Finite control set model predictive control (MPC) is a model-based control method that can include multi-objective optimization, constrained control, adaptive control, and online auto-tuning of weighting factors all in a single controller that exhibits fast dynamic tracking. This paper utilizes the model-based framework of MPC to develop a sensorless current maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithm

Power devices are among the reliability-critical components in the Photovoltaic (PV) inverter, whose failures are normally related to the thermal stress. Therefore, thermal modeling is required for estimating the thermal stress of the power devices under long-term operating conditions of the PV inverter, i.e., mission profile. Unfortunately, most of the thermal models developed for the power device

A switching characterization (SC) test of power semiconductor devices (PSDs) gives us significant insight into the dynamic switching behavior of the device under various operating conditions. A double pulse test (DPT) is a widely used method for evaluating switching performance parameters of a PSD such as its switching losses, switching speed ( di/dt , dv/dt ), turn-on and turn-off times etc. The scientific

The shipboard power system (SPS) is expected to be configured as a hybrid microgrid (MG) to realize redundant bus design and high penetration of renewables (REs). Point-of-load (POL) inverters in SPSs play a critical role to feed for sensitive ac load. To realize voltage-oriented control objective under load disturbance due to load uncertainty or nonlinearity, this paper proposes an ellipse-optimized

Radio frequency (RF) power amplifiers are an integral part of many academic, medical, and industrial applications. For many of these applications, the RF power needs to quickly transition from one level to another. For switched-mode amplifiers, one way to achieve this is with an out-phasing modulation technique. This power control technique, however, presents its own disadvantages, including poor light-load

In this paper, a unidirectional single-phase five-level PWM rectifier based on flying-capacitor topology operating as PFC is proposed. The main feature is the fact that the proposed converter has three active switches, therefore offering a cost reduction compared to traditional five-level topologies. The multilevel voltage operation reduces the weight and bulk of the magnetic devices. Moreover, 82%

Many commercial controller implementations for dc-dc converters are based on pulse-width modulation (PWM) and small-signal analysis. Increasing switching frequencies, linked in part to wide bandgap devices, provide the opportunity to increase operating bandwidth and enhance performance. Fast processors and digital signal processing offer new computational techniques for power converter control. Conventional

Virtual synchronous machine (VSM) technology is an attractive control method for an inverter-based distributed generation (DG) due to having the voltage, and frequency support functionality. Embedding an anti-islanding protection (AIP) scheme with a high accuracy is a requirement for DG inverters due to the safety concern of the personnel, and hazardous operation. This paper presents a novel hybrid

Figures-of-Merit (FOMs) are widely-used to compare power semiconductor materials and devices and to motivate research and development of new technology nodes. These material- and device-specific FOMs, however, fail to directly translate into quantifiable performance in a specific power electronics application. Here, we combine device performance with specific bridge-leg topologies to propose the extended

System-level electromagnetic transient (EMT) simulation of large-scale power converters with high-order nonlinear semiconductor switch models remains a challenge albeit it is essential for design preview. In this work, a multi-layer hierarchical modeling methodology is proposed for high-performance computing of the modular multilevel converter involving device-level IGBT/diode models. The computational

Load changes of electrical machines driven by inverters cause temperature swings of the semiconductor devices in IGBT modules of the inverters. These temperature swings lead to mechanical strain in the different material layers of the IGBT-power-modules and limit the numbers of cycles to failure and therefore reduce the lifetime of the IGBTs. This paper presents a temperature control system which is

This paper analyzes the potential of Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) for the modeling and optimization of magnetic components and, specifically, inductors. After reviewing the basic properties of ANNs, several potential modeling and design workflows are presented. A hybrid method, which combines the accuracy of 3D Finite Element Method (FEM) and the low computational cost of ANNs, is selected and

In the post-industrial digital-economy, motors powering manufacturing have been replaced by computers powering ecommerce - with significant financial losses attributable to poor power quality (PQ). At the same time, increasing penetration of distributed generation and constant power loads complicate the job for the electric utilities to deliver high-quality electrical power. Traditionally, voltage

