2020 IEEE International Conference on Power Electronics, Smart Grid and Renewable Energy (PESGRE2020)

Matrix Converter Based Single Stage Bidirectional

On-Board EV Charger with Reactive Power Support
Rahul Kumar, Member, IEEE Bhim Singh, Fellow, IEEE
Department of Electrical Engineering Department of Electrical Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
New Delhi, India New Delhi, India
email: rahul220@gmail.com email: bsingh@ee.iitd.ac.in

Abstract—This paper presents the design, control and
simulation of a bidirectional on-board charger for battery
electric vehicles (BEVs). This charger is equipped with a vehicle
to grid (V2G) power transfer ability as well as reactive power
support to the grid. Three phase AC-DC matrix converter
topology is used here for single stage on-board charger
application. Direct power control (DPC) and space vector
modulation (SVM) technique are utilized to control charging
current and reactive power flow. The proposed configuration
for the on-board EV charger application offers a fast dynamic
response with minimum energy storage element requirement. It
is capable of providing reactive power both in the vehicle to grid
(V2G) and grid to vehicle (G2V) mode with some limitation on
the amount of reactive power generated for operation in the
linear modulation region of the converter.
Keywords—On-board Charger, EV charger, AC-DC Matrix
converter, Battery Charging, Current space vector, constant
current charging, Power Quality
I. INTRODUCTION
In the past decade, electric vehicles (EVs) have become
popular as a clean mode of transportation but at a higher cost,
lack of charging infrastructure and range anxiety is still a big
obstacle in its growth. An on-board charger in the electric
in the grid current. The filter capacitor on the grid side
generates reactive power, hence with no compensation on
power factor control input current leads the supply voltage.
Fig.1 shows the basic topology of the AC-DC matrix
converter. It uses six four-quadrant switches for allowing
bidirectional current flow and blocking positive and negative
polarity voltage across it when so desired. Two IGBT-diode
pair (current bidirectional switch) are connected with
common emitter configuration to form a four-quadrant
switch. DC side LC filter is used to make battery charging
current ripple-free whereas AC side damped LC filter is used
to suppress the switching harmonics of input current. The
matrix converter has to be controlled always in a manner to
avoid short circuit of input phases and open circuit of output
phases. Due to switching delay of practical switches, chances
of overlap (the other switch of the same leg gets on before the
first switch gets off) i.e. short circuit of input phase may
appear. To avoid such a situation a four-step commutation
method is generally used for matrix converter.
P Ldc
idc
Ib
SaP SbP ScP

vehicle helps the car owner to charge the EV in their home or

office premises, thus reducing the range anxiety to a certain isa
Rd via
iia

extent. Cf
vsa
Lf +
isb iib
For most battery-operated electric vehicles(BEVs) based Rd vib Cdc _ Vb
n
passenger cars, the battery voltage varies in the range of 300 vsb
Cf EV
isc Lf Battery
to 400 V. Conventional chargers utilize a dual-stage Rd vic
iic

topology, a voltage source converter(VSC) followed by a

vsc Cf
DC-DC buck-boost converter. As VSC is an inherently boost Lf

topology in which voltage at the DC link capacitor has to be
greater than peak input AC line voltage, it demands a bucking
operation during charging of the battery from the grid(G2V)
as the battery voltage is lower. Similarly, it requires a boost
operation during V2G operation, when power flows from
vehicle to grid [1]. Dual-stage configuration reduces the
efficiency of the system and a bulky DC link capacitor along
with a buck-boost converter increases the size of the charger.
The reliability and durability of the converter are also reduced
due to the presence of a bulky DC link capacitor.
Three phase AC-DC matrix converter (MC) has great
potential to be used as a medium to high power EV charger
as it offers bidirectional power flow, while accommodating
variable power factor at grid side with sinusoidal grid current
as well tight voltage/current regulation on DC side with wide
variation of input voltage [2]. The input current of the AC-
DC matrix converter can be directly synthesized from load
current as there is no energy storage element in this converter.
On the AC side of this converter, a damped LC filter is
necessary to snub the higher order switching frequency noises
SaN SbN ScN
N
Fig.1 AC-DC Matrix Converter Topology
II. INPUT CURRENT SPACE VECTOR MODULATION
AC-DC matrix converter uses ripple-free output DC
current to synthesize three phase input current, similar to
what is practiced for current source inverter (CSI). Space
vector modulation (SVM) method gives a very good dynamic
response but it also generates some low order harmonics like
5th, 7th and 13th order in the PWM voltage or current along
with switching frequency harmonics [3]. With proper filter
design, these harmonics can be attenuated to a large extent
and one can get adequate quality of voltage or current
waveform. Other modulation strategies can be further
investigated to reduce lower order harmonics in the input
current. In [4], a novel hybrid commutation method is
discussed to improve the input current distortion. The

