On the necessity of joint adoption of both Distributed Maximum Power Point Tracking and Central Maximum Power Point Tracking in PV systems

In this paper, the main causes that are able to limit the efficiency of Distributed Maximum Power Point Tracking (DMPPT) are analyzed in detail. It will be shown that, to get full profit from DMPPT, it is necessary that the bulk inverter voltage belongs to an optimal range whose position and amplitude are functions of the following factors: the number of PV modules and dedicated DC/DC converters in a string, the atmospheric operating conditions characterizing each PV module (irradiance and temperature values), the voltage and current ratings of the physical devices the DC/DC converters are made of, and the adopted DC/DC converter topology. Moreover, it will be given proof of the necessity to couple the DMPPT function with a suitable centralized MPPT function carried out by the inverter through the proper control of its own DC input voltage. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Output plane analysis of load-sharing in multiple-module convertersystems

This paper explores the origin of the DC current-sharing problem of parallel-converter systems and the dual problem of voltage sharing in series-converter systems. Both problems may be studied by examining the output plane (output current versus output voltage) of a particular converter. It is shown that strict current source behavior is unnecessary for good current sharing in parallel-converter systems. Furthermore, a broad class of converters whose output voltage is load-dependent, i.e., those that have a moderate value of output resistance, all exhibit good voltage- and current-sharing characteristics. Such converters are often suitable for a×b arrays of converters that can meet a large range of power-conversion requirements. The output planes of discontinuous mode PWM converters as well as conventional and clamped series resonant converters are examined in detail. A simple small-signal model of the modular converter system is developed. Experimental confirmation of load sharing and the small-signal model is given for the clamped series resonant converter and the series resonant converter for various configurations of four converters     

Synthesis of input-rectifierless AC/DC converters

This paper discusses the basic construction procedure and topological possibilities of creating AC/DC converters out of simple DC/DC converters. It is shown that two separately controlled DC/DC converters are sufficient for producing a regulated DC output and shaping the input current, from an AC voltage source, without the need for input rectifiers. Some design constraints are discussed, emanating from the limitation of the conversion ratios that can be achieved by particular DC/DC converters. Selected topologies are verified experimentally. This kind of rectifierless converter find applications in airborne power supplies where zero-crossing distortions are significant because of the inevitable phase-lead effect of the input rectifier bridge.     

Voltage and current stress reduction in single-stage power factorcorrection AC/DC converters with bulk capacitor voltage feedback

Single-stage power factor correction (PFC) AC/DC converters integrate a boost-derived input current shaper (ICS) with a flyback or forward DC/DC converter in one single stage. The ICS can be operated in either discontinuous current mode (DCM) or continuous current mode (CCM), while the flyback or forward DC/DC converter is operated in CCM. Almost all single-stage PFC AC/DC converters suffer from high bulk capacitor voltage stress and extra switch current stress. The bulk capacitor voltage feedback with a coupled winding structure is widely used to reduce both the voltage and current stresses in practical single-stage PFC AC/DC converters. This paper presents a detailed analysis of the bulk capacitor voltage feedback, including the relationship between bulk capacitor voltage, input current harmonics, voltage feedback ratio, and load condition. The maximum bulk capacitor voltage appears when the DC/DC converter operates at the boundary between CCM and DCM. This paper also reveals that only the voltage feedback ratio determines the input current harmonics under DCM ICS and CCM DC/DC operation. The theoretical prediction of the bulk capacitor voltage as well as the predicted input harmonic contents is verified experimentally on a 60 W AC/DC converter with universal-line input     

Active input-voltage and load-current sharing in input-series and output-parallel connected modular DC-DC converters using dynamic input-voltage reference scheme

