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In this paper, dual-buck structured single-stage buck–boost inverters that use power MOSFETs to achieve high efficiency are presented. The proposed inverters require fewer switches, and half of the switches have reduced current stresses. They have no shoot-through problem; therefore, high system reliability can be obtained. The dead-time in PWM signals can be minimized or eliminated, which improving the quality of the output ac voltages and increasing the efficiency. In the proposed inverters, MOSFETs can be used without reverse-recovery issues of their body diodes to boost the efficiency and increase the switching frequency. To further improve the efficiency and stability of the proposed single-phase inverter, PWM strategies combining high- and low-frequency modulation are presented. A hardware prototype of the single-phase inverter was built and tested using resistive, inductive, and nonlinear loads. Experimental results for a 300-W prototype inverter show a 97.4% peak efficiency with a 25 kHz switching frequency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a class of single-phase Z-source (ZS) ac–ac converters is proposed with high-frequency transformer (HFT) isolation. The proposed HFT isolated (HFTI) ZS ac–ac converters possess all the features of their nonisolated counterparts, such as providing wide range of buck-boost output voltage with reversing or maintaining the phase angle, suppressing the in-rush and harmonic currents, and improved reliability. In addition, the proposed converters incorporate HFT for electrical isolation and safety, and therefore can save an external bulky line frequency transformer, for applications such as dynamic voltage restorers, etc. The proposed HFTI ZS converters are obtained from conventional (nonisolated) ZS ac–ac converters by adding only one extra bidirectional switch, and replacing two inductors with an HFT, thus saving one magnetic core. The switching signals for buck and boost modes are presented with safe-commutation strategy to remove the switch voltage spikes. A quasi-ZS-based HFTI ac–ac is used to discuss the operation principle and circuit analysis of the proposed class of HFTI ZS ac–ac converters. Various ZS-based HFTI proposed ac–ac converters are also presented thereafter. Moreover, a laboratory prototype of the proposed converter is constructed and experiments are conducted to produce output voltage of 110 Vrms / 60 Hz, which verify the operation of the proposed converters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this letter, a modified series-capacitor (SC) high conversion ratio (HCR) dc–dc converter is proposed. The proposed converter inherits most of the advantages of the existing SC HCR dc–dc converter and can eliminate the problem of high switch-voltage stress of the existing converter encountered during start-up using a simple circuit modification. Although an extra capacitor is required in the proposed converter, total series capacitance of the proposed converter is the same as that of the conventional SC converter. In addition, input capacitance of the proposed converter can be reduced by less than half of that of the SC buck converter. A 1-kW prototype converter is built and tested to verify the performance of the proposed converter. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Dynamic voltage restorer (DVR) technology has become a mature power quality product. In high-power applications, DVR using a multilevel converter is commonly used. However, DVR using a multilevel direct pulse width modulation (PWM) ac–ac converter has not been well studied. This paper presents a new DVR topology using a cascaded multilevel direct PWM ac–ac converter. In the proposed scheme, the unit cell of the multilevel converter consists of a single-phase PWM ac-ac converter using switching cell structure with coupled inductors. Therefore, the multilevel converter can be short- and open-circuited without damaging the switching devices. Neither lossy RC snubber nor a dedicated soft commutation strategy is required in the proposed DVR. This improves the reliability of the DVR system. The output voltage levels of the multilevel converter increase with the number of cascaded unit cells, and a high ac output voltage is obtained by using low-voltage-rating switching devices. Furthermore, a phase-shifted PWM technique is applied to significantly reduce the size of the output filter inductor. A 1-kW prototype of single-phase DVR is developed, and its performance is experimentally verified. Finally, the simulation results are shown for a three-phase DVR system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a new type of matrix converter (MC) also called a single-phase high-frequency transformer isolated (HFTI) buck MC is proposed. The proposed converter can provide step-down operation of the input voltage with various types of output voltages such as in-phase and out-of-phase output voltages, rectified (or positive) output voltage, and output voltage with step-changed frequency. By incorporating HFT isolation, the proposed MC saves an extra bulky line frequency transformer, which is required for the conventional MCs to provide electrical isolation and safety, when used in application such as dynamic voltage restorers, etc. Two different circuit variations of the proposed HFTI MC are presented with and without continuous output currents, with the latter having less passive components. The safe-commutation strategy is also employed for the proposed HFTI MC to provide current path for the inductor during dead-time, which avoids switch voltage spikes without adding any snubber circuits. The operation principle and circuit analysis of the proposed MC are presented, and switching strategies are also developed to obtain various output voltages. Moreover, a prototype of the proposed MC is fabricated, and experiments are performed to produce in-phase/out-of-phase and rectified output voltages, and output voltage with step-changed frequency. