Bidirectional Power Flow Control in DC Microgrid Through Switched-Capacitor Cell Using Hybrid DC-DC Converter

“Bidirectional Power Flow Control in DC Microgrid through Switched-
Capacitor Cell Using Hybrid DC-DC Converter”
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
MICROGRIDS, renewable energy systems, automotive and other applications often
require bidirectional DCDC converters in order to ensure the power flow from, to, or
between various energy storage elements. Therefore, bidirectional DC-DC converters
placed between energy storage devices and DC busses, at different voltage levels, have
become recently important research issues.
In many cases, the bidirectional converters have to provide a high voltage ratio between
input and output. Where supercapacitors are used as storage elements, a high voltage ratio
is required to allow a large voltage variation across the terminals, to fully use the energy
storage capacity.
An increasingly wider range of applications from various industry fields requires an

energy flow control for DC buses, batteries and accumulators, supercapacitors and other
energy power supplies and storage elements. In many situations this task is realized using
bi-directional DC-DC converters, which can be galvanic isolated or not. When the
isolation is necessary fly back, forward, push-pull, half and full-bridge converters
connected through transformers, can be used. The transformers which are included in
these converters have, in addition to isolation, the role of achieve the demanded voltage
conversion ratio.
If the isolation is not necessary, however, the simple non-isolated DC-DC converters are
used only in the cases where the voltage conversion ratio is not large. For high conversion
ratios, modifications of the classical structures are required. Many derived topologies
where presented in the literature. One possibility is to use converters with coupled
inductors.
Another solution is to increase the ratio between input and output voltages inserting C-
switching cells or/and L-Switching cells into buck, boost or other simple DC-DC
topologies in so called hybrid converters. They have some advantages over the classical
ones, the main disadvantage being the increased number of the passive and active
components.
VVIET/EEE,2018-19 Page 1
A bidirectional variant of a step-up hybrid topology from is presented in reference,

without a complete analytical description, simulation results and experiments, and
without being linked to a specific application. The authors proved in a previous paper that
same functionality of the two switched capacitors can be successfully used to implement
a snubber circuit for boost converter. A SEPIC converter can be also combined with a C-
switching cell to give a bidirectional high voltage ratio DC-DC converter.
This paper investigates the use of the circuit configuration presented in as an interface
between the battery stack and the DC bus in a microgrid system.
In order to comprehend the converter possibilities and limitations, the main operating
modes are presented and analysed according to the currents and voltages handled by the
circuit. Their values through components are established, offering a realistic approach of
the entire system and also a better comprehension about the most important issues of it
which will be used for prototype construction.
After a short discussion about design, the converter simulation results are presented for
different operating modes in order to test its stability and response during transition from
one mode to another.
The nowadays interest in plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) imposes the study of
new recharge strategies in the energy systems that include renewable energy sources. In
this case, a DC distribution bus is easy to be implemented in order to integrate this kind of
sources. Furthermore, using bidirectional DC-DC converters in this structure, the energy
stored in PHEV batteries can be fed back to grid, in the so called V2G operation.
A high restraint for the bidirectional DC-DC converter is the demand of galvanic
isolation. In applications that require galvanic isolation and high voltage conversion ratio,
fly back or forward converters can be used. The main drawback of these simple
converters is caused by the leakage inductance which requires additional circuits, with
increased complexity.
If the galvanic isolation is not necessary, the conventional bidirectional buck-boost

converter, which includes a half bridge, is often used in applications requiring power flow
in both ways. Other standard bidirectional converters can be used in energy storage
systems, each having advantages and disadvantages related to DC gain, component count
and voltage stress. By inserting additional capacitors and switches, the conventional
buck-boost converter can be improved into a three-level topology, four-level or multilevel

