A zero-voltage switching four-port integrated DC/DC converter

TLDR: In this article, the authors proposed a novel converter topology that interfaces four power ports: two sources, one bidirectional storage port, and one isolated load port, which can achieve tight independent control over three power processing paths.

Abstract: This paper proposes a novel converter topology that interfaces four power ports: two sources, one bidirectional storage port, and one isolated load port. The proposed four-port DC/DC converter is derived by simply adding two switches and two diodes to the traditional half-bridge topology. Zero-voltage switching is realized for all four main switches. Three of the four ports can be tightly regulated by adjusting three independent duty cycle values, while the forth port is left unregulated to maintain the power balance for the system. Circuit analysis and design considerations are presented; the control structure is given as well. Experimental results verify the proposed topology and confirm its ability to achieve tight independent control over three power processing paths. The proposed topology and control is particularly relevant to battery-backed power systems having multiple renewable sources.