In single-phase ac/dc applications where reliability and/or power-density are critical, active power decoupling (APD) circuits can be employed to reduce the required capacitance on the dc-link. Various APD circuits have been proposed so far, all with their advantages and disadvantages. However, many confusions still exist in the literature on this topic which is mainly attributed to a lack of unified

The ZVS T-type converter can be used as an alternative to the conventional ZVS-PWM full-bridge (FB) converter for applications where improved light-load operation is required. In this converter, two of the switches conduct only the current that flows during a freewheeling mode of operation and two of the switches conduct only the current that flows in the converter when it is in an energy-transfer

A general PWM method for soft-switching three-phase power converters—Edge Aligned PWM (EA-PWM) is proposed. It aligns all the high loss commutation instants of the converter bridges in a switching cycle at the same instant so that all the switches of the three-phase converter can realize zero-voltage-switching (ZVS) with the help of the resonant auxiliary circuit which operates once each switching

In this paper, a T-type common ground transformer-less single phase inverter with dynamic swing of the dc-link voltage is presented for photovoltaic (PV) application. The topology is a combination of a bi-directional, partial-power-processing boost stage and an asymmetric half-bridge inverter stage along with a T-branch. It takes advantage of the three-level switching states with reduced voltage stress

Clean energy (including hydropower, wind power, solar power, nuclear power, etc.) provides an effective solution to deal with the issue of environmental protection and alleviate the depletion pressure of traditional fossil energy. However, in real practices, there are also many barriers that can challenge the accommodation of clean energy, including geographical condition, economy growth, energy endowment

Dynamic on-resistance ( ${\text{d}R_\text{on}}$ ), where the on-resistance immediately after turn-on is higher than the DC resistance, increases the conduction losses in power converters with gallium nitride high-electron-mobility transistors (GaN HEMTs). There exist no direct ${\text{d}R_\text{on}}$ measurements in the literature above ${1}\,\text{MHz}$ , leaving designers unable to predict conduction

This paper presents a spatial harmonics compensation method for mutually coupled switched reluctance machines (MCSRMs) with sinusoidal current excitation. The regulation by linear controllers to achieve sinusoidal currents in MCSRMs is challenging due to the substantial presence of spatial harmonics. The standard vector control with using Proportional-Integral controllers cannot effectively suppress

This paper investigates three-phase two-level VSI hysteresis-based Model Predictive Control (MPC) for permanent magnet synchronous machines with different current error shapes. To limit the motor current harmonics and prevent overheating of the magnets, motor filters (mostly LC filters) are often used. The hysteresis-based MPC is investigated to provide high dynamic performance and limit the size of

This paper investigates the impact of reference's bias on the high frequency voltage spectrum for the modular multilevel converters (MMC). Analytical solution of the voltage spectrum under carrier Phase Shifted Pulse Width Modulation (PSPWM) is derived using double Fourier integral analysis. The distribution of the switching frequency voltage harmonics is found to be directly related to the ratio between

The conventional grid-connected inverters require a sophisticated digital signal processor to generate the demanded reference signal as a feedforward signal for the sinusoidal pulse width modulation (SPWM) control. However, the reference signal needs to be re-calculated to maintain the demanded power control as the ac mains varies. It increases the computation burden of the controller and has become

The LCL filter represents the state-of-the-art passive interface type for grid tied power converters as a cost and space reducing alternative to single coil solutions for switching harmonic attenuation. However, a simple PI controller can cause instabilities when applied to control the current of this filter. Thus a general analytically closed approach is presented to determine the safe operating areas

Submodule (SM) open-circuit failures severely affect the reliable operation of modular multilevel converter (MMCs). A comprehensive SM open-circuit failure diagnosis process includes three steps with failure detection, localization, and classification. However, the existing diagnosis methods perform these steps separately, which makes the diagnosis processcomplicated. Furthermore, the efficiency is

