Teaching power electronics with the aid of spreadsheets

The subject of power electronics forms the basis for the conversion of electric power from one form to the other using electronic devices. Traditionally, students encountering this subject for the first time have been frustrated by the level of mathematics required to perform harmonic analysis, solve differential equations and obtain power-related quantities. In recent times, computer simulation software, such as PSpice, has been used as an instructional tool for introductory power electronic courses. Although PSpice can increase the student's ability to comprehend the operation of several power electronic circuits by inspecting voltage and current waveforms, its use for the analysis of these waveforms may leave students unaware of the pertinent mathematical procedures and their limitations. This paper shows that using a spreadsheet program, the student can comprehend the fundamental principles required for analysing voltage and current waveforms in nonlinear circuits without getting bagged down by complicated mathematics.