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Power Converters, Electric Drives and Energy Storage Systems for Electrified Transportation and Smart Grid

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A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "A1: Smart Grids and Microgrids".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 December 2020) | Viewed by 40860

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Prof. Dr. Sergio Saponara

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Dipartimento di Ingegneria della Informazione (DII), Università di Pisa, via G. Caruso 16, 56122 Pisa, Italy
Interests: automotive electronics; embedded HPC (high-performance computing); enabling technologies IoT (Internet of Things)
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Lucian Mihet-Popa

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Research project manager & Master Program Coord. in Green Energy Technology at HIOF Fredrikstad, Viken, Norway
Interests: intelligent controllers and energy management; power converters and control; power electronics for energy access; electric vehicles: drivers and charging; model predictive control for power converters; electrical machines and motor drives for transportation electrification
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are inviting submissions to a Special Issue of Energies entitled “Power Converters, Electric Drives, and Energy Storage Systems for Electrified Transportation and Smart Grids”.

Research activities in the field of energy storage technologies, management, and systems, and in the field of advanced electromobility, are essential for the success of electric transportation and to foster the use of renewable energy sources. Indeed, renewable energy sources are intermittent in nature and are not directly matched with users’ requirements. Energy storage systems are the key technology to solve these issues and to increase the adoption of renewable sources in smart grids. However, major challenges have still to be solved such as the design of high-performance and cost-effective energy storage systems; power electronics for the monitoring and management of battery cells and packs (BMS); the on-line estimation of state-of-charge/state-of-health of batteries and super/ultra-capacitors; the estimation of aging effects; the design and optimization of fast chargers, including also wireless power transfer; and integration within the smart grid of the charging infrastructure for e-transportation. For both chargers and BMS, cybersecurity, digitization, and interconnectivity with the infrastructure, partly thanks to the advent of 5G, are important issues.

Power converters and electric drives also need optimization in terms of increased efficiency and the implementation of predictive diagnostic and predictive maintenance features. Advanced control techniques for power electronic converters and motors, which also exploit machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI), and deep neural networks (DNN), are emerging trends. Applications are for both full electric and hybrid vehicles. Beside the hardware parts, the role of software is also increasing and new design and verification methods have to be investigated to achieve high functional safety and security levels for accelerating clean energy innovation.

The main objective of this Special Issue is, hence, to provide timely solutions for the design and management of energy storage systems, of renewable energy sources, and of relevant power electronic converter systems and innovative electric drives.

The integration of all these systems within the smart grid for e-transportation and smart/green cities is also of interest for the Special Issue. With reference to this “internet of energy” scenario, the application of IoT (Internet of things) technologies to E-transportation and smart grids is also of interest, including opportunities and challenges due to cybersecurity and 5G.

The particular topics of interest of this SI include but are not limited to the following:

New emerging technologies for power converters, electric drives, and energy storage;
Ageing mechanisms of power converters, electric drives, and energy storage devices;
Electronic control units for energy storage system monitoring and management;
Online estimation of state-of-charge and state-of-health;
Power electronic converters for renewable energy sources;
Fast chargers and smart chargers for electric-vehicles, including wireless power transfer;
Integration of charging infrastructures in the smart grid for E-transportation;
Predictive diagnostic for renewables and energy storage systems;
Methods for design and verification of HW and SW for energy storage and renewables;
Embedded systems, machine learning, AI, DNN for energy storage, conversion, and management;
Integration of IoT and digitalization into E-transportation;
Cybersecurity and 5G connectivity challenges and opportunities for energy.

Prof. Dr. Sergio Saponara
Prof. Dr. Lucian Mihet Popa
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

Emerging energy storage technologies;
Ageing of energy storage and power converters;
Fast chargers and wireless power transfer;
Monitoring and management of energy storage systems and BMS;
Embedded systems, machine learning, DNN for energy storage, conversion, and management;
Power electronic converters;
Renewable energy sources;
Predictive diagnostic and maintenance;
E-transportation chargers, including wireless power transfer, and smart-grids;
Internet-of-energy and cybersecurity and 5G connectivity challenges and opportunities.

