PCIM, A Bridge Connecting China and World Power Electronics Industry ——Interview with Mr·Udo Weller,president of Mesago PCIM and Dr·Lorenz, General Chair of PCIM China [Honorary advisor of power Electronics]

PCIM China, international conference and exhibition for power electronics, was held in Shanghai on March 21, 2006. PCIM is one of the most authoritative organizations and has won good reputation overseas for a long time.

Preface to Special Issue on Towards High Performance Ga_(2)O_(3) Electronics: Epitaxial Growth and Power Devices(Ⅰ)

There is currently great optimism within the electronics community that gallium oxide(Ga_(2)O_(3)) ultra-wide bandgap semiconductors have unprecedented prospects for eventually revolutionizing a rich variety of power electronic applications. Specially, benefiting from its ultra-high bandgap of around 4.8 eV, it is expected that the emerging Ga_(2)O_(3) technology would offer an exciting platform to deliver massively enhanced device performance for power electronics and even completely new applications.

Preface to Special Issue on Towards High Performance Ga_(2)O_(3) Electronics:Power Devices and DUV Optoelectronic Devices(Ⅱ)

Gallium oxide(Ga_(2)O_(3))has garnered world-wide atten-tion as an ultrawide-bandgap semiconductor material from the area of power electronics and DUV optical devices benefit-ing from its outstanding electronic and optoelectronic proper-ties.For one thing,since Ga_(2)O_(3)features high critical break-down field of 8 MV/cm and Baliga’s figure of merit(BFOM)of 3444,it is a promising candidate for advanced high-power applications.For another thing,due to the bandgap directly corresponding to the deep-ultraviolet(DUV)region,Ga_(2)O_(3)is widely used in DUV optoelectronic devices.

Recent Research of Power Electronics and Drives in Hong Kong

The research in Power Electronics and Dives at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University has been undertaking for many years. Recently, a Power Electronics Research Centre (PERC) has been developed that is contributed towards the research anddevelopment in the area. It encompasses the high frequency power supplies, chaos and bifurcation, soft-switching power converters, electrical machines, high precision motion control, traction and traffic control,alternative energy and electrical building services.

Data-Driven Approach for Condition Monitoring and Improving Power Output of Photovoltaic Systems

Increasing renewable energy targets globally has raised the requirement for the efficient and profitable operation of solar photovoltaic(PV)systems.In light of this requirement,this paper provides a path for evaluating the operating condition and improving the power output of the PV system in a grid integrated environment.To achieve this,different types of faults in grid-connected PV systems(GCPVs)and their impact on the energy loss associated with the electrical network are analyzed.A data-driven approach using neural networks(NNs)is proposed to achieve root cause analysis and localize the fault to the component level in the system.The localized fault condition is combined with a parallel operation of adaptive neurofuzzy inference units(ANFIUs)to develop a power mismatch-based control unit(PMCU)for improving the power output of the GCPV.To develop the proposed framework,a 10-kW single-phase GCPV is simulated for training the NN-based anomaly detection approach with 14 deviation signals.Further,the developed algorithm is combined with the PMCU implemented with the experimental setup of GCPV.The results identified 98.2%training accuracy and 43000 observations/sec prediction speed for the trained classifier,and improved power output with reduced voltage and current harmonics for the grid-connected PV operation.

Real-time State Monitoring During Switching Mode Transitions in High Power Three-level Inverters

大功率多电平逆变器近年来在实际工业生产中得到越来越广泛的应用。多电平逆变器由于结构复杂,采用元器件较多,因此在设计和实验中,实现各个工作状态下运行参数的同步监测和分析较为困难。本文针对大功率三电平逆变器,实现开关动态特性的在线测试,在此基础上,进一步研究三电平逆变器在开关状态变化时理论与实际负载运行工况下电路拓扑的转换变化规律。通过全电路电气参数和元器件状态的实时监测,发现在三电平逆变器非正常运行状态下开关转换时额外电应力,同时,深入研究在实际工况运行条件非正常状态下该额外电应力出现的机理和原因,为三电平逆变器的故障诊断提供了参考,对于设计高可靠性的多电平逆变器系统有一定的理论和现实意义。

Advances in Digital Control for High-frequency Switched-mode Power Converters

Over the last decade,practical digital control of high-frequency switched-mode power converters has moved from proof-of-concept demonstrations to controller chips commercially available from multiple vendors,with applica-tions to point-of-load and isolated DC/DC converters,microprocessor power supplies,power-factor-correction rectifiers,and others.This paper summarizes some of the advances in the area,including approaches to realizations of high-per-formance,high-frequency digital pulse-width modulated(DPWM) controllers,related analysis,modeling and design techniques,as well as performance gains enabled by digital control such as dynamic response and efficiency improve-ments.Examples of experimentally demonstrated results are presented,together with pointers to areas of current and future research and development.

