http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel5/5610941/5624686/05624745.pdf

Power electronics

DC–DC converters with voltage boost capability are widely used in a large number of power conversion applications, from fraction-of-volt to tens of thousands of volts at power levels from milliwatts to megawatts. The literature has reported on various voltage-boosting techniques, in which fundamental energy storing elements (inductors and capacitors) and/or transformers in conjunction with switch(es) and diode(s) are utilized in the circuit. These techniques include switched capacitor (charge pump), voltage multiplier, switched inductor/voltage lift, magnetic coupling, and multistage/-level, and each has its own merits and demerits depending on application, in terms of cost, complexity, power density, reliability, and efficiency. To meet the growing demand for such applications, new power converter topologies that use the above voltage-boosting techniques, as well as some active and passive components, are continuously being proposed. The permutations and combinations of the various voltage-boosting techniques with additional components in a circuit allow for numerous new topologies and configurations, which are often confusing and difficult to follow. Therefore, to present a clear picture on the general law and framework of the development of next-generation step-up dc–dc converters, this paper aims to comprehensively review and classify various step-up dc–dc converters based on their characteristics and voltage-boosting techniques. In addition, the advantages and disadvantages of these voltage-boosting techniques and associated converters are discussed in detail. Finally, broad applications of dc–dc converters are presented and summarized with comparative study of different voltage-boosting techniques.

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Step-Up DC–DC Converters: A Comprehensive Review of Voltage-Boosting Techniques, Topologies, and Applications

This paper presents a review of control strategies, stability analysis, and stabilization techniques for dc microgrids (MGs). Overall control is systematically classified into local and coordinated control levels according to respective functionalities in each level. As opposed to local control, which relies only on local measurements, some line of communication between units needs to be made available in order to achieve the coordinated control. Depending on the communication method, three basic coordinated control strategies can be distinguished, i.e., decentralized, centralized, and distributed control. Decentralized control can be regarded as an extension of the local control since it is also based exclusively on local measurements. In contrast, centralized and distributed control strategies rely on digital communication technologies. A number of approaches using these three coordinated control strategies to achieve various control objectives are reviewed in this paper. Moreover, properties of dc MG dynamics and stability are discussed. This paper illustrates that tightly regulated point-of-load converters tend to reduce the stability margins of the system since they introduce negative impedances, which can potentially oscillate with lightly damped power supply input filters. It is also demonstrated that how the stability of the whole system is defined by the relationship of the source and load impedances, referred to as the minor loop gain. Several prominent specifications for the minor loop gain are reviewed. Finally, a number of active stabilization techniques are presented.

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DC Microgrids—Part I: A Review of Control Strategies and Stabilization Techniques

The significant benefits associated with microgrids have led to vast efforts to expand their penetration in electric power systems. Although their deployment is rapidly growing, there are still many challenges to efficiently design, control, and operate microgrids when connected to the grid, and also when in islanded mode, where extensive research activities are underway to tackle these issues. It is necessary to have an across-the-board view of the microgrid integration in power systems. This paper presents a review of issues concerning microgrids and provides an account of research in areas related to microgrids, including distributed generation, microgrid value propositions, applications of power electronics, economic issues, microgrid operation and control, microgrid clusters, and protection and communications issues.

State of the Art in Research on Microgrids: A Review

A cooperative control paradigm is used to establish a distributed secondary/primary control framework for dc microgrids. The conventional secondary control, that adjusts the voltage set point for the local droop mechanism, is replaced by a voltage regulator and a current regulator. A noise-resilient voltage observer is introduced that uses neighbors’ data to estimate the average voltage across the microgrid. The voltage regulator processes this estimation and generates a voltage correction term to adjust the local voltage set point. This adjustment maintains the microgrid voltage level as desired by the tertiary control. The current regulator compares the local per-unit current of each converter with the neighbors’ and, accordingly, provides a second voltage correction term to synchronize per-unit currents and, thus, provide proportional load sharing. The proposed controller precisely handles the transmission line impedances. The controller on each converter communicates with only its neighbor converters on a communication graph. The graph is a sparse network of communication links spanned across the microgrid to facilitate data exchange. The global dynamic model of the microgrid is derived, and design guidelines are provided to tune the system's dynamic response. A low-voltage dc microgrid prototype is set up, where the controller performance, noise resiliency, link-failure resiliency, and the plug-and-play capability features are successfully verified.

Distributed Cooperative Control of DC Microgrids

A mode-adaptive decentralized control strategy is proposed for the power management of a dc microgrid with multiple renewable distributed generators and energy storage systems. In the presented solution, the dc bus voltage signal is used not only to enable power sharing among different sources, but also to designate microgrid operation modes and facilitate seamless mode transitions. With this mode-adaptive operation mechanism, a greater control freedom can be achieved than the conventional dc voltage droop control scheme. More importantly, this approach features fully self-disciplined regulation of distributed converters without an extra control center or communication link. Therefore, both reliability and flexibility can be enhanced. Meanwhile, a novel mode definition criterion is also provided to highlight the special characteristics of the dc microgrid which is different from an ac one. Three typical operation conditions are summarized according to which type of sources are dominating the power balance. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed technique is verified experimentally based on a composite dc microgrid test system.