topology, for a wider operation range, having a larger gain. The main disadvantage of
multilevel converters is the voltage capacitor balance. Other known converter structures,
such as Zeta converter, can also be modified into bidirectional topologies.
Other transformer less DC-DC converters with high step-up/step-down voltage ratio are
the so called hybrid converters, obtained by inserting switched-capacitor or switched-
inductor structures into buck, boost and other simple converters. It was proved that a
combination of a coupled inductor with a switched-capacitor cell at the output of a step-
up converter gives also good results. Topologies with multiple switched-capacitor cells
that provide bidirectional operation are feasible. The SEPIC structure can also benefit
from the switched capacitor cell in a bidirectional structure.
A comparison between buck and hybrid buck converter shows that the main disadvantage
of the hybrid topology is the increased number of components. Despite this, in some
operating conditions the hybrid converter can be more efficient, even if the voltage ratio
is quite low - an advantage for the buck converter. High efficiency was reported for a
hybrid DC-DC converter proposed for dual voltage automotive systems, in which the
voltage conversion ratio is only 1/3. If the reduction or the increasing of the input voltage
is very high (more than 20), a C-switching cell can be combined with an L-switching cell
in a buck or a boost converter.
In applications with bidirectional power flow where higher gain is required, other
structures have been used, with the cost of an increased components count and higher
voltage stress on the switching elements.
CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE SURVEY
[1] “Implementation of Hierarchical Control in DC Microgrids” C. Jin, P. Wang, J.

Xiao, Y. Tang, and F. H. Choo
DC microgrids are becoming popular in low-voltage distribution systems due to

the better compatibility with photovoltaic panels, electric vehicles, and dc loads. This
paper presents a practical dc microgrid developed in the Water and Energy Research
Laboratory (WERL) in the Nanyang University of Technology, Singapore. The
coordination control among multiple dc sources and energy storages is implemented
using a novel hierarchical control technique. The bus voltage essentially acts as an
indicator of supply–demand balance. A wireless control is implemented for the reliable
operation of the grid. A reasonable compromise between the maximum power harvest and
effective battery management is further enhanced using the coordination control based on
a central energy management system. The feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed
control strategies have been tested by a dc microgrid in WERL. Index Terms—Battery
energy storage, dc microgrid, hierarchical control, photovoltaic (PV) system, voltage
regulation
[2] Y. Du, X. Zhou, S. Bai, S. Lukic, and A. Huang, “Review of nonisolated bi-
directional DC-DC converters for plug-in hybrid electric vehicle charge station
application at municipal parking decks
There is a growing interest on plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV’s) due to

energy security and greenhouse gas emission issues, as well as the low electricity fuel
cost. As battery capacity and all-electric range of PHEV’s are improved, an d potentially
some PHEV’s or EV’s need fast charging, there is increased demand to build high power
off-board charging infrastructures. A charge station architecture has been proposed,
which has a DC micro grid to interface with DC-DC chargers and energy storage. Several
non-isolated bidirectional DC-DC converters suited for charge station applications have
been reviewed and compared. Half bridge converter is a good candidate.
[3] Study of a non-isolated bidirectional dc-dc converter C.c Lin, L-s Yang and G
The study represents the non-isolated bi-directional DC-DC converter which has
simple circuit structure. The control strategy is easily implemented the synchronous
rectifier technique is used to reduce the losses.
[4] A New bidirectional zeta DC/DC converter H. Khaleghi, A. Yazdian Varjani, and
M. Mohamadian,
Nowadays, applications of DC-AC inverters in various applications such as hybrid

