A quasi‐two‐switch power factor correction converter for on‐board battery chargers

Abstract

SummaryThis paper describes a quasi‐two‐switch buck‐boost power factor correction (PFC) converter for use in on‐board battery chargers to create a variable output voltage that is less than or greater than the peak input voltage. A two‐stage converter links the input grid power to the battery pack both in battery‐operated electric cars (BEVs) and plug‐in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), with battery pack voltages ranging from 100 to 500 V depending on vehicle size and capacity. A universal charger that can manage such a wide range of battery pack voltages is appropriate for all vehicle designs. This requirement is met by supplying a changeable DC link voltage at the input of the DC/DC converter, which is a major obstacle in battery chargers when it comes to achieving universal output voltages. The major contribution of this research is the analysis and design of a dual‐control technique for a cascaded buck‐boost converter suited for a power factor correction (PFC) rectifier. The control loop is designed to allow a seamless transition from buck‐boost operation while putting less stress on the devices. The converter's power loss and small‐signal model are also investigated. From an economic standpoint, this concept allows the automobile industry to manufacture a single power converter, which is flexible and capable of charging numerous vehicle variants. Results have been verified both with a PSIM (11.0) simulation model and an experimental setup for a 1‐kW PFC converter suitable for universal input voltages of 85–265 Vrms and broad output voltages.