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I. INTRODUCTION
HE global demand for electric energy has continuously
increased over the last few decades. Energy and the environment have become serious concerns in todays world [1].
Alternative sources of energy generation have drawn more and
more attention in recent years. Photovoltaic (PV) sources are
Fig. 1.
predicted to become the biggest contributors to electricity generation among all renewable energy generation candidates by
2040 [2], [3]. In 2009, almost 7.5 GW of new PV capacity was
added worldwide and it is expected that the global installed PV
capacity could reach 10 GW in 2010 [4].
The large-scale utilization of renewable energy depends on
an advanced smart grid infrastructure where the users have the
ability to manage their energy consumption as well as use plugand-generate and plug-and-store energy devices at home and
in industrial applications [5], [6]. The future renewable electric
energy delivery and management (FREEDM) system is an intelligent electric power grid integrating highly distributed and
scalable alternative generating sources and storage with existing power systems to facilitate a renewable energy-based society [5]. The 400-V dc bus in the FREEDM system provides an
alternative interface for PV converters. Fig. 1 shows part of the
FREEDM system including an Intelligent Energy Management
(IEM) module. As a result, PV converters in a FREEDM system only need to have a dc/dc stage to interface with the dc bus.
Generally, this structure has several advantages.
1) Since the solid state transformer (SST) is the component
interfacing with electric grid, the PV converters controller
does not require a phase locked loop, current regulator, or
anti-islanding controller. Thus, the control task becomes
much simpler.
2) The PV converter can be comprised of a single power
stage.
898
Fig. 2. Two types of dc MIC structure: (a) parallel connection and (b) series
connection.
tipartial cloud capability, and the fact that any single failure of
an MIC will not impact any other part of the system. As a result,
MICs in a parallel configuration have higher fault tolerance and
reliability that make them more promising for PV application in
a FREEDM system. However, the high gain requirement usually
compromises its efficiency.
The topologies suitable for this application can be categorized
into two groups: nonisolated topologies and isolated topologies.
For nonisolated topologies, boost, buckboost, zeta, cuk, or their
derivatives [23][32] are commonly used. Isolated topologies
mainly include flyback [33][39], current-fed pushpull [40],
[41], and resonant converters [42], [43]. The typical maximum
efficiency of these converters is around 8097% [10][12], [19].
Among these topologies, the half-bridge LLC resonant converter is a good candidate due to its several unique advantages [44][46]. However, it is difficult for an LLC resonant
converter to maintain high efficiency for a wide input range under different load conditions. In this paper, a new resonant dc/dc
converter with dual operation modes is proposed. By changing operation modes adaptively according to VPV and PPV , the
converters efficiency is improved.
LIANG et al.: HIGH-EFFICIENCY PV MODULE-INTEGRATED DC/DC CONVERTER FOR PV ENERGY HARVEST IN FREEDM SYSTEMS
899
TABLE I
COMPARISON OF TWO TYPES OF DC MIC STRUCTURE
Fig. 3.
TABLE II
SUMMARY OF OPERATION MODES FOR THE PROPOSED RESONANT CONVERTER
1) All the components are ideal. The body diodes and parasitic capacitance of S1 and S2 have been taken into account. The output capacitors have equal values (Co1 =
Co2 = Co3 ).
2) Inductor Llkg includes the leakage inductance of TX 1 and
TX 2 ; it also includes the wire parasitic inductance.
900
Fig. 4.
LIANG et al.: HIGH-EFFICIENCY PV MODULE-INTEGRATED DC/DC CONVERTER FOR PV ENERGY HARVEST IN FREEDM SYSTEMS
901
balance of the transformers Tx1 and Tx2 has still been preserved.
Further, if a full-wave rectifier (FWR) is added instead of the
HWR, Ipri will become symmetrical and the other characteristics of the converter will remain. The theoretical analysis of
the aforementioned Mode II operation has been verified by the
simulation with Simetrix. Fig. 6 shows the simulation results
of the proposed converter with following operation conditions:
Vpv = 22 V, Vout = 400 V, Pout = 120 W (50% of Prated ), fs =
83 kHz.
IV. DC GAIN ANALYSIS FOR THE PROPOSED CONVERTER
OPERATION IN MODE II
Fig. 5.
larger than IL r , the output current of Tx2 is not zero and power
is delivered to the load through Tx2 . During this stage, Lm
participates into the resonance again and the resonance between
[Llkg , Lm ] and Cr begins.
Stage 5 (t5 t6 ): Switch S1 is turned off at t = t5 . The current
Ipri is positive and switching node voltage will decrease due to
charging (discharging) of Cs1 (Cs2 ).
Stage 6 (t6 t7 ): At time t = t6 , Vsw drops to zero that causes
the conduction of the body diode Ds2 . With the drop of Vsw , the
voltage applied to Lm (VL m ) decreases to zero and continues to
become more negative. Once VL m is higher than a certain level,
diode D2 on the secondary side of Tx1 will be forward biased.
Thus, the voltage applied to Lm is clamped and IL m will drop
linearly. Lm is out of resonance with Cr . Instead, only Llkg
resonates with Cr and Ipri decreases steeply. This stage ends
when IL r is equal to Ipri .