This paper explores a new configuration for modular DC/DC converters, namely, series connection at the input, and parallel connection at the output, such that the converters share the input voltage and load current equally. This is an important step toward realizing a truly modular power system architecture, where low-power, low-voltage, building block modules can be connected in any series/parallel combination at input or at output, to realize any given system specifications. A three-loop control scheme, consisting of a common output voltage loop, individual inner current loops, and individual input voltage loops, is proposed to achieve input voltage and load current sharing. The output voltage loop provides the basic reference for inner current loops, which is modified by the respective input voltage loops. The average of converter input voltages, which is dynamically varying, is chosen as the reference for input voltage loops. This choice of reference eliminates interaction among different control loops. The input-series and output-parallel (ISOP) configuration is analyzed using the incremental negative resistance model of DC/DC converters. Based on the analysis, design methods for input voltage controller are developed. Analysis and proposed design methods are verified through simulation, and experimentally, on an ISOP system consisting of two forward converters.     

Diodes as pseudo-active elements in high-frequency DC/DC converters

A novel approach to realizing zero-voltage switching in high-frequency DC/DC converters is presented. Utilizing the parasitic associated with the diode stored charge, it is shown that the diode reverse current established for charge removal can be used advantageously to accomplish soft switching. The entire family of single-transistor DC/DC converters can be realized using the technique. The converter topologies are seen to differ from their hard-switched counterparts only by the presence of a resonant capacitor. It is also shown that device and component stresses are moderate as compared to existing quasi-resonant and resonant techniques. Converter analysis is rather complex as a result of the dominant diode nonlinearities, and no closed-form expressions are possible. Converter transfer characteristics are obtained through simulation, and operating limits are analytically obtained. The concept is validated by experimental results using buck-type converters rated at approximately 100 W and operating at frequencies around 1 MHz     

A study of active power filters using quad-series voltage-sourcePWM converters for harmonic compensation

An active power filter using quad-series voltage-source pulse-width-modulated (PWM) converters to suppress AC harmonics by injecting compensating currents into the AC system is described. The circuit used to calculate the compensating current references, the compensation characteristics, and the capability of the DC capacitor are discussed theoretically and experimentally. A control circuit for the DC capacitor voltage is proposed. The discussions focus on transient states, based on the instantaneous reactive power theory. A passive LC filter is designed to remove the switching voltage and current ripples caused by the PWM converters at the AC side. Some experimental results that illustrate the details of the study are shown     

Spectral characteristics of randomly switched PWM DC/DC convertersoperating in discontinuous conduction mode

This paper addresses a comparative study of the spectral characteristics of four random-switching schemes that apply to the basic pulsewidth-modulation (PWM) DC/DC converters operating in discontinuous conduction mode (DCM). They include randomized pulse position modulation, randomized pulsewidth modulation, and randomized carrier frequency modulation with fixed duty cycle and with fixed duty time, respectively. Mathematical models that characterize the input current and output voltage of the three basic PWM converters operating in DCM are derived. In particular, the effectiveness of spreading the dominant switching harmonics in the input current that normally exist in the standard PWM scheme and the introduction of low-frequency harmonics in the output voltage with respect to the randomness level are investigated. The validity of the models and analyses are confirmed experimentally by using a DC/DC buck converter     

A unified analysis of PWM converters in discontinuous modes

Three discontinuous operating modes of PWM (pulsewidth modulated) converters are considered: the discontinuous inductor current mode (DICM), the discontinuous capacitor voltage mode (DCVM), and a previously unidentified mode called the discontinuous quasi-resonant mode (DQRM). DC and small-signal AC analyses are applicable to all basic PWM converter topologies. Any particular topology is taken into account via its DC conversion ratio in the continuous conduction mode. The small-signal model is of the same order as the state-space averaged model for the continuous mode, and it offers improved predictions of the low-frequency dynamics of PWM converters in the discontinuous modes. It is shown that converters in discontinuous modes exhibit lossless damping similar to the effect of the current-mode programming     

A comparative evaluation of SMR converters with and without activeinput current waveshaping