Published Papers (11 papers)

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Editorial

Jump to: Research, Review

5 pages, 190 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Power Converters, Electric Drives and Energy Storage Systems for Electrified Transportation and Smart Grid Applications

by Lucian Mihet-Popa and Sergio Saponara

Energies 2021, 14(14), 4142; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14144142 - 09 Jul 2021

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1351

Abstract

The proposed special issue (SI) has invited submissions related to renewable energy, energy storage, power converters and electric drive systems for electrified transportation and smart grid applications [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Power Converters, Electric Drives and Energy Storage Systems for Electrified Transportation and Smart Grid)

Research

Jump to: Editorial, Review

29 pages, 7824 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Minimization of Cross-Regulation in PV and Battery Connected Multi-Input Multi-Output DC to DC Converter

by Vibha Kamaraj, N. Chellammal, Bharatiraja Chokkalingam and Josiah Lange Munda

Energies 2020, 13(24), 6534; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13246534 - 10 Dec 2020

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1954

Abstract

This paper proposes a digital model predictive controller (DMPC) for a multi-input multi-output (MIMO) DC-DC converter interfaced with renewable energy resources in a hybrid system. Such MIMO systems generally suffer from cross-regulation, which seriously impacts the stability and speed of response of the system. To solve the contemporary issues in a MIMO system, a controller is required to attenuate the cross-regulation. Therefore, this paper proposes a controller, which increases speed of response and maintains stable output by regulating the load voltage independently. The inductor current and the capacitor voltage of the proposed converter are considered as the controlling parameters. With the aid of Forward Euler’s procedure, the future values are computed for the instantaneous values of controlling parameters. Cost function defines the control action by the predicted values that describe the system performance and establish optimal condition at which the output of the system is required. This allows proper switching of the system, thereby helping to regulate the output voltages. Thus, for any variation in load, the DMPC ensures steady switching operation and minimization of cross-regulation. To prove the efficacy of proposed DMPC controller, simulations followed by the experimental results are executed on a hybrid system consisting of dual-input dual-output (DIDO) positive Super-Lift Luo converter (PSLLC) interfaced with photovoltaic renewable energy resource. The results thus obtained are compared with the conventional PID (proportional integrative derivative) controller for validation and prove that the DMPC controller is able to control the cross-regulation effectively. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Power Converters, Electric Drives and Energy Storage Systems for Electrified Transportation and Smart Grid)

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18 pages, 9136 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Voltage-Balancing Strategy for Three-Level Neutral-Point-Clamped Cascade Converter under Sequence Smooth Modulation

by Le Yu, Xu Peng, Chao Zhou and Shibin Gao

Energies 2020, 13(18), 4969; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13184969 - 22 Sep 2020

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1759

Abstract

Three-level neutral-point clamped cascaded converters (3LNPC-CC) are widely used in high power nigh-voltage applications. This paper mainly discusses the open-circuit fault in DC-side of the 3LNPC-CC. Optimized by the sequence pulse modulation, a sequence smooth modulation (SSM) is proposed to keep the DC-side voltage balance while the 3LNPC-CC suffers open-circuit fault from DC-side. The SSM found efficient switch-state path through a 3-D cube model and simplified the path from thousands of switch state. The SSM avoids the complex calculation in the voltage-balancing modulation, while the dynamic character of it was less influenced. At the same time, the modulation changes the voltage level smoothly and balances the fault DC-side voltage effectively. The characters of the proposed modulation are verified by the simulation and the experiment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Power Converters, Electric Drives and Energy Storage Systems for Electrified Transportation and Smart Grid)

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15 pages, 4073 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Technical and Economic Analysis of One-Stop Charging Stations for Battery and Fuel Cell EV with Renewable Energy Sources

by Saumya Bansal, Yi Zong, Shi You, Lucian Mihet-Popa and Jinsheng Xiao

Energies 2020, 13(11), 2855; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13112855 - 03 Jun 2020

