(b)], e.g., [2] and [3]. Since voltage-source
pulsewidth modulation (PWM) technology is widely used in
industrial applications, this has also been more common in
active filter use [4]. Furthermore, current-source technology has
been said to have some drawbacks compared to voltage-source
systems, such as high on-state losses in the PWM bridge and
inefficient inductive energy storage element on the dc side
of the bridge. Recently, new reverse blocking-insulated gate
bipolar transistors (RBIGBTs) with reverse voltage blocking
capability have been launched on the markets [5], [6], thus
on-state losses can be reduced.
So far, both voltage and current-source active filters have
been discussed in [4] and [7][9]. Reference [4] briefly intro-
duces the main operation principles of the systems. The focus
of the literature review presented in [7] is not the comparison of
voltage and current-source APFs; general aspects of advantages
Manuscript received November 3, 2005; revised June 4, 2006. This paper was
presented at the Power Electronics Specialists Conference (PESC05), Recife,
Brazil, June 1216, 2005. Recommended for publication by Associate Editor
P. T. Cheng.
The authors are with the Institute of Power Electronics, Tampere University of
Technology, Tampere FI-33101, Finland (e-mail: mikko.routimo@tut.fi; mika.
salo@tut.fi; heikki.tuusa@tut.fi).
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TPEL.2006.890005
0885-8993/$25.00 2007 IEEE
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 22, NO.
and disadvantages of the topologies are assessed. The paper was
published in 1990, thus there has been development in both
technologies since then. In [8], single-phase voltage and cur-
rent-source active filters are compared. The operational compar-
ison is mainly based on discussion and simulations. Three-phase
active filters with analog control systems are studied in [9] and
the paper focuses on power circuit design, such as semicon-
ductor devices, their constraints and on designing supply filters
and dc links. The functional comparison is made by examining
the filtering performance when the harmonics are produced by
an inductive type thyristor rectifier load.
In this paper, vector modulated voltage and current-source ac-
tive filters with digital control systems are compared. First, the
main circuit configurations and space-vector modulation tech-
niques used are discussed. Second, the load current feedforward
based control systems are studied. Finally, the performances,
power loss distribution and efficiencies of both systems are ex-
amined and compared in various operating points on the basis of
the laboratory measurements. In the tests both inductive and ca-
pacitive type harmonic producing nonlinear loads are used. The
results clearly show the properties of the active filters examined.
II. MAIN CIRCUITS
A. Voltage-Source Active Power Filter
The main circuit of a voltage-source shunt active filter was
presented in Fig. 1(a). The PWM bridge consists of six con-
trollable switches (IGBTs) with antiparallel diodes. The cur-
rent stresses of the semiconductor devices are limited to the
peak value of the compensating current and the devices have
to withstand the unipolar dc link voltage as the switching
voltage [9]. A typical dc link voltage in active filter applications
used in 400-V mains is approximately 700750 V, while the
theoretical minimum for the voltage is the peak of the supply
line-to-line voltage, i.e., 565 V.
The voltage-source topology requires the filter to be placed
between the supply and the PWM bridge. The filter has usu-
ally either first order (L) or third-order (LCL) structure. More-
over, the filter makes it possible to control the currents. In the
dc link there is an electrolytic capacitor with a dc voltage
as an energy storage. The limited lifetime of the electrolytic ca-
pacitor can be considered a disadvantage. The dc link voltage
should be so high that the filter currents can be controlled
to draw the load current harmonics through the supply filter.
B. Current-Source Active Power Filter
The current-source active filter [Fig. 1(b)] PWM bridge is
built with six controllable unidirectional switches. They have
ROUTIMO et al.: COMPARISON OF VOLTAGE-SOURCE AND CURRENT-SOURCE SHUNT ACTIVE POWER FILTERS
Fig. 1. Main circuit of (a) a voltage-source shunt APF and (b) a current-source shunt APF.
to withstand the active filter dc link current . The semicon-
ductor devices are under bipolar voltage stresses and the max-
imum values of these are the peak value of the supply filter ca-
pacitor line-to-line voltage [9], which in steady state is nearly
equal to supply line-to-line voltage. This is 565 V in the case
of 400-V mains. Fig. 1(b) shows the antiparallel diodes of the
commercial IGBT power modules. Because of these and the
very low reverse voltage blocking capability of the IGBTs, addi-
tional diodes have to be connected in series with the transistors.
