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In this paper, a new high voltage gain step-up dc–dc converter is proposed for interfacing renewable power generation. The configuration optimally integrates both the coupled-inductor and switched-capacitor techniques to achieve an ultra-high step-up gain of voltage conversion with low voltage stress and high efficiency. It consists of a voltage boost unit, a passive clamp circuit, and a symmetrical voltage multiplier network. The structure becomes modular and extendable without adding any extra winding for ultra-high step-up voltage gain. The proposed topology not only reduces the voltage stress on the main switch but also maintains it steady for the entire duty cycle range. Furthermore, the reverse recovery issue of the diodes is alleviated through the leakage inductance of the coupled inductor. The operation principle and steady-state analysis are presented in detail. Experimental evaluation validates the claimed advantages and demonstrates a well-distributed efficiency curve and the peak of 96.70%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

State of charge (SoC) imbalance among batteries in a battery energy storage system (BESS) degrades the system performance and may lead to safety issue. A bidirectional multiple-input Ćuk converter for the BESS is proposed to prevent batteries from SoC imbalance issue. Compared to the traditional BESS, the battery balancing and voltage/current regulation subsystems are combined into one. As a result, the overall system complexity is significantly reduced. Moreover, the current flow of each battery is self-adjusted according to its terminal voltage. Therefore, the system does not require sophisticated control algorithm for battery balancing. Moreover, the proposed system has no energy dumping and energy transferring between batteries, which avoids unnecessary energy lose. Due to the nature of multiple-input converter structure, the proposed system can handle certain component failure. The proposed approach of designing the BESS has been investigated through simulation and validated experimentally. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Finite-state predictive torque control (FS-PTC) of an induction motor (IM) drive has been widely investigated for two-level voltage source inverter recently. This control method suffers from high and variable switching frequencies in a wide range, due to the limited number of available voltage vectors of the power converter. In order to take advantage of multilevel inverter drives which offer the benefits of low harmonic distortion of the stator currents, torque ripple, and low switching frequency, this paper proposes the integration of the FS-PTC with a three-level neutral-point clamped (3L-NPC) inverter driven IM drive. The drawback inherited from the topology of 3L-NPC voltage source inverter (VSI), such as neutral-point voltage, is easily handled by treating it as a variable to the cost function. Similarly, apart from the inverter topology itself, the average switching frequency is reduced further, and is maintained almost constant over a wide speed range. The effectiveness of the proposed FS-PTC in terms of torque and flux responses, capacitor voltage balancing, and low average switching frequency is validated through experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cascaded converters are adopted in many power systems to manage sources and loads at different voltage levels simultaneously. DC bus capacitor is one of the key components in these converters due to its energy storage and fast response capabilities. However, the ripple current through the capacitor will influence its lifetime and the overall efficiency of the converter. Previous studies showed that the capacitor current of ac systems is optimized when the duty cycles are synchronized under in phase or antiphase condition. In this paper, the bus capacitor ripple current of cascaded two-stage converters for dc systems with different combinations of duty cycles is analyzed. It is found that the optimum capacitor current ripple varies depending on the values of individual duty cycles and the phase-shift angle between them. By properly adjusting the phase shift, the capacitor RMS current value can be reduced without affecting the converter normal operation or the need for extra sensing circuits, hence improving the energy conversion efficiency and prolonging the capacitor lifetime with relatively simple implementation. To illustrate, a case study of a two-stage dc/dc converter is carried out. A laboratory prototype converter confirmed a maximum efficiency improvement of 2.8% if the phase shift is adjusted properly when compared to the same converter with the worst case phase-shift angle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single-stage power-factor-corrected (S2PFC) power supplies usually suffer from high voltage stress, due to lack of control on the intermediate bus capacitor voltage. In the past, analysis of such voltage stress was mostly based on steady-state condition without providing sufficient explanation during the transient circuit operation. This paper revisits the problem at circuit level and reports that the root cause is due to the inherent negative current feedback property of the output inductor or the transformer operating in continuous conduction mode (CCM). Based on the finding, this paper further proposes a new approach to reducing the voltage stress by adding an auxiliary circuit branch to existing S2PFC converters. The additional circuit branch limits the effect of negative current feedback by suppressing