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Emerging Power Electronics Technologies for Sustainable Energy Conversion

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A special issue of Micromachines (ISSN 2072-666X). This special issue belongs to the section "E：Engineering and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2021) | Viewed by 31829

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Dr. Francisco J. Perez-Pinal

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Electrical and Electronics Engineering Department, Celaya Institute of Technology, Celaya 38010, Mexico
Interests: electronics; education; instrumentation and measurement; harvest energy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Transforming, in a highly efficient way, energy from forms delivered by nature to forms that can be used by human beings for long-term sustenance is still an open challenge. To achieve this energy transformation, an appropriate design, control, and implementation of power electronic interfaces is usually required at each energy conversion stage.

Applications of needed sustainable energy conversion systems include but are not limited to smart connected and self-sustainable electronic grids; transportation electrification, e-mobility; healthcare and biomedicine; wearables; lighting; off-grid and rural electrification applications; and the Internet of Things and Everything, among others.

Therefore, to face such challenges, this Special Issue invites high-quality submissions with significant scientific and technical contributions related to the emerging technologies, techniques, and applications of power electronics to develop sustainable energy conversion systems. Topics of interest include but are not limited to the following:

Power electronic technologies and techniques for sustainable energy conversion;
Power electronics and renewable sustainable energy systems;
Power electronics and energy storage systems;
Power electronic interfaces for energy systems;
Power electronics for harvest energy;
Power electronic converters;
Power electronics in pico-grids and micro-grids;
Optimization in power electronics with applications to energy conversion;
Intelligent power electronics in renewable energy systems;
Electric/hybrid vehicle converters.

Prof. Dr. Francisco J. Perez-Pinal
Guest Editor

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. Micromachines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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

renewable energy sources
harvest energy
energy storage
sustainable energy conversion
power electronics converters
modelling and control of power electronic converters
(smart) pico and microgrids
transportation electrification

Published Papers (11 papers)

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Editorial

Jump to: Research, Review

4 pages, 180 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Editorial for the Special Issue on Emerging Power Electronics Technologies for Sustainable Energy Conversion

by Francisco J. Perez-Pinal

Micromachines 2022, 13(4), 539; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi13040539 - 30 Mar 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1392

Abstract

Power electronic (PE) technology became considered a mature technology over the last century [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Power Electronics Technologies for Sustainable Energy Conversion)

Research

Jump to: Editorial, Review

20 pages, 7685 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Distributed Control Scheme Using SiC-Based Low Voltage Ride-Through Compensator for Wind Turbine Generators

by Chao-Tsung Ma and Zong-Hann Shi

Micromachines 2022, 13(1), 39; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi13010039 - 28 Dec 2021

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1436

Abstract

As the penetration of renewable energy power generation, such as wind power generation, increases low voltage ride-through (LVRT), control is necessary during grid faults to support wind turbine generators (WTGs) in compensating reactive current to restore nominal grid voltages, and maintain a desired system stability. In contrast to the commonly used centralized LVRT controller, this study proposes a distributed control scheme using a LVRT compensator (LVRTC) capable of simultaneously performing reactive current compensation for doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG)-, or permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG)-based WTGs. The proposed LVRTC using silicon carbide (SiC)-based inverters can achieve better system efficiency, and increase system reliability. The proposed LVRTC adopts a digital control scheme and dq-axis current decoupling algorithm to realize simultaneous active/reactive power control features. Theoretical analysis, derivation of mathematical models, and design of the control scheme are initially conducted, and simulation is then performed in a computer software environment to validate the feasibility of the system. Finally, a 2 kVA small-scale hardware system with TI’s digital signal processor (DSP) as the control core is implemented for experimental verification. Results from simulation and implementation are in close agreement, and validate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed control scheme. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Power Electronics Technologies for Sustainable Energy Conversion)

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16 pages, 5781 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Hybrid PWM Techniques for a DCM-232 Three-Phase Transformerless Inverter with Reduced Leakage Ground Current

by Gerardo Vazquez-Guzman, Panfilo R. Martinez-Rodriguez, Jose M. Sosa-Zuñiga, Dalyndha Aztatzi-Pluma, Diego Langarica-Cordoba, Belem Saldivar and Rigoberto Martínez-Méndez

