IEEE Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics

Wireless power transfer (WPT) using magnetic resonance is the technology which could set human free from the annoying wires. In fact, the WPT adopts the same basic theory which has already been developed for at least 30 years with the term inductive power transfer. WPT technology is developing rapidly in recent years. At kilowatts power level, the transfer distance increases from several millimete... View full abstract»

Gallium nitride (GaN) power devices are an emerging technology that have only recently become available commercially. This new technology enables the design of converters at higher frequencies and efficiencies than those achievable with conventional Si devices. This paper reviews the characteristics and commercial status of both vertical and lateral GaN power devices, providing the background nece... View full abstract»

Wind power is still the most promising renewable energy in the year of 2013. The wind turbine system (WTS) started with a few tens of kilowatt power in the 1980s. Now, multimegawatt wind turbines are widely installed even up to 6-8 MW. There is a widespread use of wind turbines in the distribution networks and more and more wind power stations, acting as power plants, are connected directly to the... View full abstract»

A method for transfer function based modeling offering an in-depth insight into the systemic behavior of wind energy conversion systems (WECS) is developed. The originally nonlinear behavior of the drive system covering turbine, permanent magnet synchronous generator, and power electronic converter is rearranged and linearized resulting in a compact transfer function description. The locations of ... View full abstract»

Various noncontacting methods of plug-in electric vehicle charging are either under development or now deployed as aftermarket options in the light-duty automotive market. Wireless power transfer (WPT) is now the accepted term for wireless charging and is used synonymously for inductive power transfer and magnetic resonance coupling. WPT technology is in its infancy; standardization is lacking, es... View full abstract»

In order to reduce size and cost, high-order passive filters are generally preferred in power converters to cancel out high-frequency harmonics caused by pulsewidth modulation. However, the filter resonance peaks may require the use of passive dampers to stabilize the interactions between the load and source impedances. Furthermore, the stabilizing effect is more difficult to be guaranteed for cos... View full abstract»

Inductive power transfer (IPT) has progressed to be a power distribution system offering significant benefits in modern automation systems and particularly so in stringent environments. Here, the same technology may be used in very dirty environments and in a clean room manufacture. This paper reviews the development of simple factory automation (FA) IPT systems for both today's complex applicatio... View full abstract»

The solid-state transformer (SST), which has been regarded as one of the 10 most emerging technologies by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Technology Review in 2010, has gained increasing importance in the future power distribution system. This paper presents a systematical technology review essential for the development and application of SST in the distribution system. The state-of-th... View full abstract»

Operational controls are designed to support the integration of wind and solar power within microgrids. An aggregated model of renewable wind and solar power generation forecast is proposed to support the quantification of the operational reserve for day-ahead and real-time scheduling. Then, a droop control for power electronic converters connected to battery storage is developed and tested. Compa... View full abstract»

The virtual synchronous generator (VSG) is a control scheme applied to the inverter of a distributed generating unit to support power system stability by imitating the behavior of a synchronous machine. The VSG design of our research incorporates the swing equation of a synchronous machine to express a virtual inertia property. Unlike a real synchronous machine, the parameters of the swing equatio... View full abstract»

The LLC converter is deemed the most widely used topology as DC/DC converter in server and telecom applications. To increase the output power and reduce the input and output current ripples, three-phase interleaved LLC converter is becoming more and more popular. It has been demonstrated that three interleaved LLC converter can achieve further efficiency improvement at the 3kW power level. However... View full abstract»

The microgrid concept is gaining popularity with the proliferation of distributed generation. Control techniques in the microgrid are an evolving research topic in the area of microgrids. A large volume of survey articles focuses on the control techniques of the microgrid; however, a systematic survey of the hierarchical control techniques based on different microgrid architectures is addressed ve... View full abstract»

Power electronics has progressively gained an important status in power generation, distribution, and consumption. With more than 70% of electricity processed through power electronics, recent research endeavors to improve the reliability of power electronic systems to comply with more stringent constraints on cost, safety, and availability in various applications. This paper serves to give an ove... View full abstract»