Stage 7 (t7 t8 ): At time t = t7 , IL r is equal to Ipri ; no
more current will flow in the secondary side of Tx2 . The output
is separated from Tx2 . D3 is turned off with ZCS. The voltage
applied to Lr is not clamped and Lr participates in the resonance
again with Cr and Llkg . The current Ipri is positive and continues
to flow through Ds2 , which creates the ZVS condition for S2 if
S2 is turned on at this moment.
Stage 8 (t8 t10 ): At t = t8 , S2 is turned on with ZVS. The
current Ipri continues to decrease due to the resonance between
[Lr , Llkg ] and Cr . The transformer Tx1 delivers power to the
output. This stage ends when current Ipri = IL m .
Stage 9 (t10 t11 ): At t = t9 , Ipri = IL m . No more current will
flow in the secondary side of Tx1 . The voltage applied to Lm
is not clamped anymore and Lm participates in the resonance
again with Lr , Llkg , and Cr . At t = t11 , S2 is turned off and a
new switching cycle begins.
From the aforementioned analysis, the energy transferred by
Tx1 and Tx2 is different. The positive and negative parts of the
current Ipri are not symmetrical. However, the voltage-second
Understanding of the dc gain characteristic for a resonant converter has equal importance as knowing its operation principle.
Since the dc gain characteristic for Mode I operation is the same
as LLC resonant converter, only Mode II operation requires a
new analysis to be developed. The fundamental harmonic analysis (FHA) method is widely used for dc gain analysis of resonant
converters [47][50] and it is also valid for the analysis developed in this paper. This approach is based on the assumption
that the power transfer from the source to the load through the
resonant tank is almost completely dependent on the fundamental harmonic of the Fourier expansion of the currents and the
voltage involved. The voltage at the input of the two rectifiers
Vosq (t) can be expressed as
Vosq (t) = Vab (t) + Vcd (t)
(1)
where Vab (t) and Vcd (t) are the secondary-side terminal voltages of transformers TX 2 and TX 1 (see Fig. 3). Like the conventional LLC resonant converter, the current in the secondary
side is quasi-sinusoidal and the voltage Vosq (t) reverses when
the current becomes zero. Therefore, Vosq (t) is an alternative
square wave in phase with the rectifier current. The Fourier
expression of Vosq (t) is
1
4
sin(n2fsw t).
(2)
Vosq (t) = Vout
n
n =1,3,5,...
For convenience, the phase angle of Vosq (t) is assumed to be
zero in (2). Its fundamental component Vo FHA (t) is
4
Vout sin(2fsw t).
(3)
2 2
Vout .
(4)
Vo FHA =
(5)
irect (t) = 2Irect sin(2fsw t).
Vo
Vo
FHA (t)
TSW
2
2
2 2Irect
.
(6)
Iout =
irect (t)dt =
TSW 0
Vout
.
Rout
(7)
902
Fig. 6.
Fig. 7.
Equivalent FHA resonant circuit model for the proposed converter operation in Mode II.
2Vout
Irect =
.
(8)
4Rout
Insert (8) into (5)
2Vout
Vout
sin(2fsw t) =
sin(2fsw t).
irect (t) = 2
4Rout
2Rout
(9)
The equivalent ac output impedance Ro ac can be derived by
combining (4) and (8) as follows:
Ro
ac
Vo FHA
8Rout
=
.
Irect
2
(10)
The expression for Ro ac is the same as the one for a conventional LLC resonant converter. With the known Ro ac , the equivalent FHA resonant circuit model can be obtained, as shown in
Fig. 7.
In this model, Vi FHA is the rms value of the fundamental
component of the voltage at the switching node SW (VSW ). The
voltage VSW is generated by the controlled switches S1 and S2 .
The output current Iout is produced from Irect after the rectifier
network and filter capacitors. From a turn ratio perspective, the
conversion gain of a transformer with turn ratio 2N followed
by a voltage doubler is equal to a transformer with turn ratio N .
Therefore, transformer Tx1 together with voltage doubler can be
(11)
1
2
Vdc
+ Vdc
sin(n2fsw t).
2
n
n =1,3,5,...
(12)
M=
Consider
VSW (t) =
vi
FHA (t)
Vi
FHA
FHA (t)
2
Vdc sin(2fsw t).
(13)
Vi
FHA (t) =
2
Vdc .
(14)
Combining with (4), (11), and (14), the input-to-output voltage conversion ratio is
Vout
1
|M | .
=
Vdc
2N
(15)
LIANG et al.: HIGH-EFFICIENCY PV MODULE-INTEGRATED DC/DC CONVERTER FOR PV ENERGY HARVEST IN FREEDM SYSTEMS
903
From the FHA model, Zout is the impedance seen from the
primary side of the two transformers
Zout =
N 2 Ro ac Lm r S
N 2 Ro ac + Lm r S
(16)
1
2 Llkg Cr
N2
Z0
Ro
fn =
f SW
.
fr
(20)
(21)
ac
Llkg
Lm + Lr
Llkg
Z0 =
Cr
=
(22)
(23)
(24)
Fig. 9. Series of example of dc gain curves for a new resonant converter with
different Q value (Mode I).
