Isolated Bi-directional DC-DC Converter with Smooth Start-up Transition

TLDR: In this article, an additional transitional stage is proposed to reduce the current spike without the use of any additional components, and the active clamp not only helps eliminate the transient spike caused by the transformer leakage, but also continues to be used during steady state.

Abstract: The bi-directional dc/dc converter is a very popular and effective tool for alternative energy applications. One way it can be utilized is to charge and discharge batteries used in residential solar energy systems. In the day, excess power from the PV panels is used to charge the batteries. During the night, the charged batteries will power the dc bus for loads in the house such as home appliances. The dual active bridge (DAB) converter is very useful because of its high power capability and efficiency. Its symmetry is effective in transferring power in both directions. However, the DAB converter has drawbacks in the start-up stage. These drawbacks in boost mode include high in-rush current during start-up, and the fact that the high side voltage cannot be lower than the low side voltage. A popular existing method to alleviate this problem is the use of an active clamp and a flyback transformer in the circuit topology to charge the high side before the converter is switched into normal boost operation. The active clamp not only helps eliminate the transient spike caused by the transformer leakage, but also continues to be used during steady state. However, this method introduces a new current spike occurring when the converter transitions from start-up mode to boost mode. To alleviate this new setback, an additional transitional stage is proposed to significantly reduce the current spike without the use of any additional components. The converter is current-fed on the low side, and voltage-fed on the high side. A simple phase shif