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G
Lyapunov direct method control is proposed in [5], claims The input current space vector I (t ) can be calculated with
good results in power quality assessment.
knowledge of supply phase currents isa, isb and isc,
I3(bc) G
I( t ) = ( 2 / 3 ) ª¬isa ( t )e j0 + isb ( t )e j 2π 3 + isc ( t )e j 4π 3 º¼ (1)
3 2 For the active current vector/state 1, SaP and SbN are turned on
I4(ba) I2(ac) and converter input currents, after neglecting the ripple
current flowing in AC and DC side filter capacitor are as,
d2I2
isa = I b , isb = − I b and isc = 0 (2)
Iref
4 I7,8,9 1 Substituting the values from equation (2) into (1) yields,
i JG
d1I1 I1 = (2 / 3) ⋅ I b ⋅ e j ( −π 6) (3)

In the same manner, the rest of the active vectors can be

I5(ca) I1(ab) computed. The active vectors can be expressed as,
JJG § π π·
j ¨ ( m −1 ) − ¸
I m = ( 2 / 3 ) ⋅ Ib ⋅ e © 3 6¹
for m=1,2,3……,6 (4)
5 6 G
If magnitude and angle are known , I ref can be reproduced by
I6(cb) three adjacent static vectors, depending on that switching
G
Fig.2 Input current space vectors of AC-DC Matrix Converter states of the converter can be generated. if I ref lies into the
sector I as shown in Fig. 2, it can be generated by synthesizing
The matrix converter may show varied performance adjacent active vector I1 and I2 and zero vectors I7, I8 or I9. For
depending upon the modulation technique implemented. In best performance, in each sector different zero/null vectors
the past couple of decades various modulation methods of the are used. The duty cycle for each active vector is calculated
matrix converter are investigated [6]. Out of the various using ampere-second balance and is given as,
choices to modulate MCs the most popular one is the space
vector modulation (SVM), as it is well suited for digital
controllers, can give maximum output to input voltage ratio
d 1 = mi ⋅ sin π ( − θi ½
3° )
°
within linear modulation range and good quality current on d 2 = mi ⋅ sin (θ i ) ¾ 0 ≤ θi ≤ π 3 (5)
load as well as source side [7]. SVM switching sequence d 0 = 1 − ( d1 + d 2 ) °
pattern is discussed in [8] to reduce the output DC current °¿
ripple. Various control techniques are also emerging to
control the matrix converter like model predictive control, where, mi =current modulation index = I sm / I b ; I sm = peak
predictive delta-sigma modulation [9]. value of supply phase current; I b = ripple free battery
Four quadrant switches enable the output terminals P and charging/discharging current.
N to be connected to any of the input phases at any instant.
Accounting the limitation that the input line must never be III. INPUT FILTER DESIGN
shorted and output load current must not be left open, there The input current of the matrix converter contains
are nine feasible switching states for AC-DC matrix unwanted high-frequency harmonics of switching frequency
converter, as given in Table I. order and multiple of it, which can be substantially reduced
TABLE-I by implementing a low pass single stage LC filter. To remove
FEASIBLE SWITCHING STATES the oscillations resulting during transients and by high dv dt
State SaP SbP ScP SaN SbN ScN SSV
1 1 0 0 0 1 0 I1 or di dt due to hard switching, it is essential to use a resistor
2 1 0 0 0 0 1 I2 in the filter. In order to have high damping and low overshoot,
3 0 1 0 0 0 1 I3 a resistance Rd in parallel with Lf is used here. The filter
4 0 1 0 1 0 0 I4
5 0 0 1 1 0 0 I5
design should also minimize the reactive power generated by
6 0 0 1 0 1 0 I6 filter components. To avoid a large voltage, drop inductors
7 1 0 0 1 0 0 I7 should have a low value. Preferably allowable voltage drop
8 0 1 0 0 1 0 I8 should be less than 10 percent of rated phase voltage. The
9 0 0 1 0 0 1 I9 corner frequency of the input LC filter should be much higher
Switching states 1 to 6 are called active states while 7 to 9 than the input side line frequency and significantly lower than
are called zero or null states. The active stationary space the switching frequency. The following design equations are
vector (SSV) creates a hexagon with six equal sectors. Zero used to calculate input filter parameters.
or null vectors lie in the center of the hexagon. The notation ΔVL × Vrated / phase 0.08 × 230
ab for SSV I1 in Fig. 2, represents that the DC terminals P and Lf = = = 2.92 mH (6)
N are connected to the grid side AC phase ‘a’ and ‘b’, 2π f ⋅ I rated / phase 2π × 50 × 20
respectively.
1 1
Cf = = = 17.7 μ F (7)
( 2π f c ) ( 2π × 700 ) × 2.92 × 10 −3
2 2
× Lf

