Standard Power Electronic Converters

This chapter is devoted to the understanding of standard power electronic converters. Topologies such as standard buck, boost, buck‐boost, and the voltage source converter (VSC) are reviewed. Single‐phase and three‐phase VSCs are studied and their mathematical models are derived. The chapter lays the foundation for modeling of distributed energy resource systems for the purpose of analysis and control design. The standard four‐switch buck‐boost converter comprises two unidirectional switch and two diodes. The standard buck and boost (and buck‐boost) converters are unidirectional meaning that the power flow is from one side to another. It is possible to upgrade their switches to allow bidirectional power flow. The chapter discusses the pulse‐width modulation (PWM) technique to generate the gating signals. Due to the discrete nature of the PWM technique, it has a limited bandwidth and it introduces a delay which may be roughly approximated as about half a switching cycle. Finally, an average control model is derived.