DC microgrids (MGs) have been gaining a continually increasing interest over the past couple of years both in academia and industry. The advantages of dc distribution when compared to its ac counterpart are well known. The most important ones include higher reliability and efficiency, simpler control and natural interface with renewable energy sources, and electronic loads and energy storage systems. With rapid emergence of these components in modern power systems, the importance of dc in today's society is gradually being brought to a whole new level. A broad class of traditional dc distribution applications, such as traction, telecom, vehicular, and distributed power systems can be classified under dc MG framework and ongoing development, and expansion of the field is largely influenced by concepts used over there. This paper aims first to shed light on the practical design aspects of dc MG technology concerning typical power hardware topologies and their suitability for different emerging smart grid applications. Then, an overview of the state of the art in dc MG protection and grounding is provided. Owing to the fact that there is no zero-current crossing, an arc that appears upon breaking dc current cannot be extinguished naturally, making the protection of dc MGs a challenging problem. In relation with this, a comprehensive overview of protection schemes, which discusses both design of practical protective devices and their integration into overall protection systems, is provided. Closely coupled with protection, conflicting grounding objectives, e.g., minimization of stray current and common-mode voltage, are explained and several practical solutions are presented. Also, standardization efforts for dc systems are addressed. Finally, concluding remarks and important future research directions are pointed out.

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DC Microgrids—Part II: A Review of Power Architectures, Applications, and Standardization Issues

A bidirectional full-bridge CLLC resonant converter using a new symmetric LLC-type resonant network is proposed for a low-voltage direct current power distribution system. This converter can operate under high power conversion efficiency because the symmetric LLC resonant network has zero-voltage switching capability for primary power switches and soft commutation capability for output rectifiers. In addition, the proposed topology does not require any snubber circuits to reduce the voltage stress of the switching devices because the switch voltage of the primary and secondary power stage is confined by the input and output voltage, respectively. In addition, the power conversion efficiency of any directions is exactly same as each other. Using digital control schemes, a 5-kW prototype converter designed for a high-frequency galvanic isolation of 380-V dc buses was developed with a commercial digital signal processor. Intelligent digital control algorithms are also proposed to regulate output voltage and to control bidirectional power conversions. Using the prototype converter, experimental results were obtained to verify the performance of the proposed topology and control algorithms. The converter could softly change the power flow directions and its maximum power conversion efficiency was 97.8% during the bidirectional operation.

Design Methodology of Bidirectional CLLC Resonant Converter for High-Frequency Isolation of DC Distribution Systems

This paper presents the current research trends and future issues for industrial electronics related to transportation electrification. Specific emphasis is placed on electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (EVs/PHEVs) and their critical drivetrain components. The paper deals with industry related EV energy storage system issues, EV charging issues, as well as power electronics and traction motor drives issues. The importance of battery cell voltage equalization for series-connected lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries for extended life time is presented. Furthermore, a comprehensive overview of EV/PHEV battery charger classification, standards, and requirements is presented. Several conventional EV/PHEV front-end ac/dc charger converter topologies as well as isolated DC/DC topologies are reviewed. Finally, this paper reviews various EV propulsion system architectures and efficient bidirectional DC/DC converter topologies. Novel DC/AC inverter modulation techniques for EVs are also presented. The architectures are based on the battery voltage, capacity, and driving range.

Industrial Electronics for Electric Transportation: Current State-of-the-Art and Future Challenges

The high-voltage gain converter is widely employed in many industry applications, such as photovoltaic systems, fuel cell systems, electric vehicles, and high-intensity discharge lamps. This paper presents a novel single-switch high step-up nonisolated dc-dc converter integrating coupled inductor with extended voltage doubler cell and diode-capacitor techniques. The proposed converter achieves extremely large voltage conversion ratio with appropriate duty cycle and reduction of voltage stress on the power devices. Moreover, the energy stored in leakage inductance of coupled inductor is efficiently recycled to the output, and the voltage doubler cell also operates as a regenerative clamping circuit, alleviating the problem of potential resonance between the leakage inductance and the junction capacitor of output diode. These characteristics make it possible to design a compact circuit with high static gain and high efficiency for industry applications. In addition, the unexpected high-pulsed input current in the converter with coupled inductor is decreased. The operating principles and the steady-state analyses of the proposed converter are discussed in detail. Finally, a prototype circuit is implemented in the laboratory to verify the performance of the proposed converter.