the change of output current slope due to change of load. This assists the pulsewidth modulation controller to track the change of load better such that the bus capacitor voltage range is reduced through duty cycle control. The auxiliary circuit branch also reduces reverse-recovery-related losses of the converter under CCM operation. A laboratory prototype using the popular boost PFC converter combined flyback dc/dc converter was built and tested to confirm the analysis and effectiveness of the approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the two-input buck converter is proposed as the dc/dc stage for photovoltaic (PV) cascaded converters. This converter is attractive for this application because it is cost effective and reliable and can achieve dual maximum power point tracking (MPPT) with only one power transistor. However, due to the simplified and integrated structure, the nonlinear characteristics of the converter and the two PV arrays complicate the control. By means of a small-signal modeling, the control theme of the two PV voltages is formulated, and the effect of the nonlinearities is presented. It is shown that, while fast voltage dynamics are achieved for the first input, the second-input voltage response depends on the second-stage converter control. Simulation and experimental results are reported to validate the theoretical analysis, showing the dual MPPT capability. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A single-switch nonisolated dc/dc converter for a stand-alone photovoltaic (PV)-battery-powered pump system is proposed in this paper. The converter is formed by combining a buck converter with a buck-boost converter. This integration also resulted in reduced repeated power processing, hence improving the conversion efficiency. With only a single transistor, the converter is able to perform three tasks simultaneously, namely, maximum-power-point tracking (MPPT), battery charging, and driving the pump at constant flow rate. To achieve these control objectives, the two inductors operate in different modes such that variable switching frequency control and duty cycle control can be used to manage MPPT and output voltage regulation, respectively. The battery in the converter provides a more steady dc-link voltage as compared to that of a conventional single-stage converter and hence mitigates the high voltage stress problem. Experimental results of a 14-W laboratory prototype converter with a maximum efficiency of 92% confirmed the performance of the proposed converter when used in a PV-battery pump system. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This letter presents the design of a magnetically isolated gate driver with high immunity to leakage inductance. The proposed gate driver (PGD) is developed based on a bipolar totem-pole gate driver (noninverting) located on the secondary side of the coupling transformer. It is able to drive a MOSFET/IGBT from standard CMOS to TTL output and down to LSTTL level. It also achieves large duty cycle ratio and small input to output delay and provides reliable isolation. In this letter, the PGD is analyzed and verified experimentally. The design guidelines are also provided including design considerations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A thermoelectric generator (TEG) is a low-voltage high-current dc power source with a linear V–I characteristic, and therefore, it is desirable to create a power converter with a topology and control method suited to these attributes. Due to the TEG’s low voltage, a topology that produces a high step-up gain for a moderate duty cycle is required to reduce voltage and current stresses within the converter. The linear V–I characteristic produces a P–I characteristic with a flatter peak relative to other sources. This can result in large operating point variations while performing maximum power point tracking (MPPT); thus, an algorithm with low steady-state error is desired. This paper presents a novel high step-up dc/dc converter topology operating with a fractional short-circuit MPPT algorithm for use with a 4.2-V, 3.4-A (for matched load at \Delta T = \270\,^\circ C) TEG module and a converter output of 180 V. Compared to existing high step-up dc/dc converters, the proposed converter achieves higher gain with similar component count. Experimental results are reported to confirm the converter analysis and better performance of the short-circuit MPPT algorithm over the perturb and observe algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents a high step-down tranformerless single-stage single-switch ac/dc converter suitable for universal line applications (90-270 Vrms) . The topology integrates a buck-type power-factor correction (PFC) cell with a buck-boost dc/dc cell and part of the input power is coupled to the output directly after the first power processing. With this direct power transfer feature and sharing capacitor voltages, the converter is able to achieve efficient power conversion, high power factor, low voltage stress on intermediate bus (less than 130 V) and low output voltage without a high step-down transformer. The absence of transformer reduces the component counts and cost of the converter. Unlike most of the boost-type PFC cell, the main switch of the proposed converter only handles the peak inductor current of dc/dc cell rather than the superposition of both inductor currents. Detailed analysis and design procedures of the proposed circuit are given and verified by experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the major issues that exist in the single-stage ac/dc converters