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where Vsm = amplitude of supply phase voltage; Ism =

1 Lf 1 2.92 × 10 −3 amplitude of supply phase current and  = angle between
Rd = ⋅ = ⋅ = 12.9 Ω (8) supply phase voltage and current. Controlling the power
2ξ C f 2 × 0.5 17.7 × 10 −6 factor alone changes active and reactive powers
simultaneously. In order to have independent control on
where, fc = cut off frequency of LC filter,  = damping factor
active and reactive powers, instantaneous power theory (P-Q
Vrated/phase=supply phase RMS voltage, Irated/phase=Rated theory) is implemented here to control the AC-DC matrix
supply phase RMS current, ȴVL = per unit permissible voltage converter.
drop across filter inductance. Above design parameters are CV mode Charging
CC mode Charging
calculated for filter cut off frequency fc= 700 Hz and damping Poutref Poutref Ibref
Ib _ Vbref Vb
factor =0.5. The values of parameters selected during + PI PI _+

simulations are as,

Ibref Vbref
Lf = 2.7 mH ; Cf = 22 F ; Rd = 12 .
Ib
IV. REACTIVE POWER CONSTRAINT
is* mi
vs Current Ref. mi ,i

SaP-ScN
Total reactive power reflected on the source side is the vs,abc abc Calculation Calculation SVM
 (18)
cumulative effect of reactive power generated by the matrix vs (16)
is * i
converter and due to the filter capacitor on the input side. The Qref
reactive power produced by filter inductor can be neglected
on account of a very low voltage drop across it. The input side Fig.3 Direct power control scheme for AC-DC Matrix converter
filter capacitor produces leading reactive power, so in order
Fig. 3 shows the control schematic for constant current(CC)
to have unity power factor(UPF) operation on the source side,
and constant voltage mode of charging along with
the converter must produce lagging reactive power to cancel
independent control of active and reactive power. In CC
the effect of the capacitor. The maximum reactive power
charging mode, the error of actual and reference charging
produced by the matrix converter is limited by its modulation
current is fed to a PI controller, which generates the reference
index for the linear range of operation [10]. Once the output
voltage. Multiplying reference current and voltage provides
active power is fixed by the load demand, peak reactive
active power reference. In CV mode charging, the converter
power produced by the matrix converter is restricted by a
output voltage is fixed by feeding error of actual and
linear range of modulation index.
reference voltage to a PI controller which generates reference
current. Again multiplying reference current and voltage
Qconv = Sconv
2
− Pb2 (9)
provides active power reference. The reactive power
reference is user fed. Once active and reactive power
Sconv = ( 3 2 ) ⋅ Vim ⋅ I im = ( 3 2 ) ⋅ Vim ⋅ mi ⋅ I b (10)
references are known current reference can be calculated.
According to PQ theory reference current is calculated as
Sconv(max) = ( 3 2 ) ⋅ Vim ⋅ I b for mi = 1 (11)
[11], [12],
Pb = Vb ⋅ I b (12) ªi*sα º 2 ª Pout
ref
⋅ vsα + Qref ⋅ vsβ º
1
«* »= ⋅ 2 « » (16)
«¬isβ »¼ 3 ( vsα + vsβ ) «¬ Pout ⋅ vsβ − Qref ⋅ vsα »¼
2 ref
( ( 3 2 ) ⋅V im ⋅ I b ) − Pb
2
Qconv(max) = Sconv(max)
2
− Pb2 = 2
(13)

Where Qconv = reactive power generated by matrix converter; Here, vsɲ and vs are two phase equivalent of three phase
Pb = power supplied to the battery; Sconv = apparent power of supply voltage given by Clarke transformation as in (17). Qref
the converter; Vim = amplitude of phase voltage at the input is the reactive power reference for MC.
of matrix converter (after filter stage); Iim = amplitude of ª 1 1 º
1 − −
phase current at the input of matrix converter (after filter ªvsα º 2 « 2 2 »
stage); Qconv(max) = maximum reactive power converter can « » = « » (17)
generate for fixed battery power reference. The reactive ¬ vs β ¼ 3 « 0 3
−
3 »
power generated by the input filter capacitor is given as, «¬ 2 2 »¼

