Survey on Photo-Voltaic Powered Interleaved Converter System

Renewable energy is the best solution to meet the growing demand for energy in the country. The solar energy is considered as the most promising energy by the researchers due to its abundant availability, eco-friendly nature, long lasting nature, wide range of application and above all it is a maintenance free system. The energy absorbed by the earth can satisfy 15000 times of today’s total energy demand and its hundred times more than that our conventional energy like coal and other fossil fuels. Though, there are overwhelming advantages in solar energy, It has few drawbacks as well such as its low conversion ratio, inconsistent supply of energy due to variation in the sun light, less efficiency due to ripples in the converter, time dependent and, above all, high capitation cost. These aforementioned flaws have been addressed by the researchers in order to extract maximum energy and attain hundred percentage benefits of this heavenly resource. So, this chapter presents a comprehensive investigation based on photo voltaic (PV) system requirements with the following constraints such as system efficiency, system gain, dynamic response, switching losses are investigated. The overview exhibits and identifies the requirements of a best PV power generation system

Power Interface Design and System Stability Analysis for 400 V DC-Powered Data Centers

The demands of high performance cloud computation and internet services have increased in recent decades. These demands have driven the expansion of existing data centers and the construction of new data centers. The high costs of data center downtime are pushing designers to provide high reliability power supplies. Thus, there are significant research questions and challenges to design efficient and environmentally friendly data centers with address increasing energy prices and distributed energy developments. This dissertation work aims to study and investigate the suitable technologies of power interface and system level configuration for high efficiency and reliable data centers. A 400 V DC-powered data center integrated with solar power and hybrid energy storage is proposed to reduce the power loss and cable cost in data centers. A cascaded totem-pole bridgeless PFC converter to convert grid ac voltage to the 400 V dc voltage is proposed in this work. Three main control strategies are developed for the power converters. First, a model predictive control is developed for the cascaded totem-pole bridgeless PFC converter. This control provides stable transient performance and high power efficiency. Second, a power loss model based dual-phase-shift control is applied for the efficiency improvement of dual-active bridge converter. Third, an optimized maximum power point tracking (MPPT) control for solar power and a hybrid energy storage unit (HESU) control are given in this research work. The HESU consists of battery and ultracapacitor packs. The ultracapacitor can improve the battery lifetime and reduce any transients affecting grid side operation. The large signal model of a typical solar power integrated datacenter is built to analyze the system stability with various conditions. The MATLAB/Simulink™-based simulations are used to identify the stable region of the data center power supply. This can help to analyze the sensitivity of the circuit parameters, which include the cable inductance, resistance, and dc bus capacitance. This work analyzes the system dynamic response under different operating conditions to determine the stability of the dc bus voltage. The system stability under different percentages of solar power and hybrid energy storage integrated in the data center are also investigated

Power Interface Design and System Stability Analysis for 400 V DC-Powered Data Centers

The demands of high performance cloud computation and internet services have increased in recent decades. These demands have driven the expansion of existing data centers and the construction of new data centers. The high costs of data center downtime are pushing designers to provide high reliability power supplies. Thus, there are significant research questions and challenges to design efficient and environmentally friendly data centers with address increasing energy prices and distributed energy developments. This dissertation work aims to study and investigate the suitable technologies of power interface and system level configuration for high efficiency and reliable data centers. A 400 V DC-powered data center integrated with solar power and hybrid energy storage is proposed to reduce the power loss and cable cost in data centers. A cascaded totem-pole bridgeless PFC converter to convert grid ac voltage to the 400 V dc voltage is proposed in this work. Three main control strategies are developed for the power converters. First, a model predictive control is developed for the cascaded totem-pole bridgeless PFC converter. This control provides stable transient performance and high power efficiency. Second, a power loss model based dual-phase-shift control is applied for the efficiency improvement of dual-active bridge converter. Third, an optimized maximum power point tracking (MPPT) control for solar power and a hybrid energy storage unit (HESU) control are given in this research work. The HESU consists of battery and ultracapacitor packs. The ultracapacitor can improve the battery lifetime and reduce any transients affecting grid side operation. The large signal model of a typical solar power integrated datacenter is built to analyze the system stability with various conditions. The MATLAB/Simulink™-based simulations are used to identify the stable region of the data center power supply. This can help to analyze the sensitivity of the circuit parameters, which include the cable inductance, resistance, and dc bus capacitance. This work analyzes the system dynamic response under different operating conditions to determine the stability of the dc bus voltage. The system stability under different percentages of solar power and hybrid energy storage integrated in the data center are also investigated

