AC/DC, DC-DC bi-directional converters for

energy storage and EV applications

Ramkumar S, Jayanth Rangaraju
Grid Infrastructure Systems
Detailed Agenda
1. Applications of bi-directional converters
1.1. Power storage applications
1.2. EV charger applications

2. Bi-directional topologies and associated reference designs

2.1. DC/DC topologies
2.1.1. Active clamp current fed full-bridge
2.1.2. DAB
2.1.3. Fixed frequency LLC
2.1.4. Phase shift LLC
2.2. AC/DC topologies
2.2.1. 3 Level T-type

2
Applications of Bi-Directional
Converters
What is a Bi-Directional Converter
Bi-directional converters use the same power stage to transfer power in
either directions in a power system.

4
Use Case of Bi-Directional Converters
Super Chargers Vehicle to Grid

AC/DC Bi-Directional
HOME AC/DC
Bi- Battery VEHICLE
Directional
VEHICLE DC-DC
• V2G needs “Bi-Directional” Power Flow.
• Helps reduce peak demand tariff. • Ability to change direction of power transfer quickly.
• Reduces load transients. • High efficiency >97% (End to End) at power levels
up to 22KW.
• Needs Bi-Directional DC-DC stage 5
EVSE/ESS Power Stage
AC/DC DC/DC

3ph AC Inverter Isolated DC-DC

Power Stage Power Stage
800V 50-500Vdc
Gate Driver Gate Driver Up to 400A Vehicle
Control Current/Voltage Control Current/Voltage CAN/ PLC
MCU Sense MCU Sense

Aux CAN

Popular for ESS Popular for EV Charging

– Current fed push-pull – CLLC
– Open loop fixed frequency LLC – Dual Active Bridge
– Active clamped Current fed push-pull – Phase Shift LLC

6
Active Clamp Current Fed
Full Bridge
Backup Mode : Active Clamp Current Fed Full Bridge

• Low Voltage Mosfet ZVS/ZCS at turn-on

• High Voltage Mosfet ZVS at turn-on and turn-off

• High Voltage Mosfet low di/dt at turn-off, low Qrr loss

• Reduced ripple current for the battery

• Peak voltage spike limited to < 5V without any

snubber

8
Battery Charging Mode : Phase Shift Full Bridge

• Low Voltage Mosfet Achieve ZVS turn-on and turn -off

• Reduced ripple current for the battery

• Peak voltage spike limited to < 15V without any snubber

• Soft-Switching of HV Mosfet possible if Phase-Shift

control used

9
Boost Mode ZVS Waveform

IL

VDS_Q1 VDS_Q1

VGS_Q1 VGS_Q1

Ids_Q1

ZVS Turn on of LV Mosfet when Input Current > 15A, ZCS turn on at <15A

10
Mode Transition Waveform

50 uSec

 When Bus voltage drops to 370V, Mode transition from charging to backup begins (soft start).
 When Bus voltage drops to 360V, full backup in boost mode starts

11
Backup Supply Efficiency

95.5% Efficiency at 60V 96% Efficiency at 58V Battery

Battery Voltage Voltage
12
 Key Points for Active Clamp Current Fed
ADVANTAGES DIS-ADVANTAGES
• simple topology for control.
• Presence of the current fed inductor: • More Components, add to BOM cost
• Reduces battery ripple current. • Need additional low power winding at startup.
• Minimizes the filter capacitors required. • Switching frequency limited to ~150KHz in most
• Prevents transformer hard saturation application.
• Easy over current protection • Additional conduction loss in clamp mosfet.
• Achieve 96% efficiency in Backup Mode.
• Less than 15V voltage spike on mosfet helps use low
voltage highly optimized mosfet.
• Battery Charging mode operation increase efficiency >96% • Power Storage
• Easy system paralleling possible. • EV/HEV 12– 400V Aux System
• Low di/dt on high voltage mosfet, so reduced Qrr loses can
use Si Mosfet for HV side
13
2-kW, 48V to 400V, >94% Efficiency, Bi-Directional Converter
Features Benefits
• Digitally-controlled bi-directional power stage operating as half- • Wide operating voltage range of 300V-400VDC HV bus range
bridge battery charger and current fed full-bridge boost converter and 36V to 60V LV bus range
• 2kW rated operation for discharge and 1kW rated for charging • High efficiency boost operation at light loads with flyback mode
• High efficiency >95.8% as charger & >95.5% as boost converter • Configurable for high wattages through power stage modifications
• Seamless (50uS) transitions between charge and boost modes • Power limiting for high temperature operation, aids in increased
• ZVS at high loads and synchronous rectification switching product lifetime
schemes for high efficiency • Form factor 1U rack mountable: 180 mm x 170 mm (approximate)
• Protections for Over current, Short circuit, OV and UV
• Communication for V & I set, direction control, & status monitoring

Target Applications
• Energy storage systems
• Automotive

Tools & Resources

• TIDA-0095x Tools Folder
• Design Guide
• Design Files: Schematics, BOM,
Gerbers, Software, and more
• Device Datasheets:
‒ TMS320F28033,UCC21520,UCC27211A,
CSD19536, INA240, AMC1301, TLV70422
Dual Active Bridge
DAB - Theory of Operation

• Power transfer analogy

– Two sinusoidal voltage sources
– Power transfer from leading bus to lagging bus
– The magnitude and direction controlled by varying the
phase angle difference.
• High frequency square wave across the primary
and secondary modulated at switching frequency
• The high frequency signals are phase shifted with
respect to each other leading to power transfer.
• Lagging current discharges parasitic capacitance
prior to turn on and results in ZVS.

