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Advances in Power Electronics Technologies for Renewable Energy Systems

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A special issue of Electronics (ISSN 2079-9292). This special issue belongs to the section "Power Electronics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2020) | Viewed by 83917

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Raúl Baños Navarro

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Guest Editor

Department of Engineering, Electrical Engineering section, University of Almería, E-04120 Almería, Spain
Interests: energy economics; renewable energy; power meters; network analysis; engineering optimization
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Francisco G. Montoya

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Guest Editor

Department of Engineering, Electrical Engineering Section, University of Almeria, 04120 Almeria, Spain
Interests: geometric algebra; power quality; power theory; power engineering; optimization techniques
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The global energy crisis occasioned by the gradual increase in the world population, climate change, and the need for cleaner productions has generated much interest on renewable energy sources, including solar power (photovoltaic, thermal, and concentrated), wind power, hydropower, tidal power, wave power, geothermal, biofuels, biomass, and the renewable part of waste. The use of renewable energy sources helps to reduce air pollution and climate change, thanks to the production of fewer greenhouse gas emissions. Other benefits of renewable energy include a higher energy security, economic growth, and a movement away from the reliance on fossil fuels (oil and gas).

Renewable energy can be converted to electricity, which is transported to residential, commercial, industrial, and administrative buildings for use. Nowadays, approximately 20% of the globally produced electricity comes from renewable sources. This is the reason the renewable energy-based generation of electricity is currently experiencing rapid growth in power grids. Moreover, the increasing use of renewable sources has promoted the development of microgrids, smart grids, and distributed generation systems. For example, distributed generation, that is, small power generating units near end-users, allows for reducing the amount of electricity that must be generated at centralized power plants and transported using the power grid.

In parallel to the development of modern microprocessors and advanced control strategies, power electronic devices are essential for renewable energy systems. In particular, power electronics and controllers play an important role in renewable energy conversion, as it requires the use of power electronic converters to convert the electrical waveform generated by wind turbine generators, PV cells, and so on (direct current—DC), to that required by electric grids and loads (usually alternate current—AC), while ensuring the stability and power quality of the grid (frequency, voltage, power factor, harmonics, etc.). Furthermore, as renewable energy systems provide intermittent electricity, power electronic devices are also used to store the energy in batteries.

This Special Issue aims to receive high-quality submissions with significant technical contributions related to the emerging technologies, techniques, and applications of power electronics in renewable energy systems (RES). Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

Advances in power electronic technologies and techniques for RES
Advances in power electronic interfaces for RES
Power electronic converters (including inverters, rectifiers, cyclo-converters, etc.) in RES
Power electronics and energy storage systems in RES
Power electronics and power quality in RES
Power electronics and distributed generation
Power electronics in microgrids and smart grids
Power electronics control (generator level, plant level, and transmission level)
Optimization in power electronics with applications to RES
Intelligent power electronics in RES

Dr. Raúl Baños
Prof. Dr. Francisco G. Montoya
Guest Editors

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Published Papers (10 papers)

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Research

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19 pages, 8257 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Control of Single-Phase Electrolytic Capacitor-Less Isolated Converter for DC Low Voltage Residential Networks

by Nelson Santos, J. Fernando Silva and Vasco Soares

Electronics 2020, 9(9), 1401; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics9091401 - 29 Aug 2020

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3438

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a desire to improve electricity generation and consumption, to reach sustainability. Technological solutions today allow a rational use of electricity with good overall performance. Traditionally, from production to distribution, electrical energy is AC-supported for compatibility reasons and easy voltage level transformation. However, nowadays most electric loads need DC power to work properly. A single high-efficiency central AC-DC power converter may be advantageous in eliminating several less efficient AC-DC embedded converters, distributed all over a residential area. This paper presents a new single-phase AC-DC converter using one active bridge (most isolated topologies are based on the dual active bridge concept) and a high-frequency isolation transformer with low-value non-electrolytic capacitors, together with its control system design. The converter can be introduced into future low-voltage DC microgrids for residential buildings, as an alternative to several embedded AC-DC converters. Non-linear control techniques (sliding mode control and the Lyapunov direct method) are employed to guarantee stability in the output DC low voltage with near unity power factor compensation in the AC grid. The designed converter and controllers were simulated using Matlab/Simulink and tested in a lab experimental prototype using digital signal processing (DSP) to evaluate system performance. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Power Electronics Technologies for Renewable Energy Systems)

