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An interleaved zero-voltage zero-current switching (ZVZCS) high step-up DC-DC converter is proposed for modern photovoltaic power generation systems. The proposed converter can achieve high voltage conversion gain without operating under extreme duty cycles. The voltage conversion gain can be readily adjusted by selecting different numbers of the diode-capacitor multiplier (DCM) cells in the circuit at the design stage. Moreover, with the passive snubber circuit in the proposed converter, all power switches and diodes in the DCMs can achieve zero-voltage turn-off and zero-current turn-on, which effectively reduces switching losses and increases the overall converter efficiency. The operational principles and analysis of the performance analysis with two DCMs are presented for demonstrative purpose. The effectiveness of the proposed ZVZCS DC-DC converter is validated using an 800W experimental prototype.

The rapid drop of frequency under the disturbance is a major threat to the safe and stable operation of a microgrid (MG) system. Emergency load shedding is the main measure to prevent continuous frequency drop and power outage. The existing load shedding strategies have poor adaptability to deal with the problem of MG load shedding under different disturbance situations, and it is difficult to ensure the safe and stable operation of an MG in different operating environments. To address this problem, this paper proposes a data-driven load shedding strategy. First, considering the importance of the load and the frequency recovery time of the system, a load shedding contribution indicator is designed that takes into account the load frequency adjustment effect and the load shedding priority. This contribution indicator is introduced as a load shedding criterion into the reward value function of dueling deep Q learning. Second, considering the suddenness and uncertainty of emergency load shedding, a MG emergency load shedding strategy (ELSS) based on dueling deep Q-learning is proposed. On this basis, the dueling deep Q learning algorithm is used to obtain the load shedding decision with the maximum cumulative reward. Finally, taking the MG load shedding cases in two different scenarios as examples, a simulation study is carried out on a modified IEEE-25 bus MG. The simulation results show that, compared with the model-driven implicit enumeration strategy (IES), the proposed ELSS has superiority in maintaining stable power supply for important loads and reducing load shedding decision-making time and frequency fluctuations.

By the negative influence of parasitic parameters from the components, the voltage step-up capacity of basic dc-dc converters is limited at extremely high duty cycle. Which makes the traditional dc-dc converters are difficult to be applied to renewable energy generation systems such as fuel cell and photovoltaic (PV) systems. In this study, a single-switch high step-up Zeta converter is proposed based on the basic Zeta converter and corresponding coat circuit. By using the coat circuit, the proposed converter not only can achieve higher voltage gain, but also acquire lower voltage stress on the semiconductor devices. Therefore, the devices with lower conduction resistances can be used to improve the efficiency. Furthermore, the coat circuit is composed of passive components, which does not change the continuous output current characteristic of the basic Zeta converter. And the proposed converter has only one active switch, the drive and control circuits are simple. The operation principle and the performance analysis of the proposed Zeta converter are described in detail, and a 300 W closed-loop experimental prototype has been developed for verification.

The conventional buck-boost converter has the advantages of simple structure, low cost, and the capability to achieve both voltage step-up and down. However, due to the negative impacts of the parasitic parameters of the device, the voltage conversion gain of the conventional buck-boost converter is greatly limited. A low-voltage stress buck-boost converter with a high voltage conversion gain based on a coat circuit is proposed in this paper to address the problem. Similar to a coat that can enhance human's resistance to cold weather, by adding the proposed coat circuit to the conventional buck-boost converter, not only the range for the voltage conversion can be extended, but also the voltage stresses of the semiconductor components are effectively reduced. In this work, comprehensive analysis on the working principles and performance characteristics of the coat converter are provided. Experimental results are obtained and analyzed to validate of the theoretical analysis based on a 300W closed-loop prototype platform.

Supply and demand balance is required to assure the normal operation of microgrids. When unintentional islanding occurs in a microgrid, a load shedding (LS) control scheme is necessary to achieve the power balance and frequency stability of an islanded microgrid due to its limited power generation. However, the LS control of a microgrid faces two key challenges, i.e., how to determine the appropriate LS amount and LS objects in an islanded microgrid. To solve these problems, this paper proposes a coordinated LS control scheme based on Double-Q learning for an islanded microgrid. In the proposed coordinated LS control scheme, aiming at the LS amount problem in the process of unintentional islanding, this paper considers the relationship between the active power and frequency deviation of each distributed energy resource (DER) and uses the frequency deviation measured locally to calculate the LS amount and guide LS actions. Aiming at the problem of LS object selection in the process of unintentional islanding, this paper describes the LS control problem as a Markov decision process (MDP). The load priority is considered in a reward value function to ensure the uninterrupted power supply of critical loads in a microgrid. The two value functions of Double-Q learning are used to make the two Q value tables measure each other, which can reduce the overestimation of Q values and improve the accuracy of decision-making. The performance of the proposed coordinated LS control scheme is verified by a microgrid model based on a modified IEEE 13-bus system. The test results verify the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed coordinated LS control scheme.