A Novel Impedance Matching of Class DE Inverter for High Efficiency, Wide Impedance WPT System

Abstract

In high-frequency wireless power transfer (WPT) applications, Class D, E, and F inverters are most widely used. Class DE inverters combine the respective advantages of Class D and Class E inverters. However, the Class DE inverter is sensitive to changes in impedance, which can easily lead to the loss of soft switching characteristics, thereby reducing efficiency. In this paper, an impedance-matching compensation design method is proposed to expand the high-efficiency region of the Class DE inverter by matching impedance and parameters. The effect of the method on the zero-voltage switching (ZVS) characteristic of Class DE inverters is analyzed in detail. The proposed WPT system maintains a constant voltage and zero phase angle by employing PS/PS compensation topology. Theoretical analysis shows that the impedance can be compressed for the design of resonant network impedance, and the method can expand the high-efficiency region with a reasonable choice of parameters to match the phase. Finally, a 500 kHz, 1 kW WPT prototype was constructed with a coupling factor of 0.25–0.4 and a load range of 30–80 Ω. The inverter’s efficiency exceeds 95%, with optimal efficiency reaching 97.3%. The system efficiency is greater than 87%.