This paper presents a comparison of buck-boost partial power converters (PPC) for the DC-DC conversion stage of an electrical vehicle (EV) fast charging station. By using a DC-DC buck-boost structure, the proposed fast charger can operate with wide output voltage range. The proposed topology can be used to charge either 400V or 800V batteries. Since the PCC only processes a fraction of the total power, high efficiency is obtained. Two different buck-boost PPC topologies are compared. First structure consider two-quadrant switches in order to obtain bipolar voltage, while the second structure uses an unfolding bridge to change the voltage polarity. Results show that the first solution with two-quadrant switches allows better efficiency. The proposed converter operation is then evaluated for fast charging applications for both 400V and 800V batteries, showing high efficiency up to 99%, making the proposed solution very attractive for fast charging application.

In conventional EV powertrains the main energy storage system is based on battery banks. Potential higher current stress on battery during transient operation can considerably reduce its expected lifetime, while battery size is overrated to respond under heavy transient demands. The regenerative braking capability is also getting limited due to its charging dynamic constraints. Hybrid Energy Storage Systems (HESS) based on batteries and supercapacitors (SC) have the potential to solve this issue. However, SCs size and weight can deteriorate the power density of the solution. In this paper, a Partial Power Configuration (PPC) based on Dual-Active-Bridge (DAB) is proposed as a power interface to increase the power density of an HESS-based EV powertrain. A comprehensive efficiency analysis is provided, while transient dynamic results are provided to validate the proposed power configuration.

This article provides a detailed analysis of the power electronics solutions enabling bipolar dc grids. The bipolar dc grid concept has proven to be more efficient, flexible, and higher in quality than the conventional unipolar one. However, despite its many features, these systems still have to overcome their issues with asymmetrical loading to avoid voltage imbalances, besides meeting regulatory and safety requirements that are still under development. Advances in power electronics and the large-scale deployment of dc consumer appliances have put this growing architecture in the spotlight, as it has drawn the attention of different research groups recently. The following provides an insightful discussion regarding the topologies that enable these architectures and their regulatory requirements, besides their features and level of development. In addition, some future trends and challenges in the further development of this technology are discussed to motivate future contributions that address open problems and explore new possibilities.

During the last decades, AC systems dominated the power transmission and distribution applications almost exclusively. However, a recent convergence of needs originated in different sectors (renewable energy conversion, information technology and transportation) have accelerated the development of DC systems. Nowadays, DC systems are present at both transmission and distribution levels, offering high-performance solutions with enhanced efficiency and reliability, besides reducing the number of power conversion stages involved and uninterrupted power delivery. For LVDC active networks, two kinds of architectures are possible: unipolar and bipolar. Despite being a more sophisticated and technically complex solution, bipolar structure provide several advantages over conventional unipolar ones. Higher availability, efficiency and flexibility are just a few advantages featured by bipolar systems. This chapter presented a brief overview covering the different aspects of bipolar LVDC networks. Distribution converter topologies, balancing stages and also their control schemes are discussed in order to highlight the efforts being made in this growing architecture.

This paper presents a new partial power converter (PPC) for the DC-DC stage of electric vehicle (EV) fast charging stations. The proposed converter handles only a fraction of the total power delivered from the grid to the battery, increasing the overall system efficiency and power density, while potentially reducing the cost of the charger. The proposed topology is based on a switched capacitor between the AC terminals of an H-bridge converter, and does not require high frequency isolation transformers to provide a controllable voltage source between the DC-link and the battery. The proposed concept can be implemented using interleaved power cells, which can improve the power quality, reduce inductor size, and enable scalability for higher power rating chargers. The operating principle, partial operation analysis, control scheme, and simulation results are presented to validate the proposed concept.

This paper introduces a study on the charging infrastructures, integrated with distributed energy sources, showing their ability to support the electric and hybrid mobility in a smart grid scenario. This analysis starts from a description of the main AC and DC architecture and then goes through the advantages derived by the integration of renewable energy sources within the existing electric power network. A section of this paper is then dedicated to the main technologies of energy storage systems, which allow and support the integration of unpredictable energy sources into the grid. Finally, the power on-board and off-board vehicle charging devices are analyzed with specific focus on PWM control schemes, for the regulation of AC/DC and DC/DC power converters, and on grid operations (V2G) related to different aggregation schemes.

