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The increased penetration of photovoltaic (PV) systems in different applications with critical loads such as in medical applications, industrial control systems, and telecommunications has highlighted pressing needs to address reliability and service continuity. Recently, distributed maximum power point tracking architectures, based on dc–dc converters, are being used increasingly in PV systems. Nevertheless, dc–dc converters are one of the important failure sources in a PV system. Since the semiconductor switches are one of the most critical elements in these converters, a fast switch fault detection method (FDM) is a mandatory step to guarantee the service continuity of these systems. This paper proposes a very fast FDM based on the shape of the inductor current associated to fault-tolerant (FT) operation for boost converter used in PV systems. By implementing fault diagnosis and reconfiguration strategies on a single field-programmable gate array target, both types of switch failure (open- and short-circuit faults) can be detected, identified and handled in real time. The FDM uses the signal provided by the current sensor dedicated to the control of the system. Consequently, no additional sensor is required. The proposed FT topology is based on a redundant switch. The results of hardware-in-the-loop and experimental tests, which all confirm the excellent performances of the proposed approach, are presented and discussed. The obtained results show that a switch fault can be detected in less than one switching period, typically around 100 ms in medium power applications, by the proposed FDM. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Fault detection (FD) in power electronic converters is necessary in embedded and safety critical applications to prevent further damage. Fast FD is a mandatory step in order to make a suitable response to a fault in one of the semiconductor devices. The aim of this study is to present a fast yet robust method for fault diagnosis in nonisolated dc–dc converters. FD is based on time and current criteria which observe the slope of the inductor current over the time. It is realized by using a hybrid structure via coordinated operation of two FD subsystems that work in parallel. No additional sensors, which increase system cost and reduce reliability, are required for this detection method. For validation, computer simulations are first carried out. The proposed detection scheme is validated on a boost converter. Effects of input disturbances and the closed-loop control are also considered. In the experimental setup, a field programmable gate array digital target is used for the implementation of the proposed method, to perform a very fast switch FD. Results show that, with the presented method, FD is robust and can be done in a few microseconds. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, an FPGA-based fault-tolerant back-to-back converter without redundancy is studied. Before fault occurrence, the fault-tolerant converter operates like a conventional back-to-back six-leg converter, and after the fault, it becomes a five-leg converter. Design, implementation, and experimental verification of an FPGA-based reconfigurable control strategy for this converter are discussed. This reconfigurable control strategy allows the continuous operation of the converter with minimum affection from a fault in one of the semiconductor switches. A very fast detection scheme is used to detect and locate the fault. Implementation of the fault detection and of the fully digital control schemes on a single FPGA is realized, based on a suited methodology for rapid prototyping. FPGA in loop and also experimental tests are carried out, and the results are presented. These results confirm the capability of the proposed reconfigurable control and fault-tolerant structure. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Fast fault detection and reconfiguration of power converters is necessary in electrical drives to prevent further damage and to make the continuity of service possible. On the other hand, component minimized converters may provide the benefits of higher reliability and less volume and cost. In this paper, a new fault-tolerant converter topology is studied. This converter has five legs before the fault occurrence, and after fault detection the converter continues to function with four legs. A very fast fault detection and reconfiguration scheme is presented and studied. Simulations and experimental tests are performed to evaluate the structure requirements, the digital reconfigurable controller, and fault detection scheme. For experimental tests, the control and the fault detection and reconfiguration schemes are implemented on a single field-programmable gate array (FPGA) chip. Experimental and simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed fault-tolerant topology and its FPGA-based control. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]