Instead of the series connection the use of the RBIGBTs dis-
cussed previously would also be possible.
The switching devices have to be protected against overvolt-
ages with a separate clamp circuit. This is also shown in Fig. 1(b).
The overvoltage spikes are caused by supply network and supply
filter when the supply voltages are switched on or when the con-
trol signals are removed from the active filter, by the dc link in-
ductance when the control signals are removed from the active
bridge, and by the inductances of the bridge circuit themselves
when the current is commutating from one phase leg to another.
The PWM bridge of the current-source APF is connected to
mains through the second order filter ( ), which filters the
carrier frequency components from the PWM currents. As the
energy storage of the current-source APF there is an inductor
with a dc current flowing through it. The current should
be at least as high as the peak value of the compensating cur-
rent. The theoretical minimum of the current is zero. Although
the lifetime of the dc coil is not limited as was that of the elec-
trolytic capacitor in the VSAPF, the coil is a bulky and heavy
component.
III. SPACE-VECTOR MODULATION
Various vector modulation methods for voltage and current-
source PWM systems have been presented, e.g., in [10] and [11].
This section discusses the methods used in this study. In the
figures presented, the following notations are used: refers
to the on-state of the upper switch and to the on-state of
the lower switch while 0 indicates that both of the switches
in a phase are in off-state and that both of the switches in a
phase are on. Sectors are labelled with Roman numerals.
A. Modulation of a Voltage-Source PWM Bridge
The voltage vectors of the voltage-source PWM bridge
Fig. 1(a) are presented in Fig. 2(a). Since the bridge is con-
trolled so that three switches are simultaneously in on-state, it is
637
Fig. 2. Switching vectors and applied sequence of vectors when the reference
vector lies in sector I in the case of (a) voltage-source PWM bridge and
(b) current-source PWM bridge.
possible to realize six active vectors and two zero
vectors . The switching combinations to produce
each vector are also presented in Fig. 2(a).
The modulation method applied is called asymmetric reg-
ular sampled space-vector modulation [10]. In the method, the
voltage reference vector is produced on average during a
modulation period by using two active vectors and both zero
vectors. To ensure precise operation, the switching durations are
calculated and updated twice in the PWM carrier period . In
the modulation strategy applied, the two active vectors next to
the reference vector and both zero vectors are used during each
period. Every carrier period begins with the zero vector
and this is followed by the active vector that is adjacent to the
reference vector in the sector. The active vector is chosen so
that the state of switches in only one phase needs to be changed
at a time. After that the other active vector in the sector is ap-
plied and finally the zero vector . Then, the new switching
times are calculated and in the latter part of the carrier period
the vectors are applied in inverse sequence. Fig. 2(a) illustrates
the switching sequence if the reference vector lies in sector I.
To prevent the short-circuiting of the dc link capacitor both
upper and lower switches of the phase are not allowed to be si-
multaneously in the on-state. In practical implementations there
is a short time period called dead time between the turn-off of
one of the two switching devices in a phase and the turn-on of
the other device in the phase.
638
Fig. 3. Control system for (a) the voltage-source active power filter and (b) the current-source active power filter.
B. Modulation of a Current-Source PWM Bridge
The current-source PWM bridge Fig. 1(b) modulates unidi-
rectional dc current. The bridge is controlled so that one of the
upper switches and one of the lower switches are in on-state at
a time. This results in six possible active vectors and
three zero vectors . The zero vectors mean that al-
though the dc current continues to flow, this is not circulating
through the mains. This is done by short-circuiting the dc link
coil by turning on both the upper and the lower switch in a phase.
Fig. 2(b) presents the active and zero vectors together with the
corresponding switching combinations.
