Contemporary motor drives are complicated systems that integrate various mechanical, electrical, and electronic subsystems. This mix of technologies often poses problems for engineers because their training may not cover all of the technical disciplines designed into motor-drive subsystems.

Electric Drives: An Integrative Approach, by Ned Mohan, fully explains the complicated makeup of motor drives with solid engineering text, well-designed sketches, and mathematical formulas.

Mohan does an excellent job describing the place that motor drives occupy in the power systems equipment hierarchy. It is one of the few technical books that considers the relationship between a particular technology and the overall market scheme, which includes manufacturers, end users, utilities, and equipment service providers.

Electric Drives covers the evolution of drives and the reasons for the drive market's staggering growth. It also discusses the operational attributes, control systems, and energy efficiency of various drive types; appropriate applications of specific drive technologies; and the latest energy conversion and control aspects of GTO, IGBT, and other technologies.

At the end of each chapter is a useful set of references and related Web sites, plus problems to test the reader's understanding of the material.

Power quality engineers will appreciate the sections on power factor, harmonic distortion, and permanent magnet and switched-reluctance motors, which have applications in the distributed generation marketplace.