Direct AC–AC Active-Clamped Half-Bridge Converter for Inductive Charging Applications

In this article, a new direct ac-ac active-clamped half-bridge converter feeding a series-series compensated inductive charging system is proposed. The proposed converter eliminates the rectification stage and bulky life-limited electrolytic dc-link capacitors, resulting in an actual single-stage (ac-to-ac) conversion with low component. The operation principles, steady-state analysis, and design considerations of the proposed converter are presented in detail. Moreover, a new predictive dead-beat technique for input current control and a linear average charging current controller are developed for the proposed converter, which enables the unity power factor and charging current regulation. The performance of the proposed battery charger is validated through experimental results on a 1-kW field programmable gate array (FPGA)-controlled silicon carbide based laboratory prototype.