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15 pages, 6202 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Research on the Parameter Test and Identification Method of Electromechanical Transient Model for PV Power Generation

by Tao Shi, Linan Qu and Luming Ge

Electronics 2020, 9(8), 1184; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics9081184 - 22 Jul 2020

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2222

Abstract

Model and parameters are the indispensable conditions for the simulation calculation of power systems with a high proportion of photovoltaic power generation. Conventional models of power electronic devices are difficult to meet the requirement of power system electromechanical transient simulation, and the parameters are difficult to obtain. Aiming at this problem, this paper proposes a structure of an electromechanical transient simulation model of a photovoltaic power station and designs a set of photovoltaic power generation transient characteristic test systems based on a fault simulation device. Through a disturbance test and model parameter identification, the electromechanical transient simulation model and parameters of photovoltaic power generation are obtained. In this paper, based on the test system, the electromechanical transient characteristics of a certain type of photovoltaic inverter are modeled. The results show that the model can successfully describe the electromechanical transient characteristics of photovoltaic power generation, and the simulation results obtained based on the model parameters have a good fitting degree compared with the measured curve. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Power Electronics Technologies for Renewable Energy Systems)

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21 pages, 10716 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Fuzzy-Rule-Based PV Inverter Controller to Enhance the Quality of Solar Power Supply: Experimental Test and Validation

by Mahammad A. Hannan, Zamre A. Ghani, Mohammed M. Hoque and Molla S. Hossain Lipu

Electronics 2019, 8(11), 1335; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics8111335 - 12 Nov 2019

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 4345

Abstract

This paper presents the development of fuzzy-based inverter controller for photovoltaic (PV) application to avoid the nonlinearity characteristic and fluctuations of PV inverter output. The fuzzy-based controller algorithm is employed in the PV inverter control system to optimize the duty cycles of the insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) and to enhance the inverter outputs with lower harmonic contents and unity power factor. The developed fuzzy-based PV inverter controller is implemented in the MATLAB/Simulink models and experimentally tested in a dSPACE DS1104 process controller. The obtained simulation result of the developed fuzzy-based PV inverter controller is validated with experimental results under different performance conditions. It is seen that the experimental results of the switching signals, inverter voltage and current, control parameters, and total harmonic distortion (THD) of load current and output voltage of the PV inverter are closely matched with that of the simulation results. To validate the inverter performance, the proposed fuzzy-based PV inverter controller outperforms other studies with a voltage THD of 2.5% and a current THD of 3.5% with unity power factor. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Power Electronics Technologies for Renewable Energy Systems)

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19 pages, 5381 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Energy Efficiency Based Control Strategy of a Three-Level Interleaved DC-DC Buck Converter Supplying a Proton Exchange Membrane Electrolyzer

by Burin Yodwong, Damien Guilbert, Wattana Kaewmanee and Matheepot Phattanasak

Electronics 2019, 8(9), 933; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics8090933 - 25 Aug 2019

Cited by 32 | Viewed by 7354

Abstract

To face the intensive use of natural gas and other fossil fuels to generate hydrogen, water electrolysis based on renewable energy sources (RES) seems to be a viable solution. Due to their fast response times, and high efficiency, proton exchange membrane electrolyzer (PEM EL) is the most suitable technology for long-term energy storage, combined with RES. Like fuel cells, the development of fit DC-DC converters is mandatory to interface the EL to the DC grid. Given that PEM EL operating voltages are quite low and to meet requirements in terms of output current ripples, new emerging interleaved DC-DC converter topologies seem to be the best candidates. In this work, a three-level interleaved DC-DC buck converter has been chosen to supply a PEM EL from a DC grid. Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to develop a suitable control strategy of this interleaved topology connected to a PEM EL emulator. To design the control strategy, investigations have been carried out on energy efficiency, hydrogen flow rate, and specific energy consumption. The obtained experimental results validate the performance of the converter in protecting the PEM EL during transient operations while guaranteeing correct specific energy consumption. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Power Electronics Technologies for Renewable Energy Systems)

