A Comprehensive Review of the Bidirectional Converter Topologies for the Vehicle-to-Grid System

Abstract

Over the past decade, there has been a great interest in the changeover from cars powered by gasoline to electric vehicles, both within the automotive industry and among customers. The electric vehicle–grid (V2G) technology is a noteworthy innovation that enables the battery of an electric vehicle during idling conditions or parked can function as an energy source that can store or release energy whenever required. This results in energy exchange between the grid and EV batteries. This article reviews various bidirectional converter topologies used in the V2G system. Additionally, it can reduce the cost of charging for electric utilities, thus increasing profits for EV owners. Normally electric grid and the battery of an electric vehicle can be connected through power electronic converters, especially a bidirectional converter, which allows power to flow in both directions. The majority of research work is carried out over the converters for V2G applications and concerns utilizing two conversion stages, such as the AC-DC conversion stage used for correcting the power factor and the DC-DC conversion stage for matching the terminal voltage. Furthermore, a bidirectional conversion can be made for an active power transfer between grid–vehicle (G2V) and V2G effectively. This review explores and examines several topologies of bidirectional converters which make it possible for active power flow between the grid and the vehicle and vice versa. Moreover, different types of charging and discharging systems, such as integrated/non-integrated and on/off board, etc., which have been used for electric vehicle applications, are also discussed. A comparison study is carried out based on several other factors that have been suggested. The utilization of semiconductors in power converters and non-conventional resources in charging and discharging applications are the two improving technologies for electric vehicles.