Mode-Adaptive Decentralized Control for Renewable DC Microgrid With Enhanced Reliability and Flexibility

In this paper, the built-in transformer voltage multiplier cell is inserted into each phase of the conventional interleaved boost converter to provide additional control freedom for the voltage gain extension without extreme duty cycle. The voltage multiplier cell is only composed of the built-in transformer windings, diodes and small capacitors. And additional active switches are not required to simplify the circuit configuration. Furthermore, the switch voltage stress and the diode peak current are also minimized due to the built-in transformer voltage multiplier cells to improve the conversion efficiency. Moreover, there is no reverse-recovery problem for the clamp diodes and the reverse-recovery current for the regenerative and output diodes are controlled by the leakage inductance of the built-in transformer to reduce the relative losses. In addition, the switch turn-off voltage spikes are suppressed effectively by the ingenious and inherent passive clamp scheme and zero current switch (ZCS) turn-on is realized for the switches, which can enhance the power device reliability. Finally, a 40 V-input 380 V-output 1 kW prototype is built to demonstrate the clear advantages of the proposed converter.

High Step-Up Interleaved Converter With Built-In Transformer Voltage Multiplier Cells for Sustainable Energy Applications

In this paper, the concept of built-in transformer voltage doubler cell is derived to generate an improved interleaved high step-up converter for distributed photovoltaic generation applications. The proposed built-in transformer voltage doubler cell is composed of three transformer windings, two voltage doubler diodes, and two voltage doubler capacitors. The voltage doubler capacitors are charged and discharged alternatively to double the voltage gain. The switch duty cycle and the transformer turns ratio can be employed as two controllable freedoms to lift the voltage ratio flexibly. The power device voltage stress can also be reduced to improve the circuit performance. Furthermore, the active clamp scheme is adopted to recycle the leakage energy, absorb the switch turn-off voltage spikes, and achieve zero-voltage switching (ZVS) operation for all active switches. Meanwhile, the diode reverse-recovery problem is alleviated by the leakage inductance of the built-in transformer. All these factors benefit the circuit performance improvements in the high step-up and large current applications. Finally, a 1-kW prototype with 40-380 V conversion is built and tested to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed converter.

Interleaved High Step-Up ZVT Converter With Built-In Transformer Voltage Doubler Cell for Distributed PV Generation System

An advanced symmetrical voltage quadrupler rectifier (SVQR) is derived in this paper to serve as the secondary rectification topology, which helps to extend the converter voltage gain and reduce the output diode voltage stresses. The output voltage is four times of the conventional full-bridge voltage rectifier with the same transformer ratio, which benefits to reduce the turns ratio of the transformer and decrease the parasitic parameters. Also, low voltage-rated diodes with high switching performance can be applied to improve the efficiency. Meanwhile, all the diodes in SVQR have the same voltage and current stresses, which simplifies the thermal design. Furthermore, two output electrolytic capacitors are connected in series to share the high output voltage, and the voltage balance can be realized naturally without any additional voltage-sharing scheme. A clear picture is made in this paper to give a general framework and universal applications for the derived SVQRs for high step-up and high output voltage conversion systems. A dual boost converter is used as an example to demonstrate the clear advantages of the derived SVQRs.

Advanced Symmetrical Voltage Quadrupler Rectifiers for High Step-Up and High Output-Voltage Converters

In this paper, a single-phase high step-up converter is proposed, designed not only to boost the relatively low photovoltaic (PV) voltage to a high bus voltage with high efficiency, but also to offer a neutral point terminal for the half-bridge-based inverters. First and foremost, two symmetrical high step-up converters are combined and integrated to derive an improved converter with neutral point terminal, which is strongly expected for the half-bridge-based inverters. Secondly, the voltage gain of the converter is extended and the narrow turn-off period is avoided by using the coupled inductor multiplier. Furthermore, the coupled inductor multiplier reduces the voltage stress of all the power devices. As a result, the low voltage-rated power devices can be employed to minimize the conduction losses. More importantly, all the active switches work in the zero-voltage-switching condition, which reduces the switching losses effectively. All these factors improve the circuit performance in the high step-up applications, especially for the half-bridge based PV inverter systems. Finally, the experimental results from a 500 W, 48 -760 V prototype at 100 kHz switching frequency are provided to verify the effectiveness of the proposed converter. The highest efficiency of the prototype is 96.5% and the efficiency is over 94% in a wide load range.

Xin Xiang

Papers

Mode-Adaptive Decentralized Control for Renewable DC Microgrid With Enhanced Reliability and Flexibility

High Step-Up Interleaved Converter With Built-In Transformer Voltage Multiplier Cells for Sustainable Energy Applications

Interleaved High Step-Up ZVT Converter With Built-In Transformer Voltage Doubler Cell for Distributed PV Generation System

Advanced Symmetrical Voltage Quadrupler Rectifiers for High Step-Up and High Output-Voltage Converters

Single-Phase High Step-up Converter With Improved Multiplier Cell Suitable for Half-Bridge-Based PV Inverter System