With the increasing penetration of renewable power, its reliability and cost-effective production are becoming more important. A filter is inserted between the grid-connected inverter and the power grid to reduce the PWM switching harmonics, which may become a fragile part seen from the power electronics converter perspective. As the grid-connected inverter is typically designed with additional reactive

Optimal thermal management system design is critical for power electronic converters to ensure the reliability of power semiconductor switches. Medium power density inverter systems are often air-cooled to ensure an efficient and cost-effective thermal management solution. In addition, using heat pipes as the heat transfer medium between the heat sources and the heat sink can provide lower volume for

This article proposes a design procedure for power loss shifted inductive energy transfer systems. Based on adequately simplified mathematical circuit models for four different compensation topologies, the load dependent losses of the respective resonant circuits are presented. Power loss shifting is achieved for transfer coils and their compensation capacitors by adjusting the design operating area

Dynamically-tunable impedance matching is a key feature in numerous radio-frequency (RF) applications at high frequencies (10 s of MHz) and power levels (100s–1000 s of Watts and above). This work develops techniques that enable the design of high power tunable matching networks (TMN) that can be tuned orders of magnitude faster than with conventional tunable impedance matching techniques, while realizing

This article presents the design of a two-stage 50 W portable charger architecture with universal ac input and 5 V/25 W, 9 V/45 W, 12 V/50 W output. A 98.5% efficient valley-switched boost converter operating at 0.5–2 MHz enables a 59% reduction in buffer capacitor volume compared to an example electrolytic capacitor while a stacked-bridge LLC converter with a Variable-Inverter-Rectifier-Transformer

In this article, topology transformations of power converters are realized through the dual and isomorphic principles for both the planar and nonplanar circuits. The topology cycling phenomenon is discovered in the topology transformation process and investigated in the power electronics field for the first time. It fills the gap between the dual converter and isomorphic converter and reveals the fundamental

This paper proposes the solution for decreasing of the reciprocating compressor noise and vibrations, which happens at stoppage. These vibrations and resulting noise are caused by the gas pressure in the cylinder, which impacts the compressor's piston and can reverse the motor at stoppage. To avoid this situation the motor must be stopped, when the gas is not pressurized, i.e., at the desired mechanical

Presents the introductory editorial for this issue of the publication.

Renewable energy resources are becoming the dominating element in power systems. Along with de-carbonization, they transform power systems into a more distributed, autonomous, bottom-up style one. We speak of Smart Grid and Microgrid when distributed energy resources take over. While being a means to improve technical and financial efficiency, planning, operations, and carbon footprint, it is these

Increasing the specific power and efficiency of a power converter has been the forever-lasting task for power electronics engineers. With the Wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductor devices, new opportunities and challenges have been found. In this article, a 100-kW SiC grid-connected Photovoltaic (PV) string inverter is proposed. This SiC inverter is free of a grid interface filter, the size, weight, and

Presents a listing of the editorial board, board of governors, current staff, committee members, and/or society editors for this issue of the publication.

Coupled-inductor buck converters are more effective in high step-down applications compared to conventional buck converters given the same circuit complexity. A coupled-inductor buck converter can adopt synchronous conduction mode to fully mitigate turn-on loss and operate at high frequency. However, this typically induces large circulating currents and harms the converter's light-load efficiency.

The increasing usage of LLC-type dc-dc converters in utility, automotive, and power distribution applications has led to a push for a further increase in the converter's operating load range and efficiency. The secondary-side rectifier remains one of the lossiest areas in the converter, alluring designers to synchronous rectification (SR). One method is drain-source SR for cyclically adaptive, closed

A novel approach to the design of switched capacitor (SC) converters is presented in this article. By recognizing the relationship between three design parameters in SC converters, namely capacitance, switching frequency, and switch on-resistance, this work is able to align the design method of SC more closely with conventional power converters. Using the charge-multiplier framework for design, capacitor

Presents the front cover for this issue of the publication.