Design Optimization of Inductive Power Transfer Systems for Contactless Electric Vehicle Charging Applications

Contactless Electric Vehicle (EV) charging based on magnetic resonant induction is an emerging technology that can revolutionize the future of the EV industry and transportation systems by enabling an automated and convenient charging process. However, in order to make this technology an acceptable alternative for conventional plug-in charging systems it needs to be optimized for different design measures. Specifically, the efficiency of an inductive EV charging system is of a great importance and should be comparable to the efficiency of conventional plug-in EV chargers. The aim of this study is to develop solutions that contribute to the design enhancement of inductive EV charging systems. Specifically, generalized physics-based design optimization methods that address the trade-off problem between several key objectives including efficiency, power density, misalignment tolerance, and cost efficiency considering critical constraints are developed. Using the developed design methodology, a 3.7kW inductive charging system with square magnetic structures is investigated as a case study and a prototype is built to validate the optimization results. The developed prototype achieves 93.65% efficiency (DC-to-DC) and a power density of 1.65kW/dm3. Also, self-tuning power transfer control methods with resonance frequency tracking capability and bidirectional power transfer control are presented. The proposed control methods enhance the efficiency of power converters and reduce the Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) by enabling soft-switching operations. Several simplified digital controllers are developed and experimentally implemented. The controllers are implemented without the use of DSP/FPGA solutions. Experimental tests show that of the developed simplified controllers can effectively regulate the power transfer around the desired value. Moreover, the experiments show that compared to conventional converters, the developed converters can achieve 4% higher efficiency at low power levels. Moreover, enhanced matrix converter topologies that can achieve bidirectional power transfer and high efficiency with a reduced number of switching elements are introduced. The self-tuning controllers are utilized to design and develop control schemes for bidirectional power transfer regulation. The simulation analyses and experimental results show that the developed matrix converters can effectively establish bidirectional power transfer at the desired power levels with soft-switching operations and resonance frequency tracking capability. Specifically, a direct three-phase AC-AC matrix converter with a reduced number of switches (only seven) is developed and built. It is shown that the developed converters can achieve efficiencies as high as 98.54% at high power levels and outperform conventional two-stage converters

Double Resonant High-Frequency Converters for Wireless Power Transfer

This thesis describes novel techniques and developments in the design and implementation of a low power radio frequency (40kHz to 1MHz) wireless power transfer (WPT) system, with an application in the wireless charging of autonomous drones without physical connection to its on-board Battery Management System (BMS). The WPT system is developed around a matrix converter exploiting the benefits such as a small footprint (DC-link free), high efficiency and high power density. The overall WPT system topology discussed in this thesis is based on the current state-of-the-art found in literature, but enhancements are made through novel methods to further improve the converter’s stability, reduce control complexity and improve the wireless power efficiency. In this work, each part of the system is analysed and novel techniques are proposed to achieve improvements. The WPT system design methodology presented in this thesis commences with the use of a conventional full-bridge converter. For cost-efficiency and to improve the converters stability, a novel gate drive circuit is presented which provides self-generated negative bias such that a bipolar MOSFET drive can be driven without an additional voltage source or magnetic component. The switching control sequences for both a full-bridge and single phase to single phase matrix converter are analysed which show that the switching of a matrix converter can be considered to be the same as a full-bridge converter under certain conditions. A middleware is then presented that reduces the complexity of the control required for a matrix converter and enables control by a conventional full-bridge controller (i.e. linear controller or microcontroller). A novel technique that can maximise and maintain in real-time the WPT efficiency is presented using a maximum efficiency point tracking approach. A detailed study of potential issues that may affect the implementation of this novel approach are presented and new solutions are proposed. A novel wireless pseudo-synchronous sampling method is presented and implemented on a prototype system to realise the maximum efficiency point tracking approach. Finally, a new hybrid wireless phase-locked loop is presented and implemented to minimise the bandwidth requirements of the maximum efficiency point tracking approach. The performance and methods for implementation of the novel concepts introduced in this thesis are demonstrated through a number of prototypes that were built. These include a matrix converter and two full WPT systems with operating frequencies ranging from sub-megahertz to megahertz level. Moreover, the final prototype is applied to the charging of a quadcopter battery pack to successfully charge the pack wirelessly whilst actively balancing the cells. Hence, fast battery charging and cell balancing, which conventionally requires battery removal, can be achieved without re-balance the weight of the UAV