Analysis on the capacity degradation mechanism of a series lithium-ion power battery pack based on inconsistency of capacity

The lithium-ion battery has been widely used as an energy source. Charge rate, discharge rate, and operating temperature are very important factors for the capacity degradations of power batteries and battery packs. Firstly, in this paper we make use of an accelerated life test and a statistical analysis method to establish the capacity accelerated degradation model under three constant stress parameters according to the degradation data, which are charge rate, discharge rate, and operating temperature, and then we propose a capacity degradation model according to the current residual capacity of a Li-ion cell under dynamic stress parameters. Secondly, we analyze the charge and discharge process of a series power battery pack and interpret the correlation between the capacity degradations of the battery pack and its charge/discharge rate. According to this cycling condition, we establish a capacity degradation model of a series power battery pack under inconsistent capacity of cells, and analyze the degradation mechanism with capacity variance and operating temperature difference. The comparative analysis of test results shows that the inconsistent operating temperatures of cells in the series power battery pack are the main cause of its degradation; when the difference between inconsistent temperatures is narrowed by 5 C, the cycle life can be improved by more than 50%. Therefore, it effectively improves the cycle life of the series battery pack to reasonably assemble the batteries according to their capacities and to narrow the differences in operating temperature among cells.

Smart Transformer-based Medium Voltage Grid Support by Means of Active Power Control

In the last decades the voltage regulation has been challenged by the increase of power variability in the electric grid,due to the spread of non-dispatchable generation sources.This paper introduces a Smart Transformer(ST)-based Medium Voltage(MV)grid support by means of active power control in the ST-fed Low Voltage(LV)grid.The aim of the proposed strategy is to improve the voltage profile in MV grids before the operation of On-Load Tap Changer in the primary substation transformer,which needs tens of seconds.This is realized through reactive power injection by the AC/DC MV converter and simultaneous decrease of the active power consumption of voltage-dependent loads in ST-fed LV grid,controlling the ST output voltage.The last feature has two main effects:the first is to reduce the active power withdrawn from MV grid,and consequently the MV voltage drop caused by the active current component.At the same time,higher reactive power injection capability in the MV converter is unlocked,due to the lower active power demand.As result,the ST increases the voltage support in MV grid.The analysis and simulation results carried out in this paper show improvements compared to similar solutions,i.e.the only reactive power compensation.The impact of the proposed solution has been finally evaluated under different voltage-dependence of the loads in the LV grid.

Analysis and design of over-current limit control strategies applied in aeronautical power supplies

Some Over-Current Limit Control strategies are analyzed and designed to meet the demands of high reliability and rapid dynamic response in the aeronautical power supply applications. The control schemes are both effective in DC-DC converters and DC-AC converters. Controller models are set up, and the over-current limit operation principles of analogy and digital control are analyzed too. An 800VA aeronautical power supply has been constructed to verify the performance of the proposed control strategy in various cases such as the sudden load change and the constant load. The analysis and experiments confirm the advantages of the proposed over-current limit strategies as follows: simple,effective and reliable.

Low on-resistance 1.2 kV 4H-SiC power MOSFET with Ron, sp of 3.4 mΩ·cm^2

A 4H-SiC power MOSFET with specific on-resistance of 3.4 mΩ·cm^2 and breakdown voltage exceeding 1.5 kV is designed and fabricated.Numerical simulations are carried out to optimize the electric field strength in gate oxide and at the surface of the semiconductor material in the edge termination region.Additional n-type implantation in JFET region is implemented to reduce the specific on-resistance.The typical leakage current is less than 1μA at VDS=1.4 kV.Drain–source current reaches 50 A at VDS=0.75 V and VGS=20 V corresponding to an on-resistance of 15 mΩ.The typical gate threshold voltage is 2.6 V.

