AI-aided power electronic converters automatic online real-time efficiency optimization method

Abstract

Energy losses during the conversion and supply of electric power are considered a significant issue and cannot be estimated. Improvement in the efficiency of energy conversion systems is highly restricted because of their internal nonlinearity and complexity. Thus, inspired by the successful utilization of robotic chemists, we demonstrate a pioneering concept of artificial intelligence (AI)-aided automatic online real-time optimization of a power electronics converter using a dual active bridge (DAB) converter as an example. An optimal modulation strategy was obtained through repeated automatic exploration experiments on a practical DAB converter platform. Specifically, the DAB experimental platform operated autonomously around the clock for approximately 71 h. It performed 120,000 consecutive experiments (12,000 episodes) within a six-variable experimental space driven by a deep deterministic policy gradient (DDPG) algorithm. The proposed AI-aided automatic online real-time optimization method achieved significantly improved efficiency of power conversion and supply. Consequently, zero carbon emissions may be obtained in the future.