Cited by 29 | Viewed by 3804

Abstract

Currently, most of the vehicles make use of fossil fuels for operations, resulting in one of the largest sources of carbon dioxide emissions. The need to cut our dependency on these fossil fuels has led to an increased use of renewable energy sources (RESs) for mobility purposes. A technical and economic analysis of a one-stop charging station for battery electric vehicles (BEV) and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) is investigated in this paper. The hybrid optimization model for electric renewables (HOMER) software and the heavy-duty refueling station analysis model (HDRSAM) are used to conduct the case study for a one-stop charging station at Technical University of Denmark (DTU)-Risø campus. Using HOMER, a total of 42 charging station scenarios are analyzed by considering two systems (a grid-connected system and an off-grid connected system). For each system three different charging station designs (design A-hydrogen load; design B-an electrical load, and design C-an integrated system consisting of both hydrogen and electrical load) are set up for analysis. Furthermore, seven potential wind turbines with different capacity are selected from HOMER database for each system. Using HDRSAM, a total 18 scenarios are analyzed with variation in hydrogen delivery option, production volume, hydrogen dispensing option and hydrogen dispensing option. The optimal solution from HOMER for a lifespan of twenty-five years is integrated into design C with the grid-connected system whose cost was $986,065. For HDRSAM, the optimal solution design consists of tube trailer as hydrogen delivery with cascade dispensing option at 350 bar together with high production volume and the cost of the system was $452,148. The results from the two simulation tools are integrated and the overall cost of the one-stop charging station is achieved which was $2,833,465. The analysis demonstrated that the one-stop charging station with a grid connection is able to fulfil the charging demand cost-effectively and environmentally friendly for an integrated energy system with RESs in the investigated locations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Power Converters, Electric Drives and Energy Storage Systems for Electrified Transportation and Smart Grid)

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20 pages, 4532 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Design of Adaptive Controller Exploiting Learning Concepts Applied to a BLDC-Based Drive System

by Pierpaolo Dini and Sergio Saponara

Energies 2020, 13(10), 2512; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13102512 - 15 May 2020

Cited by 28 | Viewed by 2573

Abstract

This work presents an innovative control architecture, which takes its ideas from the theory of adaptive control techniques and the theory of statistical learning at the same time. Taking inspiration from the architecture of a classical neural network with several hidden levels, the principle is to divide the architecture of the adaptive controller into three different levels. Each level implements an algorithm based on learning from data and therefore we can talk about learning concepts. Each level has a different task: the first to learn the required reference to the control loop; the second to learn the coefficients of the state representation of a model of the system to be controlled; and finally, the third to learn the coefficients of the state representation of the actual controller. The design of the control system is reported from both a rigorous and an operational point of view. As an application example, the proposed control technique is applied on a second-order non-linear system. We consider a servo-drive based on a brushless DC (BLDC) motor, whose dynamic model considers all the non-linear effects related to the electromechanical nature of the electric machine itself, and also an accurate model of the switching power converter. The reported example shows the capability of the control algorithm to ensure trajectory tracking while allowing for disturbance rejection with different disturbance signal amplitude. The implementation complexity analysis of the new controller is also proposed, showing its low overhead vs. basic control solutions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Power Converters, Electric Drives and Energy Storage Systems for Electrified Transportation and Smart Grid)

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12 pages, 5648 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Trusted Simulation Using Proteus Model for a PV System: Test Case of an Improved HC MPPT Algorithm

by Abdelilah Chalh, Aboubakr El Hammoumi, Saad Motahhir, Abdelaziz El Ghzizal, Umashankar Subramaniam and Aziz Derouich

Energies 2020, 13(8), 1943; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13081943 - 15 Apr 2020