In this paper, a control strategy for power flow management of a grid-connected hybrid photovoltaic (PV)-wind-battery-based system with an efficient multi-input transformer-coupled bidirectional dc-dc converter is presented. The proposed system aims to satisfy the load demand, manage the power flow from different sources, inject the surplus power into the grid, and charge the battery from the grid... View full abstract»

This paper performs an extensive review on control schemes and architectures applied to dc microgrids (MGs). It covers multilayer hierarchical control schemes, coordinated control strategies, plug-and-play operations, stability and active damping aspects, as well as nonlinear control algorithms. Islanding detection, protection, and MG clusters control are also briefly summarized. All the mentioned... View full abstract»

This paper proposes a novel two-stage topology for a 6.6-kW on-board charger. The first stage, employing an interleaved bridgeless totem-pole ac/dc in critical conduction mode to realize zero-voltage switching, is operated at over 300 kHz. A bidirectional CLLC resonant converter operating at 500 kHz is chosen for the second stage. A variable dc-link voltage is adopted to track the wide battery vol... View full abstract»

Inertia plays a vital role in maintaining the frequency stability of power systems. However, the increase of power electronics-based renewable generation can dramatically reduce the inertia levels of modern power systems. This issue has already challenged the control and stability of small-scale power systems. It will soon be faced by larger power systems as the trend of large-scale renewable inte... View full abstract»

This paper focuses on the output parallel dual-active-bridge (DAB) dc-dc converters in power electronic traction transformers. A model predictive control with current-stress-optimized (MPC-CSO) scheme based on dual-phase-shift (DPS) control is proposed to improve the dynamic performance, balance the transmission power, and realize the current-stress optimization. The dynamic behavior of output vol... View full abstract»

Small-signal stability in balanced three-phase systems is typically investigated by means of the generalized Nyquist stability criterion (GNC) that involves operations on the source and load subsystems' impedance matrices. Eigenvalues of the ratio of these impedance matrices should be calculated for stability judgment. This paper shows that for a power-electronics-based distributed power system, i... View full abstract»

Recently, increased emissions regulations and a push for less dependence on fossil fuels are factors that have enticed a growth in the market share of alternative energy vehicles. Readily available energy storage systems (ESSs) pose a challenge for the mass market penetration of hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), plug-in HEVs, and EVs. This is mainly due to the high cost of ESS available today. Howe... View full abstract»

In this paper, the current status and the requirements of primary electric propulsion components-the battery, the electric motors, and the power electronics system-are reviewed. The future trends in the electric propulsion systems, battery charging, and the types of power trains are presented. Possible future electric vehicle powertrain systems based on lithium air battery and plug-in fuel cell ve... View full abstract»

The interconnection stability of a grid-connected voltage-source converter (VSC) can be assessed by the passivity properties of the VSC input admittance. If critical grid resonances fall within regions where the input admittance acts passively, i.e., has nonnegative real part, then their destabilization is generally prevented. This paper presents an overview of passivity-based stability assessment... View full abstract»

An improved model predictive torque control (MPTC) method without weighting factors is proposed for five-phase permanent magnet synchronous machine (PMSM) drives, which aims to reduce heavy computation complexity, and the low-order current harmonics existing in harmonic subspace in the traditional finite-control-set (FCS) MPTC. In the proposed MPTC scheme, a modified control set consisting of virt... View full abstract»

Modular multilevel converter (MMC) is one of the most promising topologies for medium to high-voltage high-power applications. The main features of MMC are modularity, voltage and power scalability, fault tolerant and transformer-less operation, and high-quality output waveforms. Over the past few years, several research studies are conducted to address the technical challenges associated with the... View full abstract»

Voltage source inverters (VSIs), especially uninterrupted power supply for critical loads, require high steady-state performance, fast transient response, and strong robustness. However, it is difficult to achieve above requirements simultaneously by traditional control methods. A discrete-time repetitive sliding mode controller (DRSMC) with an exponential-based bi-power reaching law for three-pha... View full abstract»