A comparative evaluation is presented of high-frequency voltage-source fed (VSF) and current-source fed (CSF) switch-mode rectifier (SMR) converters supplied from single-phase AC mains and operating under large input voltage and load fluctuations. For medium power applications (i.e. 3 kW), VSF SMR converters use passive waveshaping techniques. CSF SMR converters, on the other hand, use active waveshaping techniques. Use of active waveshaping techniques increases the input power factor from approximately 0.5 to 0.9-1.0. It is shown that when the active input current waveshaping stage is also used to regulate the SMR DC bus voltage, the converter performance can improve substantially. These improvements include reduction in switching stresses of the power semiconductor switches and reduction in the size and ratings of associated reactive components. Key theoretical results are verified experimentally     

应用于并行直流转换电源的均流控制芯片设计

为实现并行直流转换电源系统中转换器电流的均衡分布,降低转换器承受的电、热应力,提高系统可靠性,给出一种采用自动主从控制策略的均流方案,并给出了方案实现的关键部件--均流控制芯片的设计.设计中采用电流反馈环路对输出电压进行调整,降低了PCB板级寄生效应对调整信号的影响;并提出一种启动控制电路用以改善系统的启动时序,加速了启动阶段的电流均衡过程.芯片采用1.5μm BCD(Bipolar-CMOS-DMOS)工艺设计实现,面积为3.6mm2.应用该芯片构成了一个由两个直流转换器组成,具有12V/3A输出能力的并行电源系统.测试结果表明,该并行电源系统满负载时均流误差小于1%.     

Angle controlled current regulated rectifiers for AC/AC converters

Rectifier control schemes for use in AC/DC/AC voltage-sourced resonant link converters with controlled rectifiers are discussed. It is shown that the voltage-sourced rectifier cannot be operated solely on the basis of instantaneous quantities. A bang-bang control scheme that independently controls the angle and the magnitude of the AC-line current vector is developed and simulated. The magnitude of the current is controlled using a linear combination of the link voltage error and the current magnitude error. The current reference is derived by the use of load torque estimation. In addition, the current vector which satisfies the sliding mode criteria and results in lowest voltage ripple is chosen to further minimize the size of the link capacitor     

State-plane analysis of zero-current-switching resonant DC/DC powerconverters

The state-plane analysis for the buck, boost, buck/boost, and Cuk zero-current-switching resonant DC/DC power converters is presented. Simple visual criteria are introduced to determine whether the converter is operating in a mode producing voltage conversion. It is shown that the voltage conversion takes place within the converters if and only if both horizontal and vertical straight-line segments are present in the state-plane graph. The boundary of energy conversion is identified from the state plane by the evaporation of one or both straight-line segments. Formulas are found for the normalized switching frequency at this boundary that depend on the value of normalized switching voltage     

Novel bidirectional DC–DC converters based on the three-state switching cell

It is well known that there is an increasing demand for bidirectional DC–DC converters for applications that range from renewable energy sources to electric vehicles. Within this context, this work proposes novel DC–DC converter topologies that use the three-state switching cell (3SSC), whose well-known advantages over conventional existing structures are ability to operate at high current levels, while current sharing is maintained by a high frequency transformer; reduction of cost and dimensions of magnetics; improved distribution of losses, with consequent increase of global efficiency and reduction of cost associated to the need of semiconductors with lower current ratings. Three distinct topologies can be derived from the 3SSC: one DC–DC converter with reversible current characteristic able to operate in the first and second quadrants; one DC–DC converter with reversible voltage characteristic able to operate in the first and third quadrants and one DC–DC converter with reversible current and voltage characteristics able to operate in four quadrants. Only the topology with bidirectional current characteristic is analysed in detail in terms of the operating stages in both nonoverlapping and overlapping modes, while the design procedure of the power stage elements is obtained. In order to validate the theoretical assumptions, an experimental prototype is also implemented, so that relevant issues can be properly discussed.     