Medium voltage grids are a suitable selection for the connection of high power applications. However, for certain applications, such as PV energy conversion systems or fast charging stations for PEVs, the DC voltages are limited to be below 1000 V, making difficult their connection to such grids without the use of a step-up transformer. Multilevel converters allow the grid connection of such DC loads, by connecting them in one of their multiple dc sources, however, due the nature of these applications unbalanced operation is inherent, and cannot be completely solved by the modulation stage, thus additional circuitry is required. On the other hand, the use of a multilevel converter provides higher efficiency in the power conversion stage, higher power quality and reduced stress on the switching devices, which is also beneficial due the power ratings being reached by the mentioned applications. This paper explores a four-level double star multilevel converter as interface for central or mul-tistring inverter for grid-connected photovoltaic energy systems. The topology is capable of handling three PV arrays with different MPPT (with or without additional DC-DC converters), with the use of an additional balancing stage. The four-level output voltage improves the power quality of the PV energy conversion system, while reducing the grid filter size. This paper presents the operating principle of the converter, the control scheme and the simulation results, that show this topology can be an interesting alternative for large-scale PV plants.

This paper proposes an interleaved partial power converter (PPC) for the DC-DC conversion stage of electric vehicles (EVs) fast charging stations. The proposed converter topology is based on the H-bridge DC-DC converter. PPC allows the converter to process only a fraction of the total power, the rest being bypassed and directly supplied to the load. This increases the converter efficiency, as only a portion of the power goes through the converter, thus increasing its efficiency. The principle of operation of the proposed PPC is theoretically analyzed. Simulations of the behavior of the proposed PPC are provided for the charging of an EV battery. Results show the good behavior of the proposed system. It is in particular verified that the proposed converter only process a fraction of the power around 36% for the entire output power range. Comparison with a classical full power converter is provided showing that the proposed topology leads to a significant improvement in terms of conversion efficiency, from 95.1% to 98.3%.

This chapter provides an overview of the different charging architectures available for electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. The charging architectures are addressed following two main categories: onboard chargers, used mainly for slow and semi-fast charging (generally AC connection), and off-board chargers, used for fast charging (DC connection). The chapter focuses on the mainstream solutions available in the industry, and also presents some recent advances and trends found in the literature. In addition, the chapter provides an introduction to well-established charging standards being used by manufacturers. Finally, the control schemes used in charging configurations, including the control schemes for DC-DC and AC-DC converter stages, are discussed, the latter considering both single- and three-phase control schemes.

This paper proposes a novel architecture for plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) dc charging station at the megawatt level, through the use of a grid-tied neutral point clamped (NPC) converter. The proposed bipolar dc structure reduces the step-down effort on the dc-dc fast chargers. In addition, this paper proposes a balancing mechanism that allows handling any difference on the dc loads while keeping the midpoint voltage accurately regulated. By formally defining the unbalance operation limit, the proposed control scheme is able to provide complementary balancing capabilities by the use of an additional NPC leg acting as a bidirectional dc-dc stage, simulating the minimal load condition and allowing the modulator to keep the control on the dc voltages under any load scenario. The proposed solution enables fast charging for PEVs concentrating several charging units into a central grid-tied converter. In this paper, simulation and experimental results are presented to validate the proposed charging station architecture.

This paper presents a grid-connected seven-level cascaded H-bridge converter operating as photovoltaic inverter. The main issue with this topology are the natural power imbalances between the power cells and the phases of the converter. The control problem is addressed with a Multiobjective Finite Control Set Model Predictive Control, where a dc-link voltage balance among the cells and good tracking of the active and reactive power references injected to the grid are achieved. Furthermore, an average switching frequency control per cell has been included. The proposed control scheme is validated trough simulation results and tested under dynamic conditions.

This paper proposes a novel architecture for Plugin Electric Vehicles (PEVs) dc charging stations, through the use of a single dc-link 3-level h-bridge (HB) converter as the grid interface. This feature is achieved by the use of an open-ended secondary windings transformer at the grid side. The proposed solution enables fast charging for PEVs concentrating several charging units into a single grid-Tied converter. The selected topology provides a three-level waveform without any balancing requirements, enabling a stable dc-bus. Finally, because of the simple nature of the converter, it can be implemented with off-The-shelf components, enabling a low cost alternative for the grid connection of Level III fast chargers.