In the so-called halfwave symmetrical space-vector modula-
tion technique [11] applied, the current reference vector is re-
alized on average during a modulation period. This is done using
two active switching vectors and one of the zero vectors. The ac-
tive vectors applied are adjacent to the reference vector and the
zero vector is chosen so that one of the switches in the bridge is
always in on-state during the half of the carrier period . This
way the switching losses can be reduced. As in the modulation
of the voltage-source bridge, the new switching times are calcu-
lated every . Fig. 2(b) illustrates the switching sequence
when the reference vector lies in sector I.
The PWM bridge is not allowed to break the dc current path.
To ensure this, instead of the dead time used in the voltage-
source bridge, overlapping of the modulation signals is needed
in practice.
IV. CONTROL SYSTEMS
The main characteristics of the control systems used are pre-
sented in this section. A detailed explanation of the systems used
can be found in [12] and [13]. Block diagrams of the control sys-
tems for voltage and current-source active filters are presented
in Fig. 3(a) and (b), respectively. They are implemented in the
supply voltage vector oriented rotating synchronous refer-
ence frame. The reference frame angle is determined with a
phase locked loop (PLL) from the supply voltages. In Fig. 3(a)
and (b), the underlined variables refer to space-vectors, the su-
perscripts s and to the synchronous reference frame and ref-
erence values, respectively. Further, subscripts , , , and ,
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 22, NO. 2, MARCH 2007
refer to supply, load, active filter, and CSAPF rectifier bridge
variables, respectively, and and to direct and quadrature
axis components of a space-vector in the synchronous reference
frame.
Both of the control systems are based on the feedforward of
the load currents. The three phase load currents are mea-
sured and transformed into the rotating reference frame with
the block abc/dq in Fig. 3(a) and (b). Since the fundamental
current component can be seen as a dc quantity in the refer-
ence frame, the load current harmonics are extracted with
high-pass filters (blocks HP). The control delay compensa-
tion block (CDC) compensates the delay caused by the digital
control system. This is done by modifying the signal produced
with the load current feedforward. The method was originally
presented in [13]. The output of the block is the reference for
the harmonics compensating filter current .
A. Control of a Voltage-Source Active Power Filter
The active filter current reference vector is
the sum of the harmonic compensating current reference vector
, the fundamental reactive power controlling -axis refer-
ence and the fundamental active current reference . The
-axis current reference is the output of a non-linear P
voltage controller used to maintain the dc link voltage . The
controller output is proportional to the square of the error [12]
and allows a slight deviation between the reference and the ac-
tual voltage without affecting the supply currents. The active
filter currents are realized with a closed loop control. The
output of the current controller is the reference value for the
voltage vector over the filter inductor . The voltage vector
reference for the active filter is then calculated by sub-
tracting the voltage vector from the supply voltage vector
. Finally, the voltage vector reference is given to the
space-vector modulator.
B. Control of a Current-Source Active Power Filter
In the current-source active filter the compensating currents
are produced by pulse width modulating the dc current. As in
the voltage-source active filter a constant dc link voltage was
ROUTIMO et al.: COMPARISON OF VOLTAGE-SOURCE AND CURRENT-SOURCE SHUNT ACTIVE POWER FILTERS 639

TABLE I
ACTIVE FILTER PARAMETERS

Fig. 4. Load current harmonic content, when the harmonic producing load is a
three-phase diode rectifier with an RL load (THD 27.6%) and an RC load
maintained, the current-source active filter has to control the dc (THD 64.4%).
link current. This is done with a non-linear PI controller
[14], which gives the reference value for the pulse width mod-
ulated dc link voltage . The controller used behaves like a
conventional PI controller, but the proportional gain varies as a
function of the error [14]. The controller allows a slight devi-
ation between the reference and the actual dc current without
influence to the supply currents. Since the control system is im-
plemented in the synchronous reference frame, the fundamental
active filter current component is a dc quantity. Thus, the
reference for the current is then calculated from this as-
suming that ac power equals the dc power [13]:

(1)

The active filter current control is performed in open loop

manner, thus no measurement of filter currents is needed.