Micromachines 2022, 13(1), 36; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi13010036 - 28 Dec 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2495

Abstract

Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) strategies are crucial for controlling DC–AC power converters. In particular, transformerless inverters require specific PWM techniques to improve efficiency and to deal with leakage ground current issues. In this paper, three hybrid PWM methods are proposed for a DCM-232 three-phase topology. These methods are based on the concepts of carrier-based PWM and space vector modulation. Calculations of time intervals for active and null vectors are performed in a conventional way, and the resulting waveforms are compared with a carrier signal. The digital signals obtained are processed using Boolean functions, generating ten signals to control the DCM-232 three-phase inverter. The performance of the three proposed PWM methods is evaluated considering the reduction in leakage ground current and efficiency. The proposed modulation techniques have relevant performances complying with international standards, which make them suitable for transformerless three-phase photovoltaic (PV) inverter markets. To validate the proposed hybrid PWM strategies, numerical simulations and experimental tests were performed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Power Electronics Technologies for Sustainable Energy Conversion)

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19 pages, 4929 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Hybrid Active Neutral Point Clamped Inverter Utilizing Si and Ga₂O₃ Semiconductors: Modelling and Performance Analysis

by Sheikh Tanzim Meraj, Nor Zaihar Yahaya, Molla Shahadat Hossain Lipu, Jahedul Islam, Law Kah Haw, Kamrul Hasan, Md. Sazal Miah, Shaheer Ansari and Aini Hussain

Micromachines 2021, 12(12), 1466; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi12121466 - 27 Nov 2021

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2328

Abstract

In this paper, the performance of an active neutral point clamped (ANPC) inverter is evaluated, which is developed utilizing both silicon (Si) and gallium trioxide (Ga₂O₃) devices. The hybridization of semiconductor devices is performed since the production volume and fabrication of ultra-wide bandgap (UWBG) semiconductors are still in the early-stage, and they are highly expensive. In the proposed ANPC topology, the Si devices are operated at a low switching frequency, while the Ga₂O₃ switches are operated at a higher switching frequency. The proposed ANPC mitigates the fault current in the switching devices which are prevalent in conventional ANPCs. The proposed ANPC is developed by applying a specified modulation technique and an intelligent switching arrangement, which has further improved its performance by optimizing the loss distribution among the Si/Ga₂O₃ devices and thus effectively increases the overall efficiency of the inverter. It profoundly reduces the common mode current stress on the switches and thus generates a lower common-mode voltage on the output. It can also operate at a broad range of power factors. The paper extensively analyzed the switching performance of UWBG semiconductor (Ga₂O₃) devices using double pulse testing (DPT) and proper simulation results. The proposed inverter reduced the fault current to 52 A and achieved a maximum efficiency of 99.1%. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Power Electronics Technologies for Sustainable Energy Conversion)

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16 pages, 22031 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Three-Phase Six-Level Multilevel Voltage Source Inverter: Modeling and Experimental Validation

by Sheikh Tanzim Meraj, Nor Zaihar Yahaya, Kamrul Hasan, Molla Shahadat Hossain Lipu, Ammar Masaoud, Sawal Hamid Md Ali, Aini Hussain, Muhammad Murtadha Othman and Farhan Mumtaz

Micromachines 2021, 12(9), 1133; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi12091133 - 21 Sep 2021

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 2882

Abstract

This research proposes a three-phase six-level multilevel inverter depending on twelve-switch three-phase Bridge and multilevel DC-link. The proposed architecture increases the number of voltage levels with less power components than conventional inverters such as the flying capacitor, cascaded H-bridge, diode-clamped and other recently established multilevel inverter topologies. The multilevel DC-link circuit is constructed by connecting three distinct DC voltage supplies, such as single DC supply, half-bridge and full-bridge cells. The purpose of both full-bridge and half-bridge cells is to provide a variable DC voltage with a common voltage step to the three-phase bridge’s mid-point. A vector modulation technique is also employed to achieve the desired output voltage waveforms. The proposed inverter can operate as a six-level or two-level inverter, depending on the magnitude of the modulation indexes. To guarantee the feasibility of the proposed configuration, the proposed inverter’s prototype is developed, and the experimental results are provided. The proposed inverter showed good performance with high efficiency of 97.59% following the IEEE 1547 standard. The current harmonics of the proposed inverter was also minimized to only 5.8%. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Power Electronics Technologies for Sustainable Energy Conversion)