electric vehicles are growing up. DC-DC converters are one of the important parts of the
HEVs. Dual output DC-AC inverters can be used in them. If a multi input-multi output
inverter be used, then the DC-DC converter should be able to prepare the inputs for that. This
paper proposes a new bi-directional DC/DC converter. It can be used as a single input single
output or single input multi output device. Also, it can be used as an isolated circuit by
replacing the inductance in the input side, which is parallel with the input source, with a
transformer. This topology can conduct the input current in both direct and reverse directions.
In addition, the close loop controller design for the non-isolated DC-DC converter is
discussed in detail. Also it's parameters values has been designed. In order to validate the
performance of proposed topology, simulation and also experimental results are presented.
[5] Transformerless DC/DC Converters with a very high DC line to load voltage
ratio B. Axelrod, Y. Berkovich, and A. Ioinovici
Conventional dc-dc boost converters are unable to provide high step-up voltage
gains due to the effect of power switches, rectifier diodes, and the equivalent series
resistance of inductors and capacitors. This paper proposes transformer less dc-dc
converters to achieve high step-up voltage gain without an extremely high duty ratio. In
the proposed converters, two inductors with the same level of inductance are charged in
parallel during the switch-on period and are discharged in series during the switch-off
period. The structures of the proposed converters are very simple. Only one power stage
is used. Moreover, the steady-state analyses of voltage gains and boundary operating
conditions are discussed in detail. Finally, a prototype circuit is implemented in the
laboratory to verify the performance.
(PDF) Transformer less DC-DC Converters With High Step-up Voltage Gain.
CHAPTER 3
OBJECTIVES
 In DC microgrids, the DC-DC bidirectional converters play an important role in

the control of the internal DC bus voltage and in maintaining the system power
balance
 This project develops a bidirectional power flow control using a hybrid DC-DC
converter with switched-capacitor cell
 The project highlights the step-up and step-down operating mode and elaborates
the stability analysis using two averaging approaches: an analytical and an average
simulation model based method
 The controller design for stability, based on the Bode plot using K factor method,
is discussed in detail.
 Digital simulation and experimental results on a 200W prototype are given, which
prove good operation in step-up and step-down mode and a smooth transition
between them.
CHAPTER 4
WORKING METHODOLOGY
BLOCK DIAGRAM
Fig: 1
CONSTRUCTION
A DC microgrid structure which incorporates a bidirectional hybrid DC-DC

converter (BHDC) is presented in Fig (1). It contains three main sections. Section A is a
boost converter without the output capacitor, section B is a capacitor switching cell which
allows the increasing of the voltage transfer (gain) ratio, and section C is an output LC
filter. V1 is normally a low voltage source, usually made from several batteries in series.
V2 is a high voltage source that in application discussed in this paper represents a 400V-
600V voltage bus inside a microgrid system. Each source has bidirectional behaviour: it
can source or draw current. The switches are bidirectional, made by an IGBT or a
MOSFET transistor in parallel to a diode, which allows the current flow to be reversed
between sources, at any time, depending on the demand of the microgrid system in which
BHDC is placed. This converter can be also successfully used in other applications, in
which only one voltage source is used and the energy is transferred at a prescribed
voltage to the other side where a load is connected.
WORKING PRINCIPLE
BI-DIRECTIONAL CONVERTER ANALISYS
The hybrid converter, presented in Fig. 2, consists of a simple boost converter

followed by a C switching cell which allows a bi-directional current flow by adding S1
and S2 switches in parallel to D1 and D2. The left side of it is characterized by a lower
voltage and high currents, the energy being normally supplied by or stored in several
batteries connected in series, while the right side is connected to a higher voltage
(500…600)V microgrid DC bus. The operating modes presented in detail below, depend
on the action of the C switching cell.
L1 L2
S2
D2
S1
D1
V1 Ci C1 C2 C0
V2
D3
S3
Fig. 2. DC-DC Converter Topology.
A. The Step-Down Mode
Considering the converter acting as a battery charger, its function may be

