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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.

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.

Voltage multipliers (VMs) are widely used in applications with the high-voltage-gain rectifiers and dc/dc converters with the capability of increasing voltage conversion ratio. Currently, all the existing VM circuits are designed with two input terminals, while the optimal design on the voltage conversion ratio and voltage stress on the semiconductor devices of the converters with VMs can be achieved by varying the number of basic VM units. However, as the number of its input terminals is fixed and, thus, the current stress on the semiconductor devices are not adjustable at the design stage, such circuits have limited applications in today's high-power energy conversion systems. In order to address such drawbacks of the conventional VMs, a multiple input-terminal VM (MIVM) circuit is proposed in this article. The analysis of the operation principles and the performance characteristics of the proposed MIVM circuit are presented in detail. As an example, the application of the MIVM with the traditional boost converters is presented and discussed, and the efficacy of the theoretical analysis is validated experimentally.

The voltage conversion ratio of basic dc/dc converters is limited due to the influence of parasitic elements of circuits and components. In this article, a family of passive circuits termed as “coat circuits” are proposed for conventional dc/dc converters. Not only voltage step-up capacity can be improved but also the voltage stress of components can be decreased by adding coat circuits to basic dc/dc converters. Moreover, no additional active switches are needed in the coat circuits, that means the control and driver circuits of the converters are not changed. The Cuk converter with the coat circuit has been analyzed as an example, and a 200 W experimental prototype has been built to verify the validity of the theoretical analysis.

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.

A single-switch high step-up boost converter based on a novel voltage multiplier (VM) has been proposed in this study. Compared to traditional boost converter, not only the voltage conversion ratio has been increased, but also voltage stress across semiconductor devices has been decreased. Moreover, the voltage conversion ratio and voltage stress of switch of the proposed converter can be adjusted by the number of the VM cells. The control and drive circuits for the proposed converter is as simple as boost converter as there are no additional switches. Working principles and performance characteristics of the proposed converter have been analysed in detail. A 200 W experimental prototype with three VMs has been built to validate the theoretical analysis.

This study presents a high step-up scalable voltage multiple cell (SVMC)-based DC/DC converters, which have the features of high gain, low and adjustable components stresses and automatic input-current sharing in each input phase. In virtue of the above features, the converter is applicable for the DC collection grids for offshore wind farms. In this study, the converter in terms of working principle and property characteristics are analysed with four input phases and three SVMCs. The converter has also been evaluated in terms of the component stress and voltage conversion ratio against some other converters for high-power occasions. Moreover, a 2.5 MW simulation model and a 1.2 kW prototype were constructed for verification.

A dual-input high step-up DC/DC converter with zero voltage turn-off (ZVT) auxiliary circuit is presented in this paper. The cost of whole photovoltaic (PV) power could be decreased significantly by the proposed converter because it allows two PV panels to be connected at the same time. ZVT auxiliary circuit provides soft switching in a wide range of load variations with six passive components. Turn-off switching losses could be decreased and the efficiency of the whole converter could be improved. In Section II , the operation principle and performance characteristics of the proposed converter have been analyzed and an 800 W experimental prototype has been built to validate the analytical results in Section III . In Section IV , a dual-input maximum power point tracking (DMPPT) control algorithm has been designed for the proposed converter. Experimental results show that two PV panels can achieve the maximum power output state separately by the proposed DMPPT control algorithm.

Voltage multipliers (VMs) are widely used to combine with traditional DC/DC converter to achieve high voltage conversion gain. However, the input-terminals of existing VM circuits are unchangeable to two which make these converters are not suitable for high power/current applications. In this paper, a high power high step-up DC/DC converter based on multiple input-terminal voltage multiplier (MIVM) is presented. Analysis of the operation principles and the performance characteristics of the proposed converter are presented in detail. And an experimental prototype with a rated power of 800W was built to verify the correctness of the theory.

This study presents a non-isolated high step-up DC/DC converter based on a high degree of freedom voltage gain cell (HDF-VGC). Both voltage stress of components and conversion ratio of the proposed converter could be adjusted by the number of the HDF-VGC, the current stress of the semiconductor devices can also be adjusted by the input phase numbers of the converter. Moreover, the input current of each phase are automatically balanced. These characteristics make the proposed converter very suitable for high-power and high-voltage applications, such as offshore wind power high-voltage DC transmission system. In this study, the topology construction of the proposed converter has been discussed. The operation principle and performance characteristics of the converter are analysed with four input phases and five HDF-VGCs, then the converter is simulated and a 400 W experimental prototype has been built to verify the correctness of the theoretical analysis.

A zero voltage turn-off high step-up DC/DC converter is presented. The conversion efficiency and power density are improved significantly by using a novel passive snubber cell, which only consists of two diodes and a snubber capacitor. The converter also provides high-voltage conversion ratio as well as low-voltage stress on switches and diodes, which make it suitable for some special industrial applications as electric-vehicle, uninterruptible power supply system or photovoltaic power generation system. The topology, operation principles and performance characteristics are analysed in detail. Moreover, a maximum 800 W experimental prototype has been developed to validate the effectiveness of the theoretical analysis, and 96.2% efficiency has been achieved.

This study proposes a kind of high step-up dc/dc converter with a novel voltage multiplier cell (VMC). The proposed VMC sharply reduces voltage stress on switches and diodes. Therefore, the conversion efficiency can be improved significantly. The converter also provides a wide range of voltage conversion ratios including fractional as well as VMC numbers and switch duty cycle. The topologies, operation principles, working characteristics and voltage conversion ratio are analysed in detail. A 500 W experimental prototype with two VMCs has been developed to validate the effectiveness of the theoretical analysis, and the highest efficiency is 93.8%.

A non-isolated high-voltage gain dual-input DC/DC converter with a zero voltage turn-off (ZVT) auxiliary circuit has been presented. Two photovoltaic (PV) modules can be connected to the proposed converter with separate maximum power point tracking (MPPT). The cost of whole PV power generation system can be decreased significantly as a single converter is employed instead of two converters. All switches can achieve ZVT by an auxiliary circuit, and turn-off switching losses can be decreased and the efficiency of the converter can be improved. Working principle and performance characteristics of the proposed converter are analysed in detail, a dual-input maximum power point tracking control algorithm has been designed for the proposed converter. An 800 W experimental prototype has been built to verify the theoretical analysis.

A multi-input-port bidirectional DC/DC converter is proposed in this paper for the energy storage systems in DC microgrid. The converter can connect various energy storage batteries to the DC bus at the same time. The proposed converter also has the advantages of low switch voltage stress and high voltage conversion gain. The working principle and performance characteristics of the converter were analyzed in detail, and a 200 W, two-input-port experimental prototype was built. The experimental results are consistent with the theoretical analysis.

The modeling and control system design of high step-up DC/DC converters based on voltage multipliers (VMs) are difficult, due to the various circuit topologies and the presence of large number of capacitors in VMs. This paper proposes a generic approach to reduce the model order of such converters by replacing the VM capacitors with voltage sources controlled by the output voltage of the converter. Theoretical analysis and simulation results show that the derived models can accurately represent the low frequency response of the converter which is valuable for obtaining a small-signal AC model for control system design. The detailed modeling and controller design process are demonstrated for the converter, and the obtained simulation results are verified experimentally on a 400 W prototype.