A new battery charger for plug-in hybrid electric vehicle application using back to back converter in a utility connected micro-grid

The major drawbacks of the most battery chargers for plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) are high volume and weight, low power, long charging time, deleterious harmonic effects on the electric utility distribution systems and low flexibility and reliability. This paper proposes a new battery charger structure for PHEV application using back to back (B2B) converter in a utility connected micro-grid. In the proposed structure, an AC micro-grid, based on the typical household circuitry configuration, is connected to the grid via a B2B converter; and the DC link is used for battery charging. In fact, the B2B converter can provide an isolated, low cost, simple and reliable connection with power-flow management between the grid, micro-grid and battery. This proposed structure, depending on the power requirement of the vehicle, can run in four different modes: battery charging mode from the grid (G2V) or micro-grid (M2V), vehicle to grid mode (V2G) and vehicle to micro-grid mode (V2H). The feasibility of the proposed scheme has been validated in the simulation study for various operating conditions.