This paper presents a generalized multilevel direct power control (ML-DPC) scheme for grid-connected multilevel power converters. The proposed method extends the original DPC operating principle by considering only the closest subset of two-level voltage vectors to the present switching state. The implementation of this principle requires the power derivatives for feedback, which can present numerical problems when applied experimentally, mainly due to high measurement noise sensitivity. Therefore, a derivative estimator is proposed based on the converter-grid model in the synchronous reference frame. In addition, a virtual flux observer is developed to achieve synchronization and improve robustness in the presence of grid voltage harmonics. The proposed method is applicable to any multilevel converter topology of any number of levels. In this paper, simulations and experimental results are presented for a seven-level cascaded H-bridge converter.

This investigation presents a grid-connected five-level H-bridge neutral-point-clamped converter operating with a single dc-link as photovoltaic power source. The operation with a single dc-bus is enabled by adding a transformer with open-end winding secondary, where each power cell of the converter is connected. The proposed control scheme is validated trough simulation results and tested under dynamic conditions. It can be implemented with a good tracking of the active and reactive power references injected to the grid. The results serve as a preliminary validation to potential utilization of the converter in large scale photovoltaic energy conversion systems.

The automotive industry is making important changes towards the electrified transportation. Several Electric Vehicles (EVs) and Plug-in Hybrid EVs are currently on the market offering a clean and environment friendly alternative to conventional vehicles. However, limited mileage capacity and long refueling times have lead to a lukewarm reception from the consumers. In order to reduce the charging time fast charging architectures are being developed, usually as off-board solutions located in public installations. This paper presents a centralized charging station architecture, using a bipolar dc grid to power off-board chargers and integrate of DGs and storage systems. The central converter topology is an NPC and a novel balancing technique is implemented to extend the operating range of the power converter.

This paper presents a new grid connected photovoltaic energy conversion system configuration for large scale power plants. The grid-tied converter is based on a modular multilevel converter using voltage source H-bridge cells. The proposed converter is capable of concentrating a multimegawatt PV plant with distributed string MPPT tracking capability, high power quality and increased efficiency compared to the classic two-level voltage source converters. The main challenge is to handle the inherent power unbalances which may occur, not only between the different cells of one phase of the converter, but also between the three phases. The control strategy to deal with these unbalances is analyzed in this paper. Simulation results for a downsized 7 level MMC composed of 18 H-bridge cells and PV strings are presented to validate the proposed topology and control method.

The increase in the power levels of photovoltaic (PV) energy conversion systems has resulted in new large-scale grid connected configurations that have reached the megawatt level. This substantial increment in the power levels imposes new challenges to the grid interfacing converter, and therefore results in new opportunities to be explored. This work introduces a new medium voltage multilevel scheme based on a three-phase cascaded H-bridge (CHB) converter and multiple PV strings. The proposed configuration enables a large increase of the total power capacity of the PV system, while the introduction of a multilevel converter helps to improve both power quality and efficiency and medium voltage operation at the grid side. The main challenge of the proposed configuration is to handle the inherent power imbalances that occur not only between the different cells of one phase of the converter but also between the three phases. Simulation results of a 7-level CHB PV system are presented to validate the proposed topology and control method.

Large scale grid connected photovoltaic (PV) energy conversion systems have reached the megawatt level. This imposes new challenges on existing grid interface converter topologies and opens new opportunities to be explored. In this paper a new medium voltage multilevel-multistring configuration is introduced based on a three-phase cascaded H-bridge (CHB) converter and multiple string dc-dc converters. The proposed configuration enables a large increase of the total capacity of the PV system, while improving power quality and efficiency. The converter structure is very flexible and modular since it decouples the grid converter from the PV string converter, which allows to accomplish independent control goals. The main challenge of the proposed configuration is to handle the inherent power imbalances that occur not only between the different cells of one phase of the converter but also between the three phases. The control strategy to deal with these imbalances is also introduced in this paper. Simulation results of a 7-level CHB for a multistring PV system are presented to validate the proposed topology and control method.