Optimal Selection among Various Three-Phase Four-Wire Back-to-Back (BTB) Converters with Comparative Analysis for Wave Energy Converters

Abstract

Wave energy converters are attracting attention as an energy source that can respond to climate change. In order to increase the energy efficiency of the wave energy converters, efficient power converters are also required. The efficient converters require operation at a low switching frequency, which increases the weight and volume of the passive components. Therefore, in this paper, the performance of various types of topologies is compared to select the optimal power converter for wave energy converters. In order to cope with the unbalanced operation and unbalanced load of renewable energy, in this paper, the topology of the four-leg type is analyzed centrally. In addition, the analysis was performed by applying the model predictive control that can quickly respond to the rapid energy change of wave energy. In addition, model predictive control was applied to the four-leg converter analyzed in this paper because it is suitable for application to atypical topologies. For performance analysis of various types of topology, the loss and efficiency of each converter were analyzed by applying a loss analysis model, and output current harmonics and leakage current characteristics, capacitor voltage fluctuation rate, etc., were additionally analyzed at various switching frequencies. In conclusion, the three-level four-leg converter showed up to 2.28% and 2.7% higher efficiency under balanced and unbalanced operating conditions.