compared with that of a classical buck converter but with a much higher step-down
conversion ratio given by the action of the C switching cell. The equivalent circuits of the
converter during ton and toff are presented in Fig. 3 a) and b), highlighting the currents
flow for each state of the transistors. During ton the two identical capacitors are charged
in series while during toff they are discharged in parallel through L1 inductor, injecting
energy in the load.
a)
L1 L2
i1 S2 i2
D2
S1
D1 Vc
V1 Ci C1 C2 C0 V2
D3
S3
b)
Fig. 3. Step down equivalent circuit during: a) ton; b) toff.
A single command signal is used. It is applied directly to S1 and inverted to S2 and S3.
Considering the input and output voltages constant (Ci and C0 are sufficiently large to
assume zero voltage ripples), the following equations can be written during a switching
period:
The relation between V1 and V2, obtained by solving the system formed by (1) and (2), is
given in (3):
(3)
In the equations above: V1 – is the output voltage;
V2 – is the input voltage;
VC – is the voltage drop across the capacitors C1 and C2; is the duty cycle,
considered for S1.
Another form of (3), which highlights the relation between the duty cycle and the two
voltages, is:
(4)
The voltage drop across capacitors C1 and C2 related to the input voltage, respectively to
the output voltage, results also from (1) and (2):
(5)
The main waveforms of the converter, working in step-down mode, are presented in Fig.
4:
Fig. 4. Waveforms of the main voltages and currents in step-down mode. Design
considerations
The converter is intended to supply a nominal battery charging power P1N with an
estimated efficiency η. The maximum average current taken from the microgrid high
voltage DC bus depends on the nominal power and minimum V2 voltage according to the
following equation:
(6)
The maximum current through battery is obtained for the minimum allowed battery cells
voltage:
(7)
The minimum charging power P1min has to be provided for continuous conduction
currents through L1 and L2. This is the main condition for inductors dimensioning. A
graphic representation of the limit current through L1 is shown in Fig. 4.
Considering the maximum currents through L1 achieved during ton, the following
equations can be written for V1 = constant:
(8)
(9)
(10)
Fig. 5 presents the L2 inductor current waveform at the limit of continuous conduction
mode.
Following the same principle, the limit currents calculated for L2 are:
(11)
(12)
(13)
In order to confirm the dimensioning process, the limit currents are presented for V2 =
constant:
(14)
V, I
IL1max
Vc-V1
IL1lim
0
T
- V 1
Fig. 5. L1 current at the limit of continuous conduction in step-down mode.
V, I
IL2max
V2-Vc
IL2lim
0
T
V2-2Vc
Fig. 6. L2 current at the limit of continuous conduction in step-down mode.
(15)
(16)
(16)
(17)
(18)
(19)
The values of the inductors L1 and L2 can be calculated using the following equations,
taking into account the accepted variations of the currents (ΔIL):
(20)
(21)
B. The Step-Up Mode
While the converter works in step-up mode the current flows from the batteries to
the high voltage DC bus. The same PWM signal is used to realize now a boost stage by
switching the S1 transistor. In the same time the two capacitors of the switching cell are
charged in parallel during toff, while during ton the capacitors are discharged in series.
The transistors S2 and S3 are switched in opposite to S1 to improve the converter
efficiency. The equivalent circuits for both switching states, corresponding to ton and
toff, are presented in Fig. 7 a) and b):
Fig.7. Step-up equivalent circuit during: a) ton; b) toff.
As for the step-down mode, we consider the input or the output voltages constant in order
to obtain the equations of the circuit during a switching period:
From now on, the same initial calculations are made as for the step down mode, obtaining
the same duty cycle and the theoretical value of the voltage through the capacitor cell,
eqs. (3)-(5). Even if the current sense is reversed, the main characteristics of the converter
remain the same, sustaining its special functions.
The main waveforms of the converter, working in step-up mode, are presented in Fig. 8.
Fig. 8. Waveforms of the main voltages and currents in step-up mode.
DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS
The maximum power in step-up mode (battery discharging) is higher than in step-
down mode because the battery charging process requires a lower power and the charging
current is limited. However, the continuous conduction has to be provided in both
operating modes for the same minimum power.
The representations of the currents through L1 and L2 at the limit of continuous

