• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.486-496
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• 2016

The voltage unbalance of an LVDC bipolar distribution system was controlled for high power quality. Voltage unbalance may occur in a bipolar distribution system depending on the operation of the converter and load usage. Voltage unbalance can damage sensitive load and lead to converter accidents. The conditions that may cause voltage unbalance in a bipolar distribution system are as follows. First, three-level AC/DC converters in bipolar distribution systems can lead to voltage unbalance. Second, bipolar distribution systems can be at risk for voltage unbalance because of load usage. In this paper, the output DC link of a three-level AC/DC converter was analyzed for voltage unbalance, and the bipolar voltage was controlled with algorithms. In the case of additional voltage unbalance according to load usage, the bipolar voltage was controlled using the proposed converter. The proposed converter is a dual half-bridge converter, which was improved from the secondary circuit of a dual half-bridge converter. A control algorithm for bipolar voltage control without additional converters was proposed. The balancing control of the bipolar distribution system with distributed power was verified through experiments.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.65 no.11
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• pp.1800-1805
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• 2016

The micro-grid designed as bipolar ${\pm}750V$ low-voltage DC power distribution system demonstrated by KEPRI, demands interconnection of a number of small decentralized power source including variable renewable generator. Therefore, variable researches for the influence of interconnection with the bipolar typed DC grid and these variable power sources are required for superior quality of power distribution. Renewable power generation simulators for the bipolar ${\pm}750V$ low-voltage DC power distribution system are necessary for such researches. In this paper, we carry out a research on the photovoltaic simulator that be actually able to interconnect with a bipolar ${\pm}750V$ low-voltage micro-grid. Simulator for this research is not only able to simulate photovoltaic generation according to weather informations and PV modules characteristics, but also contribute to stabilization of bipolar ${\pm}750V$ low-voltage of the system. Therefore, the simulator was designed to develop a system that can situationally respond to variable control algorithms such as the MPPT control, droop control, EMS power control, etc.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.1123-1130
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• 2018

Voltage stabilization is an essential component of power quality in low voltage DC (LVDC) microgrid. The microgrid demands the interconnection of a number of small distributed power resources, including variable renewable generators. Therefore, the voltage can be maintained in a stable manner through the control of these distributed generators. In this study, we did research on the new advanced operating method for a photovoltaic (PV) simulator in order to achieve interconnection to a bipolar LVDC microgrid. The validity of this voltage stabilization method, using the distributed generators, is experimentally verified. The test LVDC microgrid is configured by connecting the developed PV simulator and DC load, DC line, and AC/DC rectifier for connecting the main AC grid. The new advanced control method is applied to the developed PV simulator for the bipolar LVDC grid in order to stabilize the gird voltage. Using simulation results, the stabilization of the grid voltage by PV simulator using the proposed control method is confirmed the through the simulation results in various operation scenarios.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.1609-1618
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• 2015

DC microgrids are considered as prospective systems because of their easy connection of distributed energy resources (DERs) and electric vehicles (EVs), reduction of conversion loss between dc output sources and loads, lack of reactive power issues, etc. These features make them very suitable for future industrial and commercial buildings' power systems. In addition, the bipolar-type dc system structure is more popular, because it provides two voltage levels for different power converters and loads. To keep voltage balanced in such a dc system, a bidirectional dual buck-boost voltage balancer with direct coupling is introduced based on P-cell and N-cell concepts. This results in greatly enhanced system reliability thanks to no shoot-through problems and lower switching losses with the help of power MOSFETs. In order to increase system efficiency and reliability, a novel burst-mode control strategy is proposed for the dual buck-boost voltage balancer. The basic operating principle, the current relations, and a small-signal model of the voltage balancer are analyzed under the burst-mode control scheme in detail. Finally, simulation experiments are performed and a laboratory unit with a 5kW unbalanced ability is constructed to verify the viability of the bidirectional dual buck-boost voltage balancer under the proposed burst-mode control scheme in low-voltage bipolar-type dc microgrids.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.786-794
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• 2015

In this paper, a new power control strategy for the bipolar-type low voltage direct current (LVDC) distribution system is being proposed. The dc distribution system is considered as an innovative system according to the increase of dc loads and dc output type distribution energy resources (DERs) such as photovoltaic (PV) systems and energy storage systems (ESS). Since the dc distribution system has many advantages such as feasible connection of DERs, reduction of conversion losses between dc output sources and loads, no reactive power issues, it is very suitable solution for new type buildings and residences interfaced with DERs and ESSs. In the bipolar-type, if it has each grid-interfaced converter, both sides (upper, lower-side) can be operated individually or collectively. A complementary power control strategy using two ESSs in both sides for effective and reliable operation is proposed in this paper. Detailed power control methods of the host controller and local controllers are described. To verify the performances of the proposed control strategy, simulation analysis using PSCAD/EMTDC is being performed where the results show that the proposed strategy provides efficient operations and can be applied to the bipolar-type dc distribution system.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.229-236
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• 2019