Three-Phase PWM Power Conversion—The Route to Ultra High Power Density and Efficiency

A review of three-phase PWM converter topologies which do show a low complexity/high reliability and high efficiency and power density and are therefore of main interest for a future industrial application is presented.A three-switch/level Boost-type PWM rectifier(VIENNA Rectifier),a Buck+Boost-type PWM rectifier with wide output voltage range and the AC/AC Sparse Matrix Converter concept are discussed in detail and topics to be treated in the course of further research are identified.Finally,it is shown how the aspects being relevant for the realization of highly compact converter systems could be integrated into education in the field.

Power Factor Correction Rectifier with a Variable Frequency Voltage Source in Vehicular Application

This paper presents a PFCVF (Power Factor Correction) rectifier that uses a variable frequency source for alternators for electric and hybrid vehicles application. In such application, the frequency of the signal in the alternator changes according to the vehicle speed, more over the loading effect on the alternator introduces harmonic currents and increases the alternator apparent power requirements. To overcome these problems and aiming more stability and better design of the alternator, a new third harmonic injection technique is proposed. This technique allows to preserve a good THD (Total Harmonic Distortion) of the input source at any frequency and to decrease losses in semiconductors switches, thereby allowing more stability and reducing the apparent power requirements. A comparative study between the standard and the new technique is made and highlights the effectiveness of the new design. A detailed analysis of the proposed topology is presented and simulations as well as experimental results are shown.

Advances in Inductively Coupled Power Transfer Technology for Rail Transit

Traditional power supply method for moving electric railway vehicles is based on contact type power collection technology.This sometimes cannot meet the requirements of modern rail transportation.A new wireless power transfer(WPT)technology can offer significant benefits in modern rail transportation particularly in some stringent environments.This paper reviews the status and the development of rail transit power supply technology,and introduces a new challenging technology--inductive power transfer(IPT)technology for rail transit.Tesla established the underpinning of IPT technology and creatively and significantly demonstrated power transfer by using highly resonant tuned coils long time ago.However,only in recent years the IPT technology has been significantly improved including the transfer air-gap length,transfer efficiency,coupling factor,power transfer capability and so on.This is mainly due to innovative semiconductor switches,higher control frequency,better coil designs and high performance material,new track and vehicle construction techniques.Recent advances in IPT for rail transit and major milestones of the developments are summarized in this paper.Some important technical issues such as coupling coil structures,power supply schemes,segmentation switching techniques for long-distance power supply,and bidirectional IPT systems for braking energy feedback are discussed.

A Study on the Conducted Interference of Capacitor Charging Power Supply

In this paper, a mathematical analysis of the EMI (Electromagnetic Interference) for a 20 kHz/10 kV capacitor charging power supply in frequency-domain is presented, and a related circuit model considering the transient switching interference is proposed. Due to the high working frequency and the device-switching transitions, the conducted EMI caused by the charging circuit which includes the harmonics of grid frequency, working frequency and device-switching transition frequencies. Thus under certain working situations or loads parallel power supply, the interference may cause charging failure. To solve this problem, a high frequency transformer modeled with stray capacitances and an approximation of the device-switching transition is applied in the Spice-based simulation model, and a mathematical analysis in frequency-domain is presented.

Optimization Analysis of Sustainable Solar Power System for Mobile Communication Systems

Cellular mobile technology has witnessed tremendous growth in recent times.One of the challenges facing the operators to extend the coverage of the networks to meet the rising demand for cellular mobile services is the power sources used to supply cellular towers with energy,especially in remote.Thus,switch from the conventional sources of energy to a greener and sustainable power model became a target of the academic and industrial sectors in many fields;one of these important fields is the telecommunication sector.Accordingly,this study aims to find the optimum sizing and technoeconomic investigation of a solar photovoltaic scheme to deploy cellular mobile technology infrastructure cleanly and sustainably.The optimal solarpowered system is designed by employing the energy-balance procedures of the HOMER software tool.The problem objective is considered in terms of cost,but the energy system is constrained to meet the power demand reliably.Process simulations were performed to determine the optimum sizing,performance and monetary cost of the power system,using long-term meteorological datasets for a case study site with defined longitude(31◦25E)and latitude(30◦06N).From the observed results,the total net present cost(NPC)of the proposed system is$28,187.Indeed,these outcomes can provide profound economic,technical,and ecological benefits to cellular operators.It also ensures a sizeable reduction in greenhouse gas that supports sustainable green wireless network(WN)deployment in remote areas.