As with the voltage-source APF, the current-source APF cur-
rent reference vector consists of harmonics compensating
part , plus fundamental reactive and active current references
and , respectively. Since the open loop control of the
active filter currents may cause resonance in the filter,
this is also damped in an open loop manner by taking into ac-
count the filter effect from the bridge current to the active
filter current . This is done in the block Res. Damp., which
gives the reference for the current vector produced with the
PWM bridge [13]. Furthermore, the dc link current reference
is generated so that the dc link current is greater than the
peak value of the current reference . This is done in the block
RG.
V. COMPARISON BASED ON EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
A. Compensation of Current Harmonics
The operational performance of both the voltage and cur-
rent-source active filters was examined in the laboratory with
the prototypes built. They were designed to compensate the har-
monics produced by a non-linear load of 5-kVA nominal power
( 400 V). The control systems were implemented with a
single-chip Motorola MPC555 microcontroller. The PWM car-
rier frequency of both converters was 10 kHz and the sampling
interval of the control systems 50 s. The system parameters are
shown in Table I.
First, the performances of the systems were examined using
two different non-linear load types. In the first case, a three-
Fig. 5. Measurement results with an RL type load. (a) Load current (THD
27.6%). (b) Harmonics in the supply currents versus the corresponding har-
monics in the load current. (c) Supply current with VSAPF (THD
2.3%, THD 8.2%). (d) Supply current with CSAPF (THD 3.9%,
THD 5.9%). (e) VSAPF dc link voltage. (f) CSAPF dc link current.
phase diode rectifier supplied an RL type load ( 64 ,
10 mH) and in the second case, an RC type load ( 64 ,
1 mF) was connected on the dc side of the rectifier. Fig. 4
presents the harmonic content of the non-linear load currents
used. The waveforms of the currents are presented in Figs. 5(a)
and 6(a). The corresponding supply current waveforms after
harmonic compensation with the voltage-source APF are pre-
sented in Figs. 5(c) and 6(c) and with the current-source APF
in Figs. 5(d) and 6(d). Moreover, the dc link quantities of the
VSAPF and the CSAPF are shown in Figs. 5(e), (f) and 6(e), (f).
Figs. 5(b) and 6(b) present the harmonic filtering performances,
i.e., the harmonic contents of the supply currents versus the cor-
responding harmonics in the load currents.
The measurement results presented in Figs. 5(b) and 6(b)
show that both the APFs filter the harmonics up to the 31st
order. However, the results show that the voltage-source APF
640
Fig. 6. Measurement results with an RC type load. (a) Load current (THD
64.4%). (b) Harmonics in the supply currents versus the corresponding har-
monics in the load current. (c) Supply current with VSAPF (THD
4.1%, THD 8.9%). (d) Supply current with CSAPF (THD
THD 7.7%). (e) VSAPF dc link voltage. (f) CSAPF dc link current.
filters the harmonics slightly better than the current-source APF.
The differences are mainly because of the control systems used.
Thanks to the closed loop current control used in the VSAPF,
sudden changes in the load current can be filtered more accu-
rately than with the open loop controlled CSAPF. However, it
should be noted that although the differences in filtering perfor-
mances presented in Figs. 5(b) and 6(b) seem to be very impor-
tant, the differences in total harmonic distortions (THD ) the dc link current
are only about 1.6 percentage units. Fig. 4 shows that the share
of the fifth and seventh harmonics in the load currents is the
largest. Thus, the attenuation of these components has the most
decisive effect on the THD values of the supply currents.
Fig. 7(a)(d) present operation of the APFs under the load
change. Load current waveforms can be found in Fig. 7(a) and
(b), while the corresponding supply current waveforms are
shown in Fig. 7(c) and (d), respectively. The figures show that the
filtering performances during the transient operation are alike.
Fig. 8(a) and (b) present supply current THD values for the
active filters in full and light load conditions with both RL and
RC type diode rectifier loads. Total harmonic distortions cal-
culated up to 2 kHz are shown by black bars while the white
bars correspond the THDs calculated up to 20 kHz. The results
show that the VSAPF filters the low order harmonics slightly
better than the CSAPF. Instead, if we consider the THD values
including the switching ripple (THD , we find that the
filtering results with the CSAPF have lower harmonic content.