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15 pages, 2437 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Optimal Scheduling Strategy of Distribution Network Based on Electric Vehicle Forecasting

by Fenglei Li, Chunxia Dou and Shiyun Xu

Electronics 2019, 8(7), 816; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics8070816 - 22 Jul 2019

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 4232

Abstract

Based on the Monte Carlo method, this paper simulates, predicts the load, and considers the travel chain of electric vehicles and different charging methods to establish a predictive model. Based on the results of electric vehicle simulation prediction, an optimal scheduling model of the distribution network considering the demand response side load is established. The firefly optimization algorithm is used to solve the optimal scheduling problem. The results show that the prediction model proposed in this paper has a certain reference value for the prediction of an electric vehicle load. The electric vehicle is placed in the optimal scheduling resource of the distribution network, which increases the dimension of the scheduling resources of the network and improves the economics of the distribution network operation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Power Electronics Technologies for Renewable Energy Systems)

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12 pages, 6796 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Improvements on the Carrier-Based Control Method for a Three-Level T-Type, Quasi-Impedance-Source Inverter

by Fermín Barrero-González, Carlos Roncero-Clemente, María Isabel Milanés-Montero, Eva González-Romera, Enrique Romero-Cadaval, Oleksandr Husev and V. Fernão Pires

Electronics 2019, 8(6), 677; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics8060677 - 14 Jun 2019

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3641

Abstract

The boost feature that characterizes Z-source and quasi-Z-source converters is usually achieved by means of a proper insertion of short-circuit states in the full DC-link. In this work, a novel pulse width modulation carrier-based strategy for a three-phase, three-level T-type, quasi-Z-source inverter is introduced, based on the addition of alternate short-circuits in the two halves of the DC-link bus. This technique achieves better performance, less electromagnetic interference, and lower harmonic distortion of the output line-to-line voltage compared to the traditional methods based on the full DC-link shoot-through. At the same time, generating the switching states is to easy implement. The proposed strategy permits the use of electronic devices with lower blocking voltage capability, thus improving converter reliability, size, and cost. The new method may be implemented in another multilevel inverter with an impedance-source network as well. A comprehensive simulation study is performed in order to validate the adopted method, with different inverter input voltages, which is taken as representative of a photovoltaic array. Comparisons are conducted with conventional strategy insertions using the same topology in order to show the improvements achieved. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Power Electronics Technologies for Renewable Energy Systems)

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17 pages, 4363 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Development of a Stand-Alone Photovoltaic System Considering Shaded Effect for Energy Storage and Release

by Kuei-Hsiang Chao, Yu-Ju Lai and Wen-Ching Chang

Electronics 2019, 8(5), 567; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics8050567 - 22 May 2019

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3176

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop a photovoltaic system that stores energy for use in direct current micro-grid systems or to supply electric power to consumers living in remote areas. If the photovoltaic module array is shaded, the signals of conventional maximum power point trackers (MPPT) may be trapped at the local power maxima. Therefore, this study developed a smart maximum power point tracker to track the maximum power point (MPP). The control method adopted a teaching learning based optimization (TLBO) algorithm. To adjust the energy flow direction of the direct current load terminal, this study proposed an energy accumulation and release strategy that used a high-boost/buck-ratio bidirectional converter to control the battery charge and discharge for energy accumulation and release. In addition, this study developed an inverter to convert direct current into alternating current for alternating current loads. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Power Electronics Technologies for Renewable Energy Systems)

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32 pages, 7517 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperReview

Electronics and Its Worldwide Research

by Rosa M. García Salvador, Nuria Novas, Alfredo Alcayde, Dalia El Khaled and Francisco G. Montoya

Electronics 2020, 9(6), 977; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics9060977 - 11 Jun 2020