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents a new single-phase switched-coupled-inductor dc–ac inverter featuring higher voltage gain than the existing single-phase qZ-source and semi-Z-source inverters. Similar to the single-phase qZ-source and semi-Z-source inverters, the proposed inverter also has common grounds between the dc input and ac output voltages, which is beneficial especially for photovoltaic inverter systems. The inverter volume and maximum current flowing can be reduced significantly through the coupling of all inductors. A theoretical analysis of the proposed inverter is described and a 280-W experimental prototype is built to verify the performance of the inverter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a single-phase buck–boost matrix converter is proposed which can both buck and boost the input voltage with step-changed frequency. It consists of only six unidirectional current flowing bidirectional voltage blocking switches, two input and output filter capacitors, and one inductor. It has following advantages over the existing single-phase matrix converters: 1) it can both buck and boost input voltage solving the limited voltage transfer ratio (only boost or buck) problem; 2) it also has enhanced reliability as it is immune from shoot-through problem of voltage source when all switches are turned-on simultaneously, and, therefore, it has no need of PWM dead times and RC snubbers or dedicated soft-commutation strategies to solve the commutation problem; 3) it can also use high-speed power MOSFETs as their body diodes never conduct, which eliminate their poor reverse recovery problem. The operation principle of the proposed converter is given, and switching strategies are developed to obtain various multiples and submultiples of input frequency. To verify its performance, a laboratory prototype is fabricated and experiments are performed to produce step-down and step-up voltage with three different frequencies of 120, 60, and 30 Hz. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper extends the high-frequency transformer isolation concept to the Z-source (ZS) ac–ac converters and introduces a new family of high-frequency transformer isolated (HFTI) ZS ac–ac converters. The proposed HFTI-ZS converters retain all the benefits of their existing nonisolated counterparts, such as providing a larger range of output voltage with buck–boost functionality, reversing or maintaining the phase angle, reducing the in-rush and harmonic currents, and improving reliability. In addition to these benefits, the high-frequency (20 kHz) transformer (HFT) in the proposed ZS ac–ac converters provides the electrical isolation and safety with high power density as it eliminates the need for bulky and heavy line frequency (50 or 60 Hz) transformer for galvanic isolation, in applications such as dynamic voltage restorers, etc. The dc-blocking capacitor added in series with the HFT results in only ac voltage applied across its windings, which avoids its saturation. Various ZS-based HFTI ac–ac converters are proposed in this paper, and to verify their operation and advantages, example of quasi-ZS (qZS)-based isolated ac–ac converter is considered in detail. The commutation strategy is also developed to achieve the safe commutation, which avoids the current and voltage spikes without using any RC snubber. A 200-W laboratory prototype of HFTI-qZS ac–ac converter is fabricated and experiments are performed to validate the advantages of the proposed ac–ac converters. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper proposes a new type of ac–ac converter which can operate as traditional noninverting buck and boost converters, and inverting buck–boost converter as well. The proposed converter uses six unidirectional current flowing and bidirectional voltage blocking switches, implemented by six reverse blocking insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) or series mosfet–diode pairs, two input and output filter capacitors, and one inductor. It has no shoot-through problem of voltage source (or capacitor) even when all switches are turned-on, and therefore, pulsewidth modulation dead-times are not needed resulting in high-quality waveforms, and solves the commutation problem without using bulky and lossy RC snubbers or dedicated soft-commutation strategies. It has smaller switching losses because only two switches out of six are switched at high frequency during each half-cycle of input voltage, and it can use power MOSFETs as body diode never conducts, making it immune from mosfet failure risk which otherwise may occur due to poor reverse recovery problem of body diode. The noninverting buck–boost mode of the proposed converter can be used in applications with both step-up and step-down demand, while the inverting buck–boost mode can also be used in its application as dynamic voltage restorer. Detailed analysis of the proposed converter is given, and experimental results are also provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Z-source inverters have become a research hotspot because of their single-stage buck–boost inversion ability, and better immunity to EMI noises. However, their boost gains are limited, because of higher component-voltage stresses and poor output power quality, which results from the tradeoff between the shoot-through interval and the modulation index. To overcome these drawbacks, a new high-voltage boost impedance-source inverter called a switched-coupled-inductor quasi-Z-source inverter (SCL-qZSI) is proposed, which integrates a switched-capacitor and a three-winding switched-coupled inductor (SCL) into a conventional qZSI. The proposed SCL-qZSI adds only one capacitor and two diodes to a classical qZSI, and even with a turns ratio of 1, it has a stronger voltage boost-inversion ability than existing high-voltage boost (q)ZSI topologies. Therefore, compared with other (q)ZSIs for the same input and output voltages, the proposed SCL-qZSI utilizes higher modulation index with lower component-voltage stresses, has better spectral performance, and has a lower input inductor current ripple and flux density swing or, alternately, it can reduce the number of turns or size of the input inductor. The size of the coupled inductor and the total number of turns required for three windings are comparable to those of a single inductor in (q)ZSIs. To validate its advantages, analytical, simulation, and experimental results are also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a family of three-phase direct pulse-width modulated (PWM) ac–ac converters consisting of buck, boost, and buck–boost converters is proposed. The proposed converters have no commutation problem even if all of the switches are turned on or off simultaneously. They do not use lossy snubbers and do not sense the voltage polarity for commutation, and produce high-quality output voltage waveforms. The proposed converters allow the use of power MOSFETs and fast recovery freewheeling diodes independently. The use of power MOSFETs as active switches and freewheeling diodes with extremely fast recovery features lower the switching losses and enable us to reduce the volume of passive components by increasing switching frequency. The input (or output) filter inductor experiences twice of the converter switching frequency and thus can be designed with minimum size. To increase power density of the proposed converters, a three-phase three-limb coupled inductor is proposed. Three-phase coupled inductor integrates three separate coupled inductors of the proposed converters in one three-limb core. In comparison with separate coupled inductors, the three-phase coupled inductor has a smaller size with large current-handling capability. Experimental results obtained for the boost-type converter show the robustness of the proposed three-phase ac–ac converters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]