Operation of current-fed dual active bridge DC-DC converters for microgrid

Abstract

Dual Active Bridge (DAB) is an isolated bidirectional DC-DC converter, which comprises two full bridge converters linked through a high frequency transformer. It has low stresses and permits high frequency performance because of the soft-switching. All the switches in the converter achieves the turn ON & OFF during Zero Voltage Switching (ZVS) and Zero Current Switching (ZCS) to minimize switching loss. Generally, DAB is classified as two types, namely, voltage-fed and current-fed variants. At light load conditions, soft-switching is not realized in case of voltage-fed DAB topologies. The application of current-fed DAB converters is to reduce the losses at the time of switching under light load conditions and improves the efficiency. This paper describes the various topologies of voltage-fed and current-fed DAB used for different applications in microgrid and fuel cell energy generation system by using the simulation. The performance of voltage-fed and current-fed DAB with snubber-less converters are also demonstrated and their effectiveness are validated.