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15 pages, 3890 KiB

Open AccessArticle

New Equivalent Electrical Model of a Fuel Cell and Comparative Study of Several Existing Models with Experimental Data from the PEMFC Nexa 1200 W

by Fatima Zahra Belhaj, Hassan El Fadil, Zakariae El Idrissi, Abdessamad Intidam, Mohamed Koundi and Fouad Giri

Micromachines 2021, 12(9), 1047; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi12091047 - 30 Aug 2021

Cited by 28 | Viewed by 4750

Abstract

The present work investigates different models of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell. More specifically, three models are studied: a nonlinear state-space model, a generic dynamic model integrated into MATLAB/Simulink, and an equivalent RC electrical circuit. A new equivalent electrical RL model is proposed, and the methodology for determining its parameters is also given. An experimental test bench, based on a 1200-W commercial PEMFC, is built to compare the static and dynamic behaviour of the existing models and the proposed RL model with the experimental data. The comparative analysis highlights the advantages and drawbacks of each of these models. The major advantages of the proposed RL model lie in both its simplicity and its ability to provide a similar transitory behaviour compared to the commercially manufactured PEMFC employed in this research. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Power Electronics Technologies for Sustainable Energy Conversion)

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21 pages, 13436 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Noncascading Quadratic Buck-Boost Converter for Photovoltaic Applications

by Rodrigo Loera-Palomo, Jorge A. Morales-Saldaña, Michel Rivero, Carlos Álvarez-Macías and Cesar A. Hernández-Jacobo

Micromachines 2021, 12(8), 984; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi12080984 - 19 Aug 2021

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2376

Abstract

The development of switching converters to perform with the power processing of photovoltaic (PV) applications has been a topic receiving growing interest in recent years. This work presents a nonisolated buck-boost converter with a quadratic voltage conversion gain based on the I–IIA noncascading structure. The converter has a reduced component count and it is formed by a pair of L–C networks and two active switches, which are operated synchronously to achieve a wide conversion ratio and a quadratic dependence with the duty ratio. Additionally, the analysis using different sources and loads demonstrates the differences in the behavior of the converter, as well as the pertinence of including PV devices (current sources) into the analysis of new switching converter topologies for PV applications. In this work, the voltage conversion ratio, steady-state operating conditions and semiconductor stresses of the proposed converter are discussed in the context of PV applications. The operation of the converter in a PV scenario is verified by experimental results. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Power Electronics Technologies for Sustainable Energy Conversion)

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19 pages, 4588 KiB

Open AccessArticle

High Step-Up Converter Based on Non-Series Energy Transfer Structure for Renewable Power Applications

by Luis Humberto Diaz-Saldierna and Jesus Leyva-Ramos

Micromachines 2021, 12(6), 689; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi12060689 - 13 Jun 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2112

Abstract

In this paper, a high step-up boost converter with a non-isolated configuration is proposed. This configuration has a quadratic voltage gain, suitable for processing energy from alternative sources. It consists of two boost converters, including a transfer capacitor connected in a non-series power transfer structure between input and output. High power efficiencies are achieved with this arrangement. Additionally, the converter has a common ground and non-pulsating input current. Design conditions and power efficiency analysis are developed. Bilinear and linear models are derived for control purposes. Experimental verification with a laboratory prototype of 500 W is provided. The proposed configuration and similar quadratic configurations are compared experimentally using the same number of components to demonstrate the power efficiency improvement. The resulting power efficiency of the prototype was above 95% at nominal load. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Power Electronics Technologies for Sustainable Energy Conversion)

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16 pages, 1372 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Fractional-Order Approximation of PID Controller for Buck–Boost Converters

by Allan G. S. Sánchez, Josué Soto-Vega, Esteban Tlelo-Cuautle and Martín Antonio Rodríguez-Licea