This is most obvious when the light load condition is examined.
Since the current-source APF uses the second order filter
between the mains and the PWM-bridge, the current ripple in
the supply currents at PWM carrier frequency and its multi-
ples is filtered more effectively than in the voltage-source APF,
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 22, NO. 2, MARCH 2007
Fig. 7. Measurement results in transient state operation. (a) and (b) Phase-a
load current. (c) Supply current with VSAPF corresponding to (a). (d) Supply
current with CSAPF corresponding to (b).
4.9%,
Fig. 8. Measured supply current THD values corresponding full and light load
conditions when the load is (a) RL type and (b) RC type. Black bars correspond
the THD calculated up to 2 kHz and white bars to 20 kHz.
which utilizes the first order L filter. Of course, it would be pos-
sible to limit the high order harmonics also using higher order
supply filter in the VSAPF [15]. The ripple in the output current
of the current-source APF is proportional to the magnitude of
. The dc current is controlled according
to the operating point [Figs. 5(f) and 6(f)]. If the harmonic con-
tent of the load current is high, the magnitude of the dc cur-
rent is also increased which, in turn, increases the switching
ripple in the filter and supply currents Fig. 8(a), (b). Instead,
the ripple in the current of the voltage-source APF does not de-
pend on the operating point, since the dc link voltage reference
is kept constant [Figs. 5(e), 6(e), and 8(a), (b)]. This is why the
THD resulting from the operation of the voltage-source
APF is substantially higher than the THD , especially in
light load condition.
B. Power Losses and Efficiencies
In the following power losses and efficiencies are examined.
In the measurements the three-phase power drawn by the diode
rectifier load was measured at the point of common cou-
pling using a Yokogawa WT1030 digital power meter and the
total three-phase power drawn from the mains with a wide-
band power analyzer LEM Norma D6000. The active filter effi-
ciency is defined as
(2)
Estimates for the total power losses in the active filters were cal-
culated as the differences of these two powers, while the power
ROUTIMO et al.: COMPARISON OF VOLTAGE-SOURCE AND CURRENT-SOURCE SHUNT ACTIVE POWER FILTERS
Fig. 9. Power loss distribution between main circuit components when (a) and
(b) RL type load and (c) and (d) RC type load is compensated. x indicates value
obtained and solid lines are least mean square estimations. Dashed line approx-
imates the division between the ripple current losses (below the line) and the
losses caused by the harmonic compensating current (upper side). (b) and (d)
also include the dc current values used in the operating point.
loss distributions between the main circuit components were ap-
proximated with a calorimetric measurement setup. The calori-
metric measurements were realized so that first the semicon-
ductors and coils were heated with the known powers and the
corresponding temperature rises were measured. Next the active
filters were used to compensate a static load and the temperature
rises in the active filter components were measured. Finally, the
power losses were estimated comparing the temperature rises.
The measurements were repeated with different load powers
and types. To prevent overvoltages in the measurement setup
the voltage-source converter IGBT bridge and the dc link ca-
pacitor were placed close to each other. Similarly the ac capaci-
tors of the current-source converter were mounted directly onto
the semiconductor bridge terminals. Thus, the semiconductor
power losses presented include the losses in the diodes, IGBTs
and capacitors. However, the losses in the capacitors are min-
imal compared to the semiconductor losses since the equivalent
series resistance (ESR) of the capacitors is very low. In terms of
measurement accuracy the power losses of the CSAPF supply
filter coil can only be presented in the case of the RC type
load, when the compensating currents drawn through the filter
are greater than in the case of the RL type load. Measured power
loss distributions between main circuit components of the active
filters are presented in Fig. 9(a)(d), where Fig. 9(a) and (b) cor-
respond the RL type and Fig. 9(c) and (d) the RC type rectifier
load.