Qc = ( 3 2 ) ⋅ Vim2 ⋅ ( 2π f ⋅ C f ) (14) After deriving  and  components of reference current

modulation index mi and angle for reference space vector i
where f = supply frequency. For unity power factor at the can be calculated as,
supply side sum of converter reactive power and capacitor
2 2 ½
reactive power must be zero. § i* · § is β ·
*

mi = ¨ sα ¸ + ¨ ¸ °
¨ ¸ °
V. CONTROL OF AC-DC MATRIX CONVERTER USING © Ib ¹ © Ib ¹ ¾ (18)
°
θ i = arctan ( i )
INSTANTANEOUS POWER THEORY
°¿
* *
sβ i
sα
As there is no energy storage element and neglecting the
power losses in switches and filter elements, one can write The modulation index and angle for reference space vector
for AC-DC matrix converter, are used for calculating the duty cycle for each SSV during
each sampling period.
( 3 2 )Vsm I sm Cos φ = Vb ⋅ I b (15)

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VI. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS Fig.4 shows the steady-state response of the converter with the
current reference set at 5A and Fig. 5 shows the supply current
The effectiveness of the proposed system is demonstrated total harmonic distortion (THD) during the respective
by simulation in MATLAB Simulink environment. Table II operation. Although Qref is set at zero, the supply current is
gives the detail of all simulation parameters. still leading slightly the supply voltage due to reactive power
TABLE-II generated by the input side filter capacitor. In order to bring
SIMULATED SYSTEM PARAMETERS supply current at UPF converter, must generate the required
Parameters Specification lagging reactive power to cancel the capacitive reactance.
Grid Voltage 3-Phase, 400 V, 50Hz Fig.6 shows the steady state results with the same forcing
350 V (Nominal voltage),120 Ah, conditions as in Fig.4 but this time Qref is set at a positive value
Battery Ratings
Lithium-ion battery
Rd 12 
just enough to cancel the capacitive reactive power produced
Lf 2.7 mH by filter capacitor, this brings supply current in phase with the
Cf 22 F voltage. Fig.7 shows supply current THD during the same
Ldc 20 mH operation.
Cdc 1 F
Switching Frequency, fsw 10 kHz

Simulations are performed in G2V and V2G mode of the

charger with a different charging reference current. Dynamic
response the system is also demonstrated with a step change
in reference charging current.

Fig. 6 Steady state response in G2V mode with current reference Ibref =5A
and MC operating at lagging power factor

Fig. 4 Steady state response in G2V mode with current reference Ibref =5
and MC operating at UPF

ref
Fig. 7 Supply current THD in G2V mode with current reference I b = 5 A
and MC operating at lagging power factor

Fig. 8 demonstrates V2G operation in steady state with the

current reference set at -5 A and Qref is set at zero. Here, the
negative peak of supply current is leading the positive peak of
supply voltage again due to reactive energy supplied by filter
ref
Fig. 5 Supply current THD in G2V mode with current reference I b = 5 A capacitor. Fig.9 shows the same V2G operation with the same
and MC operating at UPF current reference but Qref is adjusted to bring supply current at

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 2020 IEEE International Conference on Power Electronics, Smart Grid and Renewable Energy (PESGRE2020)

UPF with respect to supply voltage in G2V mode. Fig. 10 and

Fig. 11 shows the THD analysis for both the cases.

ref
Fig. 10 Supply current THD in V2G mode with current reference I b = -5 A
and MC operating at UPF

ref
Fig. 11 Supply current THD in V2G mode with current reference I b = -5 A
and MC operating at lagging power factor

The dynamic response of the converter is shown in Fig.12. At

Fig. 8 Steady state response in V2G mode with current reference Ibref = -5 A t =0.1 second battery current reference is changed from 10A
and MC operating at UPF to 8A and the result shows the controller is able to track the
new reference with minimum oscillation.

Fig. 9 Steady state response in V2G mode with current reference
with MC operating at a lagging power factor
Fig. 12 Dynamic response in G2V and V2G mode with different current
ref reference and MC operating at UPF
I b = -5 A
At t = 0.2 seconds, the converter changes the operation from
G2V to V2G mode as the battery current reference is further

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changed from 8A to -10A and the controller tracks the new provides very good dynamic response during step change in
reference again very fast. At this point, the supply current reference quantity.
reverses its phase to generate negative active power. Hence,
power flow from vehicle to grid starts. REFERENCES
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(lead)
5 1906 226.8 1500 0.999 12.82%
(lag)
10 3819 202.7 1500 0.998 10.99%
(lag)
V2G -5 -1881 -1259 0 0.83 5.89%
(lead)
-5 -1881 91.53 1500 0.999 5.85%
(lag)
-10 -3757 -3170 -2500 0.764 9.24%
(lead)
-20 -7495 1277 3000 0.985 9.24%
(lag)

VII. CONCLUSION
AC-DC matrix converter has great potential to be used as
EV chargers with various features like bidirectional power
flow, reactive power support to grid. It gives tight
voltage/current regulation on DC side as well as maintains
sinusoidal current on input side. SVM introduces low order
harmonics on input current, which becomes little significant
during reactive power generation by the converter. Direct
power control technique used here enables independent
control of active and reactive power of the system. SVM

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