Vout N
.
Vpv /2
(25)
2 N 2
32 2 Cr Lm r Rout fSW
2 N 2 8R
2
3
2
2
2 2
3
5
2
(32 2 Cr Lm r Rout fSW
out N + 32 Cr Llkg Rout fSW N ) + (2 Lm r fSW + 8 Cr Lm r Llkg fSW )
(18)
904
TABLE III
DC GAIN COMPARISON BETWEEN SIMULATION AND CALCULATION
TABLE IV
LIST OF PARAMETERS OF THE PROPOSED CONVERTER FOR GAIN ANALYSIS
M o deI
fSW
fr
M o deI
where fr
fn
M o deII
fSW
fr
M o deI
1
2 (Llkg + Lr ) Cr
, where fr
M o deII
M o deII
(26)
1
.
2 Llkg Cr
(27)
M o deI
fSW
fr
M o deII
= fn
M o deII
fr M o deII
fr M o deI
fr M o deII
= fn
fr M o deI
M o deII .
(28)
fM
fn
M o deII
1
2 (Lr + Llkg + Lm ) Cr fn
Fig. 10.
.
M o deII
(31)
Similar to the LLC resonant converter, operation in the region
where fn < fn M is forbidden. In the region fn M < fn <
f0 , MM o deI is always higher than MM o deII . On the contrary,
MM o deI becomes lower than MM o deII in region fn > f0 . For
a desired dc gain in the latter region, the following conclusion
can be drawn.
1) Mode II operation needs a higher switching frequency
than Mode I operation.
MM o deI (fn
MM o deII (fn
M o deII )
M o deII )
=
=
(1 + M o deI (M o deI /( fn
M odeII
)2 ))2
1
+ Q2M o deI ( fn
M o deII
(1/ fn
1
(1 + M o deII
(M o deII /fn2
M odeII
))2
M odeII
(1/fn
.
))2
M odeII
M odeII
))2
(29)
(30)
LIANG et al.: HIGH-EFFICIENCY PV MODULE-INTEGRATED DC/DC CONVERTER FOR PV ENERGY HARVEST IN FREEDM SYSTEMS
TABLE V
CIRCUIT PARAMETERS FOR EXPERIMENT
905
TABLE VI
LOSS BREAKDOWN OF THE PROPOSED CONVERTER IN MODE II WITH 10% OF
P ra te d (V pv 32 V)
TABLE VII
LOSS BREAKDOWN OF THE LLC CONVERTER WITH 10% OF P ra te d
(V pv 32 V)
Fig. 12. System diagram for the experiment with a work flow chart for the
dc/dc controller.
Fig. 13.
906
Fig. 14. Waveforms of an MIC prototype: (a) Mode I (ch1: 10 V/div; ch4: 10 A/div; t = 4 s) and (b) Mode II (ch1: 50 V/div; ch2: 200 V/div; ch3: 1 A/div;
ch4: 10 A/div).
Fig. 15. Waveforms to verify the ZVS operation in Mode II (ch1: 10 V/div; ch2: 20 V/div; ch4: 10 A/div). (a) V in = 22 V, 20% of P ra te d (verify upper side
switch ZVS) and (b) V in = 22 V, 20% of P ra te d (verify lower side switch ZVS).
LIANG et al.: HIGH-EFFICIENCY PV MODULE-INTEGRATED DC/DC CONVERTER FOR PV ENERGY HARVEST IN FREEDM SYSTEMS
907
Fig. 16. Measured efficiency improvements with HWR (Mode II) for 550%
of P ra te d (V pv 32 V).
Fig. 17.
Isec TX1 will flow through the HWR. Since Isec TX1 returns to
zero before each half cycle ends, ZCS turn off of diodes D1 D3
is realized. Fig. 15 verifies the ZVS feature of the proposed
converter for Mode II operation. It clearly shows that ZVS turn
on is achieved for both the high-side and the low-side MOSFETs
in Mode II.
The efficiency of the proposed converter under different Vpv
and Ppv is measured in the experiment. For comparison, the efficiency of operation without the HWR (normal LLC operation) is
also recorded. Fig. 16 shows the efficiency difference between
Mode II operation and normal LLC operation. From Fig. 16,
the maximum efficiency improvement happens at 5% of Prated
for all input conditions. For this condition, over 10% improvement is achieved. With an increase of the load, the efficiency
improvement drops. Fig. 17 gives the complete efficiency data
for the MIC prototype. A high efficiency of 96.5% occurs in
Mode II with Vpv = 32 V and Ppv = 50% of Prated . The highest
weighted efficiency is 95.8% in the experiment.
VIII. CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK
The PV converters can take advantage of the 400-V dc bus
in FREEDM systems to reduce its complexity as well as costs
to the end user. The parallel connected dc MICs are good candidates for this application. In this paper, a high-efficiency dual
mode resonant converter topology is proposed for dc MICs. The
new resonant converter can change resonant modes adaptively
depending on the PV panel operation conditions. A detailed
theoretical analysis of the converter operation and its dc gain
features is presented in this paper. The analysis and the new
908
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