Partial Power Processing Based Converter for Electric Vehicle Fast Charging Stations
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electronics Article Partial Power Processing Based Converter for Electric Vehicle Fast Charging Stations Jon Anzola * , Iosu Aizpuru and Asier Arruti Department of Electronics and Computer Science, Mondragon Unibertsitatea, 20120 Hernani, Spain; [email protected] (I.A.); [email protected] (A.A.) * Correspondence: [email protected] Abstract: This paper focuses on the design of a charging unit for an electric vehicle fast charging station. With this purpose, in first place, different solutions that exist for fast charging stations are described through a brief introduction. Then, partial power processing architectures are introduced and proposed as attractive strategies to improve the performance of this type of applications. Further- more, through a series of simulations, it is observed that partial power processing based converters obtain reduced processed power ratio and efficiency results compared to conventional full power converters. So, with the aim of verifying the conclusions obtained through the simulations, two downscaled prototypes are assembled and tested. Finally, it is concluded that, in case galvanic isolation is not required for the charging unit converter, partial power converters are smaller and more efficient alternatives than conventional full power converters. Keywords: electric vehicle; fast charging stations; partial power processing; partial power converters; series connected converter; dual active bridge 1. Introduction Citation: Anzola, J.; Aizpuru, I.; Through the last years, the automotive market is showing a big interest on the in- Arruti, A. Partial Power Processing clusion of the electric vehicle (EV). Indeed, due to its efficient performance and reduced Based Converter for Electric Vehicle greenhouse emissions, the EV is turning into a real alternative to conventional combustion Fast Charging Stations. Electronics based vehicles. This can be confirmed by analyzing its shelling data, which increases year 2021 10 , , 260. https://doi.org/ by year [1]. However, one of the main disadvantages of EVs is their low autonomy, which 10.3390/electronics10030260 can reach up to 550 km [2]. In order to solve this problem, there exist 2 main solutions: invest on technologies that can extend the capacity of the energy storage system (ESS) Received: 10 December 2020 or build an extensive and solid EV charging stations grid. The first solution is usually Accepted: 19 January 2021 Published: 22 January 2021 high time consuming, since experimental tests of different battery technologies require long periods. However, the second solution is much faster and if the charging stations are Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral correctly located, the driving rage anxiety of the EV user can be reduced [3]. with regard to jurisdictional claims in According to ref. [4], there exist different concepts of EV charging stations: exchanging published maps and institutional affil- vehicle’s battery [5], contactless inductive coupled chargers [6] and conductive coupled iations. chargers. Regarding conductive coupled chargers, this type of chargers are the most popular solution for EV charging and currently, inside Europe there exists a great number of charging points based on this technology [7]. When it comes to the different types of conductive EV charging stations, they can be divided by their power level. On the one hand, up to 10 kW AC charging stations can be found. Usually, this type of charging Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. structures are located where people spend great part of the day, for example: at home or at This article is an open access article work. On the other hand, DC wise, two main groups exist: fast charging stations (between distributed under the terms and 20 kW and 120 kW) and extreme fast charging stations (higher than 120 kW). Due to the conditions of the Creative Commons high peak power values, the charging times can be reduced up to 15 min [8], which makes Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// the EV more attractive to the customer. creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ Concerning conductive EV fast charging stations, Figure1 shows different imple- 4.0/). mented structures. As it can be observed, in all the solutions, fast charging stations are Electronics 2021, 10, 260. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics10030260 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/electronics Electronics 2021, 10, x FOR PEER REVIEW 2 of 17 Electronics 2021, 10, 260 2 of 16 Concerning conductive EV fast charging stations, Figure 1 shows different imple- mented structures. As it can be observed, in all the solutions, fast charging stations are connectedconnected to to a a medium medium voltage AC gridgrid and,and, then,then, the the voltage voltage level level is is reduced reduced and and rectified. recti- fied.Finally, Finally, a DC-DC a DC-DC power power converter converter is implemented is implemented to charge to charge each each EV at EV the at station. the station. How- However,ever, the locationthe location of galvanic of galvanic isolation isolation and and the waythe way to step to step down down the the voltage voltage are are managed man- agedin different in different ways. ways. For example,For example, in Figure in Figu1a,re the 1a, voltage the voltage is reduced is reduced by aline by a frequency line fre- quencytransformer transformer and then and rectified then rectified by an AC-DCby an AC-DC converter. converter. This way, This away, common a common DC bus DC is busobtained is obtained from from which which the rest the of rest the of DC-DC the DC-DC individual individual charging charging units units are connected. are connected. In the Incase the of case Figure of 1Figureb,c, the 1b,c, line the frequency line freque transformerncy transformer is avoided is byavoided implementing by implementing solid-state solid-statetransformers transformers on the AC-DC on the rectifier AC-DC or rectifier on the DC-DCor on the converter. DC-DC converter. (a) (b) (c) FigureFigure 1. 1. SimplifiedSimplified single-wire single-wire diagram diagram of different of different electric electric vehicle vehicle (EV) fast (EV) charging fast charging station station solu- tions.solutions. (a) Galvanic (a) Galvanic isolation isolation is provided is provided by a by line a line frequency frequency transformer; transformer; (b ()b Galvanic) Galvanic isolation isolation is is providedprovided by by the the AC-DC AC-DC rectifier; rectifier; (c (c) )Galvanic Galvanic isolation isolation is is provided provided by by the the DC-DC DC-DC charging charging unit. unit. ThisThis paper paper will will focus focus on on the the design design of the of theDC-DC DC-DC converter, converter, which which is connected is connected be- tweenbetween a common a common DC bus DC and bus the and ESS the of ESSthe EV. of theSince EV. the Since concerned the concerned converter converteris required is torequired process togreat process power great values, power its size, values, cost itsand size, performance cost and performanceare key factors are that key must factors be optimizedthat must through be optimized its design. through Due itsto this, design. recent Due literature to this, recentaround literature EV fast charging around EVappli- fast cationscharging presents applications advance presents architectures advance based architectures on partial power based onprocessing partial power (PPP). processing This type of(PPP). architectures This type aim of to architectures reduce the power aim to processed reduce the by power the converter, processed achieving by the converter,reduced sizeachieving and more reduced efficient size converters. and more efficient Due to converters.the mentioned Due benefits, to the mentioned their applications benefits, theirare diverse.applications For example, are diverse. authors For example, from [9–11] authors propose from PPP [9–11 based] propose architectures PPP based for architectures photovol- taicfor (PV) photovoltaic systems, (PV) whereas systems, [12,13] whereas suggest [12 PPP,13] suggestsolutions PPP for solutionsESS applications. for ESS applications. There, the concernedThere, the converter concerned is converter designed is to designed control the to control power theflow power between flow the between source the and source the load.and Moreover, the load. Moreover, through [14,15], through authors [14,15 pres], authorsent DC presentwindfarms DC based windfarms on PPP based technology. on PPP Aparttechnology. from that, Apart with from the that, aim with of theachieving aim of achieving current balancing current balancing of series of seriesconnected connected ele- ments,elements, refs. refs. [16–19] [16–19 pr]esent present PPP PPP architectures architectures for for applications applications where where there there exist exist series series connectedconnected elements. elements. Last Last but but not not least, least, when when it it comes comes to to EV EV fast fast charging charging applications applications authorsauthors from from [8,20,21] [8,20,21 ]propose propose PPP PPP based based charging charging units. units. There, There, the the authors authors implement implement a a unidirectional topology such as the phase shifted full bridge and they show that the PPP solution achieves converter rating reduction and efficiency improvements compared to its Electronics 2021, 10, x FOR PEER REVIEW 3 of 17 Electronics 2021, 10, 260 unidirectional topology such as the phase shifted full bridge and they show that the3 PPP of 16 solution achieves converter rating reduction and efficiency