with power factor correction (PFC) and presents a novel converter based on a quasi-active PFC scheme. Two additional windings wound in the transformer of a conventional dc/dc flyback converter are used to drive and achieve continuous current mode operation of an input inductor. In addition, direct energy transfer paths are provided through the additional windings to improve the conversion efficiency and to reduce the dc bus capacitor voltage below 450 V for universal line applications. The proposed converter can be easily designed to comply with IEC 61000-3-2 Class D requirement and to achieve fast output voltage regulation. By properly tuning the converter parameters, a good tradeoff between efficiency, dc bus capacitor voltage stress, and harmonic content can be achieved. Operating principles, analysis, and experimental results of the proposed method are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A transformerless single-stage single-switch ac/dc converter is presented in this paper. The converter allows a portion of the input power to be processed once only, resulting in enhanced conversion efficiency. Additionally, due to the absence of a transformer, the size and manufacturing cost of the converter can be reduced. The intermediate bus voltage is well kept below 400 V while maintaining high power factor even at light load and high line-input conditions. Extended experimental results on a 100-W hardware prototype for universal input-voltage range (90–270 Vrms) are given to confirm the theoretical analysis and performance of the proposed converter. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

To reduce the intermediate storage capacitor voltage stress in single-stage power-factor-corrected (S2PFC) converters due to the change of load, some effective approaches such as variable frequency control and negative bus voltage feedback have been proposed. However, this intermediate capacitor voltage still varies largely against the change of line voltage. This paper proposes a S2PFC converter which is constructed in a way such that the amount of energy to and from the intermediate storage capacitor can be varied when the line voltage is changed, hence narrowed the range of intermediate capacitor voltage fluctuation. This is achieved by an auxiliary bidirectional switch, which operates at zero-voltage-switching (ZVS) condition. A dual-loop voltage mode control is proposed for the converter to achieve power factor correction, output voltage regulation, and intermediate capacitor voltage control simultaneously. Simulation and experimental results show that the proposed approach is effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a new family of single-stage AC/DC power factor correction converters (S2PFCC), which possesses reduced voltage stress across the storage capacitor and no extra current stress on the power switch, is proposed. The converters are realized by reduced repeated power processing concept in which part of the input power is transferred to the load directly after the first power process. This results in lower storage capacitor voltage than that of previously developed S2PFCCs but maintaining high power factor. In addition, the inherent input current control allows the load current to reduce the input line current automatically when the load becomes light, preventing excessive amount of energy being stored in the storage capacitor. Although the proposed converters employed two power switches, a simple single-loop controller for the proposed S2PFCC to achieve power factor correction (PFC) and tight output regulation is also proposed. Experimental results are reported to verify the operation and concept of the new S2PFCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a new approach to controlling and optimizing a single-stage boost-integrated full-bridge dc–dc converter for a stand-alone photovoltaic-battery-powered dc motor system by combining pulse-frequency modulation (PFM), pulsewidth modulation (PWM), and phase angle shift (PAS). Unlike most of the existing multiport dc–dc converters, which aim at regulating the output voltage (first- or second-quadrant operation), the dc motor load requires both voltage and current reversals (four-quadrant operation). The converter is able to perform three tasks simultaneously: maximum power point tracking (MPPT), battery charging/discharging, and driving the dc motor at variable speeds including bidirectional and stall motions. To achieve these control objectives, the boost inductor and the motor inductance operate in different modes such that PFM and PWM can be used to achieve MPPT and a wide motor voltage range, respectively. By properly adjusting the PAS of the duty cycles, the capacitor and battery rms current value can be reduced, while the operation of the converter remains unchanged, hence improving the conversion efficiency. Experimental results of a 26-W laboratory prototype converter confirmed the proposed design and operation and the efficiency improvement by 2–6%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a novel hierarchical control strategy for improvement of load sharing and power quality in ac microgrids. This control framework is composed of a droop-based controller at the primary level, and a combination of distributed power sharing and voltage conditioning schemes at the secondary level. The controllers in the primary level use GPS timing technology to synchronize the local reference angles. The voltage reference of each distributed generation is adjusted according to a voltage–current (V–I) droop characteristic to enable proper current and power sharing