The measured semiconductor power losses can be seen in
Fig. 9(a)(d). The switching voltage of the VSAPF equals the
dc link voltage (725 V) and the switching is always hard. That
is, the current is forced to commutate from one switching de-
vice to the other. Instead, in the CSAPF the switching voltage
depends on the instantaneous voltages of the supply filter
capacitors and the angle of the active filter current reference
vector. Thus, the maximum switching voltage in the steady
state is approximately the peak value of the line-to-line voltage
(565 V), whereas the average value of the switching voltage
641
is much smaller. Also, some of commutations take place
naturally. Furthermore, in the modulation strategy used the
CSAPF has lower switching frequency than the VSAPF, i.e.,
the CSAPF has fewer switchings during a carrier period .
This can also be seen in Fig. 2(a) and (b), where the switching
sequences were presented. As a consequence switching losses
in the CSAPF are lower than in the VSAPF. On the other
hand, the current-source APF has high on-state losses, because
switching devices are constructed with the series connections
of IGBTs and diodes and thus the whole dc link current
flows through four semiconductor devices at a time. This
increases the on-state losses compared to the VSAPF, where
the three-phase compensating current flows through three
devices at a time. The maximum current equals the peak of the
phase current, but the mean current is substantially lower. In
Fig. 9(a)(d) it can be seen that the increased compensating
current, i.e., the increased load power, causes smaller increase
in the semiconductor losses of the VSAPF compared to the
CSAPF where the relation is more important. The CSAPF
on-state losses would be reduced if RBIGBTs were used.
The dc coil used in the current-source active filter has high re-
sistance compared to the equivalent series resistance (ESR) of
the capacitive energy storage element of the voltage-source ac-
tive filter. The peak of the compensating currents produced with
the CSAPF is proportional to the dc current flowing through the
dc inductor. Moreover, the dc link power losses and the on-state
losses of the switching devices are heavily dependent on the dc
current. To reduce these it is convenient to control the dc cur-
rent according to the operating point. Instead, in the VSAPF the
dc link voltage has only a slight effect on the power losses of
the electrolytic capacitor. Furthermore, the dc voltage affects
the current control dynamics, i.e., the maximum rate of change
in the compensating currents. Therefore quite a high dc link
voltage is also needed with low power loads and thus it is prac-
tical to keep the dc link voltage at the same value at every oper-
ating point. However, high switching losses can be found to be
a drawback of the high dc link voltage, as discussed.
The CSAPF prototype used in the measurements was not de-
signed for commercial use. Thus, the dc inductor was not op-
timized either. Instead, it was created as a series connection of
one 30 mH dc coil (10 A) and two 100-mH coils originally de-
signed for ac current (10 A/50 Hz). In the coil used in the test
setup the copper losses are higher than they would be in a single
230-mH inductor designed specially for the dc current. In that
case the CSAPF dc link power losses would be slightly reduced
from those presented in Fig. 9(b) and (d).
The resistive power losses in the supply filter inductor (
5 mH) of the voltage-source active filter increase proportionally
to the square of the filter current : the higher the harmonics
to be compensated, the higher are the power losses in the filter
inductor. In addition, the carrier frequency current component
has a significant effect on the power losses in the supply filter.
This can be seen in Fig. 9(a) and (c), where the dashed lines
divide the filter losses to the ripple current losses (below the ap-
proximation line) and the harmonic compensating current losses
(above the line). Since the VSAPF has a larger supply filter in-
ductor and ripple current than the CSAPF, the losses in the filter
inductor are also larger Fig. 9(c), (d).
642
Fig. 10. Efficiency of VSAPF (o) and CSAPF ( ) with different load powers
in the case of (a) RL type load and (b) RC type load.
The efficiencies of the VSAPF and the CSAPF as functions of
the load power are shown in Fig. 10(a) and (b). They have been
drawn on the basis of the total losses presented in Fig. 9(a)(d).