State-space models and order reduction for DC-DC switchingconverters in discontinuous modes

The state-space modeling and related order reduction problems of switching DC-DC converters operating in discontinuous (D) mode are treated in this paper. A unified discrete-time full-order model is proposed assuming the discontinuous current and voltage mode (DCVM) as a general operation mode from which the discontinuous current mode (DCM), the discontinuous voltage mode (DVM), and continuous made (CM) derive as special cases. Such a model permits a straightforward study of the control-to-output response, in each operation mode. The order reduction of the transfer function is carried out by means of the principal component analysis considering the joint controllability and observability properties of the circuit. It is shown that a proper order reduction can be gained not only in DC mode, as expected, but also in DV and DCV modes. A substantial difference between DC and DV modes is also evidenced in terms of controllability. The frequency analysis and state-space model order reduction for a Cuk converter are proposed to show that the method is free of the limitations affecting other methods of analysis and that its predictions fit experimental measurements     

Adaptive current-threshold detector for an adaptive on-time Buck converter at light load

The adaptive on-time control technique has been tremendously utilized in DC–DC converters for its fast transient response, easier design and high efficiency at light load. In some applications the output voltage ripple of DC–DC converters has to be maintained within an acceptable level to achieve superior performance, which depends largely on the load current for adaptive on-time buck converters when operating in discontinuous conduction mode. This paper proposes an adaptive current-threshold detection method for reducing the output voltage ripple. An actual detector circuit is presented to implement the method. This circuit monitors the relationship between the peak inductor current and the load current at light load. Then it outputs a logic signal which controls the turn-on time of the main power MOSFET and hence the peak inductor current. Therefore, the magnitude of the output voltage ripple is controlled. The current-threshold detection method has been verified in an adaptive on-time buck converter by simulation and experimental results. The proposed method can also be used in other constant on-time converters.     

Buck隔离型DC/DC变换器在高剂量率条件下的总剂量辐射损伤机理研究

对国产Buck型正激DC/DC电源变换器在高剂量率辐射条件下开展电离总剂量辐照试验。分析了DC/DC电源变换器的关键电性能参数和功能随辐照总剂量的变化情况,并对DC/DC的失效机理和失效模式进行研究。通过机理分析定位辐照敏感单元。此外,还针对DC/DC的总剂量失效阈值与辐照过程中所施加的输入电压偏置和输出电流偏置的关联关系进行分析。     

A voltage-balanced phase-shifted three-level DC/DC converter operating from high-input voltage

A voltage-balanced phase-shifted three-level DC/DC converter is proposed. Its switch voltage stress is ensured to be only one-half of the input voltage and its four-step operation can reduce considerably the output inductor current ripple. Moreover, it features a small filter, no voltage unbalance problem, static/dynamic sharing of the switch voltage, high-efficiency, and high-power density. It is very suitable for high power converters operating from a high-input voltage.     

一种峰值电流型脉宽调制器设计

介绍了一种适用于AC/DC和DC/DC变换的峰值电流型脉宽调制器设计,并且用Cadence Spectre仿真工具进行了仿真分析。模拟结果表明该控制器通过采用改进的欠压锁定电路和基准电流源,使控制器在实现欠压保护功能的同时具有较低的启动电流,降低了待机功耗。     

一种宽输入电压范围软开关电流型DC/DC转换器

针对太阳能光伏及燃料电池等领域电源需要较宽输入电压范围的需求,提出一种通用的具有较宽输入电压范围的软开关电流型DC/DC转换器。该转换器采用了固定频率混合调制设计,可以在所有工作条件下实现半导体器件的软开关工作,并采用电流馈电技术以便适用于低电压高电流的电源。相较于传统转换器,该转换器更为通用,能够实现零电压开关和零电流开关,并且能够在输入电压和负载变化出现较大变化时控制输出电压。实验结果显示,在20-60V输入电压范围内且负载出现变化时,该转换器均表现出良好的性能。