conduction mode are shown in Fig. 9, respectively Fig. 10.
V, I
IL1max
IL1lim
V1
0
T
V1-Vc
Fig. 9. L1 current at the limit of continuous conduction in step-up mode.
The limit currents are calculated considering the voltage V1 constant, using again eqs. (8)
and (9) and obtaining the same result (10).
V, I
IL1max
2 Vc-V 2
0
T
Vc-V2
Fig. 10. L2 current at the limit of continuous conduction in step-up mode.
The limit currents are also calculated for L2. Because the transfer functions of the
converter follow the same rules, equcation. (11) - (19) match the converter functioning in
the step-up mode too. The values of the inductors L1, respectively L2, can be calculated
using (24) and (25).
(24)
(25)
CHAPTER 5
ADVANTAGES
 The converter efficiency is expected to have more than 98%.

 Transistor voltage stress is reduces and DC gain increase by using BHDC
converter.
 The simulation results from the converter average model based on the PWM
switch model, as well as those from the converter detailed switching model,
confirm the stability of the converter and the fact that the control system is able to
track the reference waveform with good dynamic performance.
 The bidirectional converter operation is stable for step-down and step-up mode
and the switching between them is fast, without oscillation in the controlled
current and with small dumped oscillations in the low-current waveform.
APPLICATIONS
 This converter can be used in microgrids.

 Renewable energy systems.
 Automotive applications.
 Everywhere is required bidirectional DC power flow between two voltage buses,
without galvanic isolation.
CONCLUSION
This project develops a bidirectional power flow control using a hybrid DC-DC
converter with switched-capacitor cell. The converter connects a low voltage DC bus to a
high voltage DC bus, allowing bidirectional energy transfer, and smooth transition
between the step-up and the step-down mode.
The estimated converter efficiency for the considered application has a maximum
value of 98.6% and is above 96.8% over the entire operating power range, if power
MOSFETs are used for implementation. Good agreement is seen between the simulation
results obtained using the detailed switching model and the experimental results obtained
from a BHDC prototype. The
bidirectional converter operation is stable for step-down and step-up mode and the
switching between them is fast, without oscillation in the controlled current and with
small dumped oscillations in the low-current waveform.

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“Bidirectional Power Flow Control in DC Microgrid through Switched-

Capacitor Cell Using Hybrid DC-DC Converter”

An increasingly wider range of applications from various industry fields requires an

A bidirectional variant of a step-up hybrid topology from is presented in reference,

If the galvanic isolation is not necessary, the conventional bidirectional buck-boost

buck-boost converter can be improved into a three-level topology, four-level or multilevel

[1] “Implementation of Hierarchical Control in DC Microgrids” C. Jin, P. Wang, J.

DC microgrids are becoming popular in low-voltage distribution systems due to

There is a growing interest on plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV’s) due to

Nowadays, applications of DC-AC inverters in various applications such as hybrid

 In DC microgrids, the DC-DC bidirectional converters play an important role in

A DC microgrid structure which incorporates a bidirectional hybrid DC-DC

The hybrid converter, presented in Fig. 2, consists of a simple boost converter

Fig. 2. DC-DC Converter Topology.

A. The Step-Down Mode

Considering the converter acting as a battery charger, its function may be

Fig. 3. Step down equivalent circuit during: a) ton; b) toff.

In the equations above: V1 – is the output voltage;

V2 – is the input voltage;

Fig. 5. L1 current at the limit of continuous conduction in step-down mode.

Fig. 6. L2 current at the limit of continuous conduction in step-down mode.

B. The Step-Up Mode

Fig.7. Step-up equivalent circuit during: a) ton; b) toff.

Fig. 8. Waveforms of the main voltages and currents in step-up mode.

The representations of the currents through L1 and L2 at the limit of continuous

Fig. 9. L1 current at the limit of continuous conduction in step-up mode.

Fig. 10. L2 current at the limit of continuous conduction in step-up mode.

 The converter efficiency is expected to have more than 98%.

 This converter can be used in microgrids.

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