A High Voltage Gain DC–DC Converter Integrating Coupled-Inductor and Diode–Capacitor Techniques

This paper presents an energy sharing state-of-charge (SOC) balancing control scheme based on a distributed battery energy storage system architecture where the cell balancing system and the dc bus voltage regulation system are combined into a single system. The battery cells are decoupled from one another by connecting each cell with a small lower power dc–dc power converter. The small power converters are utilized to achieve both SOC balancing between the battery cells and dc bus voltage regulation at the same time. The battery cells' SOC imbalance issue is addressed from the root by using the energy sharing concept to automatically adjust the discharge/charge rate of each cell while maintaining a regulated dc bus voltage. Consequently, there is no need to transfer the excess energy between the cells for SOC balancing. The theoretical basis and experimental prototype results are provided to illustrate and validate the proposed energy sharing controller.

Energy Sharing Control Scheme for State-of-Charge Balancing of Distributed Battery Energy Storage System

An isolated bidirectional full-bridge dc-dc converter with high conversion ratio, high output power, and soft start-up capability is proposed in this paper. The use of a capacitor, a diode, and a flyback converter can clamp the voltage spike caused by the current difference between the current-fed inductor and leakage inductance of the isolation transformer, and can reduce the current flowing through the active switches at the current-fed side. Operational principle of the proposed converter is first described, and then, the design equation is derived. A 1.5-kW prototype with low-side voltage of 48 V and high-side voltage of 360 V has been implemented, from which experimental results have verified its feasibility.

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Isolated Bidirectional Full-Bridge DC–DC Converter With a Flyback Snubber

A bidirectional isolated full-bridge dc-dc converter with a conversion ratio around nine times, soft start-up, and soft-switching features for battery charging/discharging is proposed in this paper. The converter is equipped with an active flyback and two passive capacitor-diode snubbers, which can reduce voltage and current spikes and reduce voltage and current stresses, while it can achieve near zero-voltage-switching and zero-current-switching soft-switching features. In this paper, the operational principle of the proposed converter is first described, and its analysis and design are then presented. A 1.5-kW prototype with a low-side voltage of 48 V and a high-side voltage of 360 V has been implemented, from which measured results have verified the discussed features.

Soft-Switching Bidirectional Isolated Full-Bridge Converter With Active and Passive Snubbers

This paper presents a soft-switching boost converter with a flyback snubber for high power applications. The proposed converter configuration can achieve both near zero-voltage and zero-current soft-switching features, while it can reduce the current and voltage stresses of the main switch. In this paper, several passive and active snubbers associated with boost converters are first reviewed, and their limitations are then addressed. One of the boost converters with a flyback snubber is proposed and analyzed in detail to explain the discussed features. Experimental results obtained from a 5-kW boost converter have confirmed that the proposed converter configuration is attractive and feasible for high power applications.

Soft-Switching Boost Converter With a Flyback Snubber for High Power Applications

A bi-directional isolated full-bridge dc-dc converter with high conversion ratio is widely used for battery charging/discharging. Active or passive snubbers are usually adopted to supplement the operation of a dual full-bridge configuration. In the paper, a bi-directional isolated full-bridge converter with an active flyback snubber, and the one with an active flyback snubber and two passive capacitor-diode snubbers are analyzed, designed and implemented. A comprehensive comparison between the two converters, including component stress, soft-switching feature and conversion efficiency, is presented. Finally, two experimental prototypes of 1.5 kW with low-side voltage of 48V and high-side voltage of 360V have been implemented to verify the analysis and its feasibility.

Comparison of bi-directional isolated full-bridge converters with combinations of active and passive snubbers

An isolated bi-directional full-bridge DC-DC converter with high conversion ratio, high output power and soft start-up capability for battery charging/discharging is proposed in this paper The use of a capacitor and a flyback converter can clamp the voltage spike caused by the current difference between the current-fed inductor and leakage inductance of the isolation transformer, and can reduce the current flowing through the active switches at the current-fed side Operational principle of the proposed converter is first described, and the design equation is then derived A 15 kW prototype with low-side voltage of 48V and high-side voltage of 360V has been implemented, from which experimental results have verified its feasibility

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Jeng-Gung Yang

Papers

Isolated Bidirectional Full-Bridge DC–DC Converter With a Flyback Snubber

Soft-Switching Bidirectional Isolated Full-Bridge Converter With Active and Passive Snubbers

Soft-Switching Boost Converter With a Flyback Snubber for High Power Applications

Comparison of bi-directional isolated full-bridge converters with combinations of active and passive snubbers

1.5 kW isolated bi-directional DC-DC converter with a flyback snubber