Analysis and Implementation of a Bidirectional Converter with Soft Switching Operation

Abstract

This paper presents a soft switching direct current (DC) converter, with the benefits of bidirectional power conversion and wide-ranging voltage operation for battery charging and discharging capability. A series resonant circuit with variable switching frequency modulation is used to achieve the advantages of soft switching turn-on or turn-off of semiconductor devices. Therefore, the switching power losses in power devices can be reduced. A symmetric resonant circuit topology with a capacitor–inductor–inductor–capacitor (CLLC) structure is adopted to achieve a bidirectional power conversion capability for battery storage units in electric vehicle applications. Due to the symmetric circuit structure on both input and output sides, the converter has similar voltage gains for each power flow operation. In order to overcome the drawback of narrow voltage range operation in conventional resonant converters, a variable transformer turns ratio is adopted in the circuit, to achieve wide output voltage operation (150–450 V) for battery charging applications. To demonstrate the converter performance, a 1-kW laboratory prototype was constructed and tested. Experimental results are provided, to verify the effectiveness of the studied circuit.