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 5227

Abstract

The contributions of researchers at a global level in the journal Electronics in the period 2012–2020 are analyzed. The objective of this work is to establish a global vision of the issues published in the Electronic magazine and their importance, advances and developments that have been particularly relevant for subsequent research. The magazine has 15 thematic sections and a general one, with the programming of 385 special issues for 2020–2021. Using the Scopus database and bibliometric techniques, 2310 documents are obtained and distributed in 14 thematic communities. The communities that contribute to the greatest number of works are Power Electronics (20.13%), Embedded Computer Systems (13.59%) and Internet of Things and Machine Learning Systems (8.11%). A study of the publications by authors, affiliations, countries as well as the H index was undertaken. The 7561 authors analyzed are distributed in 87 countries, with China being the country of the majority (2407 authors), followed by South Korea (763 authors). The H-index of most authors (75.89%) ranges from 0 to 9, where the authors with the highest H-Index are from the United States, Denmark, Italy and India. The main publication format is the article (92.16%) and the review (5.84%). The magazine publishes topics in continuous development that will be further investigated and published in the near future in fields as varied as the transport sector, energy systems, the development of new broadband semiconductors, new modulation and control techniques, and more. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Power Electronics Technologies for Renewable Energy Systems)

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41 pages, 5617 KiB

Open AccessReview

A Comprehensive Review of DC–DC Converter Topologies and Modulation Strategies with Recent Advances in Solar Photovoltaic Systems

by Kummara Venkat Guru Raghavendra, Kamran Zeb, Anand Muthusamy, T. N. V. Krishna, S. V. S. V Prabhudeva Kumar, Do-Hyun Kim, Min-Soo Kim, Hwan-Gyu Cho and Hee-Je Kim

Electronics 2020, 9(1), 31; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics9010031 - 26 Dec 2019

Cited by 133 | Viewed by 30544

Abstract

Renewable Energy Sources (RES) showed enormous growth in the last few years. In comparison with the other RES, solar power has become the most feasible source because of its unique properties such as clean, noiseless, eco-friendly nature, etc. During the extraction of electric power, the DC–DC converters were given the prominent interest because of their extensive use in various applications. Photovoltaic (PV) systems generally suffer from less energy conversion efficiency along with improper stability and intermittent properties. Hence, there is a necessity of the Maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithm to ensure the maximum power available that can be harnessed from the solar PV. In this paper, the most important features of the DC/DC converters along with the MPPT techniques are reviewed and analyzed. A detailed comprehensive analysis is made on different converter topologies of both non-isolated and isolated DC/DC converters. Then, the modulation strategies, comparative performance evaluation are addressed systematically. At the end, recent advances and future trends are described briefly and considered for the next-generation converter’s design and applications. This review work will provide a useful structure and reference point on the DC/DC converters for researchers and designers working in the field of solar PV applications. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Power Electronics Technologies for Renewable Energy Systems)

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29 pages, 1642 KiB

Open AccessReview

Review of GaN HEMT Applications in Power Converters over 500 W

by Chao-Tsung Ma and Zhen-Huang Gu

Electronics 2019, 8(12), 1401; https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics8121401 - 23 Nov 2019

Cited by 102 | Viewed by 16396

Abstract

Because of the global trends of energy demand increase and decarbonization, developing green energy sources and increasing energy conversion efficiency are recently two of the most urgent topics in energy fields. The requirements for power level and performance of converter systems are continuously growing for the fast development of modern technologies such as the Internet of things (IoT) and Industry 4.0. In this regard, power switching devices based on wide-bandgap (WBG) materials such as silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) are fast maturing and expected to greatly benefit power converters with complex switching schemes. In low- and medium-voltage applications, GaN-based high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) are superior to conventional silicon (Si)-based devices in terms of switching frequency, power rating, thermal capability, and efficiency, which are crucial factors to enhance the performance of advanced power converters. Previously published review papers on GaN HEMT technology mainly focused on fabrication, device characteristics, and general applications. To realize the future development trend and potential of applying GaN technology in various converter designs, this paper reviews a total of 162 research papers focusing on GaN HEMT applications in mid- to high-power (over 500 W) converters. Different types of converters including direct current (DC)–DC, alternating current (AC)–DC, and DC–AC conversions with various configurations, switching frequencies, power densities, and system efficiencies are reviewed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Power Electronics Technologies for Renewable Energy Systems)

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