with a fast dynamic response. The droop coefficient, which acts as a virtual resistance, is adaptively changed as a function of the peak current. This strategy not only simplifies the control design but also improves the current sharing accuracy at high loading conditions. The distributed power sharing scheme uses consensus protocol to ensure proportional sharing of average power. The voltage conditioning scheme produces compensation signals at fundamental and dominant harmonics to improve the voltage quality at a sensitive load bus. Experimental results are presented to validate the efficacy of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we present a family of multilevel converters with the single-stage dynamic voltage-boosting feature, reduced number of circuit components, modular structure, bidirectional operation, continuous input current, and acceptable overall efficiency. The proposed structure is based on a three-level single-stage boost integrated inverter with an embedded quasi-H-bridge (QHB) cell. It is comprised of five unidirectional power switches and a floating capacitor. By differential connection of two or three QHB cells and with the aim of a single inductor/input dc source, several derived topologies for both the single and three-phase applications with different multilevel output voltage performances have been achieved. The aforementioned advantages make this converter a suitable candidate for renewable energy applications. Theoretical analysis, design consideration, comparative study, and several experimental results for a 3-kW laboratory-built system are presented to validate the effectiveness and feasibility of this proposal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a new single-source three-phase seven-level inverter with an inherent three-time voltage boosting capability for medium-voltage applications. The proposed topology is comprised of series connection of two switched-capacitor (SC) networks with an added half-bridge module per phase. Each of such integrated SC networks requires a single capacitor associated with three active power switches. The three-time voltage boosting feature of the proposed topology can reduce the dc-link voltage requirements by 50% in comparison to the traditional neutral point clamped (NPC), flying capacitors, active NPC (ANPC), hybrid clamped ANPC, and cascaded H-bridge topologies, and 75% to advanced ANPC topologies. It can also reduce the number of required switches and capacitors as well as their voltage stresses compared to those state-of-the-art topologies reported in the literature. By integrating “n” number of added SC networks in the proposed seven-level basic topology, the number of output voltage levels can be extended to 2n+3 per phase. A finite control set model predictive control algorithm is also derived to control the converter in both the active and reactive power exchanges modes without distorting the generated grid current quality. The capacitor voltage balancing is inherent in the proposed topology, and thus, there is no need for any additional voltage balancing circuit, which further reduces the control complexity. The performance of the proposed topology and its control algorithm are validated by several measurement results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a novel dual-mode five-level common grounded type (5L-DM-CGT) transformerless inverter topology for a medium-power application with a wide input voltage range (200–400 V). It consists of nine semiconductor switches, two inner flying-capacitors, and a small LC filter at the output side. Due to the direct connection of the negative terminal of the photovoltaic to the neutral point of the grid, there is no leakage current in the 5L-DM-CGT. Depending on the magnitude of the input voltage, the converter can operate in both buck and boost mode to produce the same ac output voltage. The theoretical analysis shows the advantages of the dual-mode inverter for various industrial applications. Finally, the laboratory test results are presented to verify the theoretical analysis. Measurement results show that the proposed inverter rated at 1 kW has around 97±1% efficiency over a wide range of load with a peak efficiency of 98.96% at 130 VA in buck mode and peak efficiency of 99% at 122 VA in boost mode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article proposes a robust control strategy for five-level T-type (5L-T) hybrid power converters to achieve superior dynamic performance for effectively regulating the dc-bus voltage under external disturbances and generating high-quality grid current at the same time. A new filter-less dc-bus ripple voltage estimation method and a simple technique to remove this ripple component from the measured dc-bus voltage of a single-phase converter are developed. A sliding-mode control (SMC) incorporated with an extended-state observer (ESO) is employed for the outer voltage control loop, and to dynamically calculate the input (i.e., the active power reference) for the inner current-tracking controller. The proposed SMC-ESO approach presents a high disturbance rejection capability and robustness against the dc-bus load variation, and thus, significantly improves the dynamic and steady-state performance during system uncertainties. Moreover, a finite control set-model predictive control algorithm is derived as the inner current controller to track their references while balancing the dc-bus capacitor voltages. The effectiveness of the proposed controller is demonstrated and verified through measurement results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]