Cited by 23 | Viewed by 7871

Abstract

The real implementation of the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) controllers for the photovoltaic (PV) systems is still a big challenge for researchers working in this field. Often, they use simulation tools to assess the performance of their MPPT algorithms before actual implementation. In this context, this paper aims to propose a trusted simulation of a PV system designed under Proteus software. The proposed PV simulator can be used to verify and evaluate the performance of MPPT algorithms with a closer approximation to the real implementation. The main advantage of this model that it contains a real microcontroller, as can be found in reality, so that same code for the MPPT algorithm used in the simulation will be used in real implementation. In contrast, when using (Powersim Software) PSIM or Matlab/Simulink, the code of the algorithm must be rewritten once the real experiment begins, because these tools don’t provide a microcontroller or an electronic board in which our algorithm can be implemented and tested in the same way as the real experiment. After this section, a modified Hill-Climbing (HC) algorithm is introduced. The proposed algorithm can avoid the drift problem posed by conventional HC under a fast variation in insolation. The simulation results show that this method presents good performance in terms of efficiency (99.21%) and response time (10 ms), which improved by 1.2% and 70 ms respectively compared to the conventional HC algorithm. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Power Converters, Electric Drives and Energy Storage Systems for Electrified Transportation and Smart Grid)

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19 pages, 7844 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Thermal Analysis of Power Rectifiers in Steady-State Conditions

by Adrian Plesca and Lucian Mihet-Popa

Energies 2020, 13(8), 1942; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13081942 - 15 Apr 2020

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2601

Abstract

Power rectifiers from electrical traction systems, but not only, can be irreversibly damaged if the temperature of the semiconductor junction reaches high values to determine thermal runaway and melting. The paper proposes a mathematical model to calculate the junction and the case temperature in power diodes used in bridge rectifiers, which supplies an inductive-resistive load. The new thermal model may be used to investigate the thermal behavior of the power diodes in steady-state regime for various values of the tightening torque, direct current through the diode, airflow speed and load parameters (resistance and inductance). The obtained computed values were compared with 3D thermal simulation results and experimental tests. The calculated values are aligned with the simulation results and experimental data. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Power Converters, Electric Drives and Energy Storage Systems for Electrified Transportation and Smart Grid)

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21 pages, 6004 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Microcontroller-Based Strategies for the Incorporation of Solar to Domestic Electricity

by Nkateko E. Mabunda and Meera K. Joseph

Energies 2019, 12(14), 2811; https://doi.org/10.3390/en12142811 - 22 Jul 2019

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 4534

Abstract

Microcontrollers have been largely used in applications that include reducing power consumption. Microcontroller development tools are now readily available. Many countries are faced with energy challenges such as lack of enough power capacity and growth in energy demand. It is therefore important to introduce innovative methods to reduce reliance on national grid energy and to supplement this source of energy with alternative methods. In this study, the microcontroller is used to monitor the energy consumed by household equipment and then decide, based on the power demand and available solar energy, the type of energy source to be used. In this research, a special circuit was also designed to control geyser power and align it to the capacity of the renewable energy source. This geyser control circuit includes a Dallas temperature sensor and a triode for alternating current (TRIAC) circuit that is included to control output current drawn from a low power, renewable energy source. Alternatively, two heating elements may be used instead of the TRIAC circuit. The first heating element is powered by solar to maintain the water temperature and to save energy. The second heating element is powered by national grid power and is used for the initial heating, and therefore saves water heating time. The strategy used was by adding a programmed microcontroller-based control circuit and a low power element or one current controlled element to a geyser whereby Photovoltaic (PV) energy was used to save the energy geysers consume from the domestic electricity source when they are not in use. A microcontroller, current sensor, battery level sensor, and relay board was used to incorporate solar-based renewable energy to the commercial energy supply. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Power Converters, Electric Drives and Energy Storage Systems for Electrified Transportation and Smart Grid)

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20 pages, 3537 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Cogging Torque Reduction in Brushless Motors by a Nonlinear Control Technique