This study proposes a DC-DC converter topology of solid-state transformer for low-voltage DC distribution. The proposed topology consists of a voltage balancer and bipolar DC-DC converter. The voltage and current equations are obtained on the basis of switching states to design the controller. The open-loop gain of the controller is achieved using the derived voltage and current equations. The controller gain is selected through the frequency analysis of the loop gain. The inductance and capacitance are calculated considering the voltage and current ripples. The prototype is fabricated in accordance with the designed system parameters. The proposed topology and designed controller are verified through simulation and experiment.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.348-355
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• 2022

A bipolar DC distribution system suffers from an imbalance in voltages when asymmetric loads are connected at the outputs. Dedicated voltage balancers are required to address the imbalance in bipolar voltage levels. However, additional components eventually increase the cost and decrease the efficiency and power density of the system. Therefore, to deal with the imbalance in output voltages without adding any extra components, this study presents a coupled inductor-based voltage balancing technique with a dual-output CLL resonant converter. The proposed coupled inductor does not require extra magnetic components to balance the output voltages because it is the result of resonant inductors of the CLL tank circuit. It can also avoid complex control schemes applied to voltage balancing. Moreover, with the proposed coupled inductor, the CLL converter acquires good features including zero voltage and zero current switching. Detailed analysis of the proposed coupled inductor is presented with different load conditions. A 3.6-kW hardware prototype was built and tested to validate the performance of the proposed coupled inductor-based voltage balancing technique.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.1357-1368
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• 2018

In this paper, a novel high gain bidirectional modular dc-dc converter (BMC) with unipolar and bipolar structures for dc network interconnections is proposed. When compared with traditional dc grid-connecting converters, the proposed converter can achieve a high voltage gain with a simple modular transformerless structure. A sub-modular structure for the BMC is proposed to eliminate the unbalanced current stress between the different power units (levels) in the BMC. This can realize current sharing and standardized production and assembling. In addition, phase-interval operation is introduced to the sub-modules to realize low voltage and current ripple in both sides of the converter. Furthermore, two types of bipolar topologies of the sub-modular BMC were proposed to extend its application in bipolar dc network connections. In addition, the control system was optimized for grid-connection applications by providing various control strategies. Finally, simulations of a 3-level unipolar sub-modular BMC and a 4-level bipolar sub-modular BMC were conducted, and a 1-kW experimental 3-level unipolar prototype was developed to verify the effectiveness of the proposed converter.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.1223-1234
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• 2018

In this paper, a new three-port multidirectional DC-DC converter is proposed for integrating an energy storage system (ESS) to a bipolar DC microgrid (BPDCMG). The proposed converter provides a voltage-balancing function for the BPDCMG and adjusts the charge of the ESS. Thanks to the multi-functional operation of the proposed converter, the conversion stages of the system are reduced. In addition, the efficiency and weight of the system are improved. Therefore, this converter has a significant capability when it comes to use in portable BPDCMGs such as electric DC ships. The converter modes are analyzed and small-signal models of the converter in each of the independent modes are extracted. Finally, comprehensive simulation studies are carried out and a BPDCMG laboratory prototype is implemented in order to verify the performance of the proposed voltage balancer using the burst mode control scheme.

• Journal of Power Electronics
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.1595-1607
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• 2018

In this paper, a hierarchical control strategy is introduced to control a new three-port multidirectional DC-DC converter for integrating an energy storage system (ESS) to a bipolar DC microgrid (BPDCMG). The proposed converter provides a voltage-balancing function for the BPDCMG and adjusts the states of charge (SoC) of the ESS. Previous studies tend to balance the voltage of the BPDCMG buses with active sources or by transferring power from one bus to another. Furthermore, the batteries available in BPDCMGs were charged equally by both buses. However, this power sharing method does not guarantee efficient operation of the whole system. In order to achieve a higher efficiency and lower energy losses, a triple-layer hierarchical control strategy, including a primary droop controller, a secondary voltage restoration controller and a tertiary optimization controller are proposed. Thanks to the multi-functional operation of the proposed converter, its conversion stages are reduced. Furthermore, the efficiency and weight of the system are both improved. Therefore, this converter has a significant capability to be used in portable BPDCMGs such as electric DC ships. The converter modes are analyzed and small-signal models of the converter are extracted. Comprehensive simulation studies are carried out and a BPDCMG laboratory setup is implemented in order to validate the effectiveness of the proposed converter and its hierarchical control strategy. Simulation and experimental results show that using the proposed converter mitigates voltage imbalances. As a result, the system efficiency is improved by using the hierarchical optimal power flow control.