High efficiency smart voltage regulating module for green mobile computing

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.In this thesis a design for a smart high efficiency voltage regulating module capable of supplying the core of modern microprocessors incorporating dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (DVS) capability is accomplished using a RISC based microcontroller to facilitate all the functions required to control, protect, and supply the core with the required variable operating voltage as set by the DVS management system. Normally voltage regulating modules provide maximum power efficiency at designed peak load, and the efficiency falls off as the load moves towards lesser values. A mathematical model has been derived for the main converter and small signal analysis has been performed in order to determine system operation stability and select a control scheme that would improve converter operation response to transients and not requiring intense computational power to realize. A Simulation model was built using Matlab/Simulink and after experimenting with tuned PID controller and fuzzy logic controllers, a simple fuzzy logic control scheme was selected to control the pulse width modulated converter and several methods were devised to reduce the requirements for computational power making the whole system operation realizable using a low power RISC based microcontroller. The same microcontroller provides circuit adaptations operation in addition to providing protection to load in terms of over voltage and over current protection. A novel circuit technique and operation control scheme enables the designed module to selectively change some of the circuit elements in the main pulse width modulated buck converter so as to improve efficiency over a wider range of loads. In case of very light loads as the case when the device goes into standby, sleep or hibernation mode, a secondary converter starts operating and the main converter stops. The secondary converter adapts a different operation scheme using switched capacitor technique which provides high efficiency at low load currents. A fuzzy logic control scheme was chosen for the main converter for its lighter computational power requirement promoting implementation using ultra low power embedded controllers. Passive and active components were carefully selected to augment operational efficiency. These aspects enabled the designed voltage regulating module to operate with efficiency improvement in off peak load region in the range of 3% to 5%. At low loads as the case when the computer system goes to standby or sleep mode, the efficiency improvent is better than 13% which will have noticeable contribution in extending battery run time thus contributing to lowering the carbon footprint of human consumption

Control of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell System

265 p.In the era of sustainable development, proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell technology has shown significant potential as a renewable energy source. This thesis focuses on improving the performance of the PEM fuel cell system through the use of appropriate algorithms for controlling the power interface. The main objective is to find an effective and optimal algorithm or control law for keeping the stack operating at an adequate power point. Add to this, it is intended to apply the artificial intelligence approach for studying the effect of temperature and humidity on the stack performance. The main points addressed in this study are : modeling of a PEM fuel cell system, studying the effect of temperature and humidity on the PEM fuel cell stack, studying the most common used power converters in renewable energy systems, studying the most common algorithms applied on fuel cell systems, design and implementation of a new MPPT control method for the PEM fuel cell system

Design and analysis of a novel multi-input multi-output high voltage DC transformer model

a novel Multi-Input Multi-Output (MIMO) step-up DC transformer for applications in high voltage renewable energy sources is designed and presente

DC-DC Power Converter Design for Application in Welding Power Source for the Retail Market

The purpose of this study is to design and analyze a DC-DC power converter for application in a welding power source that is cost-competitive with the more traditional, lower-tech welding power source topologies. This thesis first presents a background study of recent design approaches to DC-DC power converters, as they relate to application in welding power converters. The background study also surveys recent design approaches to welding power source controls. Evaluation of available options in DC-DC converter topologies and switching schemes for application in a welding power source is presented. Design methodology of a low-cost DC-DC converter for application in a welding power source is explained in detail. The design criteria are presented, and systematically solved for using a combination of electrical theory and computer-based modeling. The power converter design is modeled and verified through simulation. An economic analysis of the design proves it to be economically feasible, but still not as inexpensive as traditional, lower-tech solutions currently in use in the arc welding retail market. The most expensive component of the design is the power switching components, which have the potential for further cost reduction, and is recommended as future wor