by Pierpaolo Dini and Sergio Saponara

Energies 2019, 12(11), 2224; https://doi.org/10.3390/en12112224 - 11 Jun 2019

Cited by 46 | Viewed by 5488

Abstract

This work addresses the problem of mitigating the effects of the cogging torque in permanent magnet synchronous motors, particularly brushless motors, which is a main issue in precision electric drive applications. In this work, a method for mitigating the effects of the cogging torque is proposed, based on the use of a nonlinear automatic control technique known as feedback linearization that is ideal for underactuated dynamic systems. The aim of this work is to present an alternative to classic solutions based on the physical modification of the electrical machine to try to suppress the natural interaction between the permanent magnets and the teeth of the stator slots. Such modifications of electric machines are often expensive because they require customized procedures, while the proposed method does not require any modification of the electric drive. With respect to other algorithmic-based solutions for cogging torque reduction, the proposed control technique is scalable to different motor parameters, deterministic, and robust, and hence easy to use and verify for safety-critical applications. As an application case example, the work reports the reduction of the oscillations for the angular position control of a permanent magnet synchronous motor vs. classic PI (proportional-integrative) cascaded control. Moreover, the proposed algorithm is suitable to be implemented in low-cost embedded control units. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Power Converters, Electric Drives and Energy Storage Systems for Electrified Transportation and Smart Grid)

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20 pages, 4591 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Spatio-Temporal Model for Evaluating Demand Response Potential of Electric Vehicles in Power-Traffic Network

by Lidan Chen, Yao Zhang and Antonio Figueiredo

Energies 2019, 12(10), 1981; https://doi.org/10.3390/en12101981 - 23 May 2019

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2525

Abstract

Electric vehicles (EVs) can be regarded as a kind of demand response (DR) resource. Nevertheless, the EVs travel behavior is flexible and random, in addition, their willingness to participate in the DR event is uncertain, they are expected to be managed and utilized by the EV aggregator (EVA). In this perspective, this paper presents a composite methodology that take into account the dynamic road network (DRN) information and fuzzy user participation (FUP) for obtaining spatio-temporal projections of demand response potential from electric vehicles and the electric vehicle aggregator. A dynamic traffic network model taking over the traffic time-varying information is developed by graph theory. The trip chain based on housing travel survey is set up, where Dijkstra algorithm is employed to plan the optimal route of EVs, in order to find the travel distance and travel time of each trip of EVs. To demonstrate the uncertainties of the EVs travel pattern, simulation analysis is conducted using Monte Carlo method. Subsequently, we suggest a fuzzy logic-based approach to uncertainty analysis that starts with investigating EV users’ subjective ability to participate in DR event, and we develop the FUP response mechanism which is constructed by three factors including the remaining dwell time, remaining SOC, and incentive electricity pricing. The FUP is used to calculate the real-time participation level of a single EV. Finally, we take advantage of a simulation example with a coupled 25-node road network and 54-node power distribution system to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Power Converters, Electric Drives and Energy Storage Systems for Electrified Transportation and Smart Grid)

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Review

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20 pages, 2133 KiB

Open AccessReview

A Review on Optimization and Control Methods Used to Provide Transient Stability in Microgrids

by Seyfettin Vadi, Sanjeevikumar Padmanaban, Ramazan Bayindir, Frede Blaabjerg and Lucian Mihet-Popa

Energies 2019, 12(18), 3582; https://doi.org/10.3390/en12183582 - 19 Sep 2019

Cited by 36 | Viewed by 4990

Abstract

Microgrids are distribution networks consisting of distributed energy sources such as photovoltaic and wind turbines, that have traditionally been one of the most popular sources of energy. Furthermore, microgrids consist of energy storage systems and loads (e.g., industrial and residential) that may operate in grid-connected mode or islanded mode. While microgrids are an efficient source in terms of inexpensive, clean and renewable energy for distributed renewable energy sources that are connected to the existing grid, these renewable energy sources also cause many difficulties to the microgrid due to their characteristics. These difficulties mainly include voltage collapses, voltage and frequency fluctuations and phase difference faults in both islanded mode and in the grid-connected mode operations. Stability of the microgrid structure is necessary for providing transient stability using intelligent optimization methods to eliminate the abovementioned difficulties that affect power quality. This paper presents optimization and control techniques that can be used to provide transient stability in the islanded or grid-connected mode operations of a microgrid comprising renewable energy sources. The results obtained from these techniques were compared, analyzing studies in the literature and finding the advantages and disadvantages of the various methods presented. Thus, a comprehensive review of research on microgrid stability is presented to identify and guide future studies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Power Converters, Electric Drives and Energy Storage Systems for Electrified Transportation and Smart Grid)

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