A DC-DC Converter with Capability to Support the Voltage Balance of DC Bipolar Microgrids

Bipolar DC microgrids are now starting to become an interesting solution for power distribution. Although presenting several advantages over DC unipolar microgrids, bipolar DC has the intrinsic problem of voltage unbalance that may appear depending on the converter topology and load sharing. Therefore, this paper presents a new DC-DC converter topology that can be used with renewable energy sources and has the capability to simultaneously ensure the bipolar microgrid voltage balance. The operation of the proposed topology together with its characteristics is described. A theoretical study of this converter will also be presented, complemented by a set of results from computer simulations. To support these simulations, results from a laboratory prototype will also be displayed. The voltage balance capability of the converter will be checked experimentally.