The results show that with low power loads there are significant
differences between the efficiencies but when the load power
increases towards the nominal value (5 kW), the differences de-
crease. The main reason for the variation in the efficiency of the
VSAPF is the power losses caused by the switching ripple cur-
rent in the supply filter inductor [Fig. 9(a)(d)]. When the
load power is low the share of the losses in the inductor is large
compared to the load power. If the load is increased the losses
caused by the switching ripple remain approximately constant
[Fig. 9(a) and (c)], since the ripple current has approximately
the same absolute value at all operating points. That is, the ef-
ficiency improves with the increased load power. The reasons
for the high efficiency of the current-source APF compared to
the voltage-source APF at low power loads are the controlled
dc link current and the low losses in the supply filter. Since
the dc current is controlled according to the operating point, the
on-state losses in the switching devices, dc coil power losses
and the losses in the LC filter ( 0.6 mH) are lower when
the compensating current is small. When a higher dc link
current is needed the power losses will increase, as discussed
previously. It can be assumed that if RBIGBTs were used the
power losses of the CSAPF would be slightly reduced.
VI. CONCLUSION
Voltage-source and current-source shunt active power filters
were compared in this paper. First, the main circuits, modula-
tion methods, and the control systems were discussed. The cur-
rent-source active filter was found to have a slightly more com-
plicated main circuit, since the overvoltage clamp was needed.
The operational performances and efficiencies of the active fil-
ters were studied through measurements. The filtering perfor-
mances of both active filters were quite similar and the total har-
monic distortion (THD ) of the supply current at the nom-
inal operating point was reduced below 5% with both nonlinear
load types. Although the VSAPF filtered the load current har-
monics slightly better than the CSAPF, the current ripple at car-
rier frequency was found to be a drawback of the VSAPF. Power
loss distributions between the main circuit components were
presented at various operating points. The supply filter inductor
was found to cause the main part of the losses in the VSAPF
while in the CSAPF the dc link losses were found to be high.
The efficiency measurements showed that near to the nominal
operating point, where compensating currents were high, the
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 22, NO. 2, MARCH 2007
TABLE II
BENEFITS AND DRAWBACKS OF THE ACTIVE FILTERS
voltage-source active filter has higher efficiency than the cur-
rent-source filter. Instead, when the load power was low, the cur-
rent-source active filter was significantly more efficient than the
voltage-source APF. The benefits and drawbacks of the studied
topologies are summarized in Table II.
In conclusion it can be stated that although voltage-source
active filters are the main interest of the research, the results
presented have proven that current-source active filters also offer
a considerable choice for harmonic filtering.
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ROUTIMO et al.: COMPARISON OF VOLTAGE-SOURCE AND CURRENT-SOURCE SHUNT ACTIVE POWER FILTERS 643

Mikko Routimo (S06) was born in Harjavalta, Fin- Heikki Tuusa was born in Hattula, Finland, in 1957.
land, in 1977. He received the M.S. and Lic.Tech. de- He received M.S., Lic.Tech., and Dr.Tech. degrees
grees in electrical engineering from Tampere Univer- in electrical engineering from Tampere University of
sity of Technology, Tampere, Finland, in 2002 and Technology, Tampere, Finland, in 1983, 1987, and
2005, respectively, where he is currently pursuing the 1993, respectively.
Dr.Tech. degree. Since 1983, he has been with the Department of
Since 2002, he has been a Researcher with the Electrical Engineering, Tampere University of Tech-
Department of Electrical Engineering, Tampere nology. He was a Laboratory Manager from 1983 to
University of Technology. His research interests 1986 and in 1993, a Senior Assistant from 1986 to
include power quality and active power filters and 1992, an Acting Professor from 1994 to 1995, and an
their control. Associate Professor from 1995 to 1998. Since 1998,
he has been a Professor and Head of the Institute of Power Electronics. His areas
of interest are PWM converters and controlled motor drives.

Mika Salo was born in Pusula, Finland, in 1969. He

received the M.S., Lic.Tech., and Dr.Tech. degrees
in electrical engineering from Tampere University of
Technology, Tampere, Finland, in 1996, 1998, and
2002, respectively.
Since 1996, he has been with the Department of
Electrical Engineering, Tampere University of Tech-
nology. He was a Researcher in 1996, an Assistant
in 1997, a Senior Assistant from 1998 to 2002, and,
since 2002, he has been a Senior Researcher. His re-
search interests include power electronics and elec-
trical machines and drives.