Micromachines 2021, 12(6), 591; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi12060591 - 21 May 2021

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2170

Abstract

Viability of a fractional-order proportional–integral–derivative (PID) approximation to regulate voltage in buck–boost converters is investigated. The converter applications range not only to high-power ones but also in micro/nano-scale systems from biomedicine for energy management/harvesting. Using a classic closed-loop control diagram the controller effectiveness is determined. Fractional calculus is considered due to its ability at modeling different types of systems accurately. The non-integer approach is integrated into the control strategy through a Laplacian operator biquadratic approximation to generate a flat phase curve in the system closed-loop frequency response. The controller synthesis considers both robustness and closed-loop performance to ensure a fast and stable regulation characteristic. A simple tuning method provides the appropriate gains to meet design requirements. The superiority of proposed approach, determined by comparing the obtained time constants with those from typical PID controllers, confirms it as alternative to controller non-minimum phases systems. Experimental realization of the resulting controller, implemented through resistor–capacitor (RC) circuits and operational amplifiers (OPAMPs) in adder configuration, confirms its effectiveness and viability. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Power Electronics Technologies for Sustainable Energy Conversion)

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18 pages, 2025 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Nonlinear Stabilization Controller for the Boost Converter with a Constant Power Load in Both Continuous and Discontinuous Conduction Modes

by Juan Gerardo Parada Salado, Carlos Alonso Herrera Ramírez, Allan Giovanni Soriano Sánchez and Martín Antonio Rodríguez Licea

Micromachines 2021, 12(5), 522; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi12050522 - 06 May 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1843

Abstract

The operation of Boost converters in discontinuous conduction mode (DCM) is suitable for many applications due to the, among other advantages, inductor volume reduction, high efficiency, paralleling, and low cost. Uses in biomedicine, nano/microelectromechanical, and higher power systems, where wide ranges of input/output voltage and a constant power load (CPL) can coexist, are well-known examples. Under extremely wide operating ranges, it is not difficult to change to a continuous conduction mode (CCM) operation, and instability, chaos, or bifurcations phenomena can occur regardless of the conduction mode. Unfortunately, existing control strategies consider a single conduction mode or linearized models because only slight resistive/CPL power level or input/output voltage variations (and no conduction mode changes) were expected. In this paper, new mathematical models for the Boost converter (with resistive or CPL) that are conduction mode independent are presented and validated. Since the open-loop dynamics of the proposed CPL model is unstable, a nonlinear control law capable of stabilizing the boost converter regardless of the conduction mode is proposed. A stability analysis based on a common-Lyapunov function is provided, and numerical and experimental tests are presented to show the proposal’s effectiveness. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Power Electronics Technologies for Sustainable Energy Conversion)

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Review

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27 pages, 6390 KiB

Open AccessReview

Power Losses Models for Magnetic Cores: A Review

by Daniela Rodriguez-Sotelo, Martin A. Rodriguez-Licea, Ismael Araujo-Vargas, Juan Prado-Olivarez, Alejandro-Israel Barranco-Gutiérrez and Francisco J. Perez-Pinal

Micromachines 2022, 13(3), 418; https://doi.org/10.3390/mi13030418 - 07 Mar 2022

Cited by 23 | Viewed by 5944

Abstract

In power electronics, magnetic components are fundamental, and, unfortunately, represent one of the greatest challenges for designers because they are some of the components that lead the opposition to miniaturization and the main source of losses (both electrical and thermal). The use of ferromagnetic materials as substitutes for ferrite, in the core of magnetic components, has been proposed as a solution to this problem, and with them, a new perspective and methodology in the calculation of power losses open the way to new design proposals and challenges to overcome. Achieving a core losses model that combines all the parameters (electric, magnetic, thermal) needed in power electronic applications is a challenge. The main objective of this work is to position the reader in state-of-the-art for core losses models. This last provides, in one source, tools and techniques to develop magnetic solutions towards miniaturization applications. Details about new proposals, materials used, design steps, software tools, and miniaturization examples are provided. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Emerging Power Electronics Technologies for Sustainable Energy Conversion)

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