16
DAB - Zero Voltage Switching
Switching transition from interval 1 to 2:

Interval 1 Interval 2 (capacitor)

Interval 2 (diode) Interval 2

ZVS transition on secondary side

Cap Q5 Discharges to zero D5 Off to On

Cap Q6 Charges to Vo D6 Off

Cap Q7 Charges to Vo D7 Off

Cap Q8 Discharges to zero D8 Off to On

17
Test Results

Peak Efficiency of 98.2% at Vout 700V

Steady stage switching waveforms
 Key Points for Dual Active Bridge
ADVANTAGES DIS-ADVANTAGES
• Topology capable of achieving high efficiency. • Preferable to use SiC or GaN
• High switching frequency possible to increase • Reduced efficiency compared to CLLC in a
power density. narrow range.
• Capable of operating in wide input and output
voltage variation condition (with reduced
efficiency)
• Backup mode efficiency ~97% possible.
• Basic Single Phase Shift is easy to control. • EV/HEV OBC /Off Board (SiC)
• Easy to parallel multiple modules. • ESS (Higher End)

19
Bi-Directional Dual Active Bridge (DAB) DC:DC Design
Features Benefits
• Input Voltage: 700-800-V DC (HV-Bus voltage/Vienna output) • Single phase shift modulation provides easy control loop
• Output Voltage: 380-500 V (Battery) implementation. Can be extended to dual phase shift
• Output power level: 10 kW modulation for better range of ZVS and efficiency.
• Single phase DAB capable of bi-directional operation • SiC devices offer best in class power density and efficiency
• Soft switching operation of switches over a wide range • Dual channel reinforced gate driver UCC21530 reduces the
• Achieves peak efficiency – 98.2%, full load efficiency – 97.5% total component count for driving SiC MOSFETS
• Less than 3% ripple target for output voltage • Provides modularity and ease of bidirectional operation
• Dual channel reinforced isolated gate driver
• Snubber less devices reduce parasitic device volume
• Single phase shift modulation
• Switching frequency -100 kHz, Power density – 2.25 KW/L

Applications

• EV charging stations, On
board chargers
• Power conversion
systems (PCS) in energy
storage

20
Bi-Direction Resonant
Converters
Bi-Directional LLC

─ Capable of delivering high efficiency and high power density.

─ In Cost sensitive applications more suitable for narrow voltage range operation.
─ For wide input/output voltage range operation, need to use GaN or SiC switches.
22
Backup Mode: Full Bridge LLC
─ In this mode power transfer from battery to high
voltage DC Bus.
─ Power stage work as LLC Converter
─ The Low voltage mosfet achieve ZVS turn-on.
─ The body diode of the high voltage mosfet have
ZCS turn/on and ZCS turn/off in a narrow
operating region resulting in very low Qrr losses.
─ If application designed to operate in this narrow
range, then capable of achieving >97-97.5%
efficiency

23
The Gain Curve
Fr2 At Resonance Fr1

Between Fr1 &

Peak Gain VdsQ2
VgsQ2
At Fr1
Inductive
Vo Region

ILR

Capacitive
Region
IQ9

─ Lowest RMS Currents

Fr1 ─ Unity gain point
─ ZVS for HV mosfet & ZCS for LV mosfet
24
The Gain Curve
Fr2 Inductive Region >FR1

VdsQ2
VgsQ2

Inductive
Vo Region

ILR

High di/dt at turn-off

IQ9

─ Frequency Increases to operate at light load

Fr1 ─ ZVS for HV mosfet
Safe operating region when using High Voltage Mosfet.
─ High di/dt on LV mosfet results in Qrr losses
For SiC or GaN, can operate even in inductive region 25
Need for 2nd Stage for Wide Operating Region

• The second conditioner stage boosts the batter voltage to a fixed 72V (an example).
• This can help operate the LLC converter operate at fixed frequency.
• This enables use of HV Si Mosfets for cost optimized applications.
26
Battery Charging Mode: Full Bridge LC
─ In this mode power transfer from high voltage
DC Bus to battery.
─ Power stage work as ‘LC Converter’
─ The High voltage mosfet achieve ZVS turn-on.
─ The body diode of the low voltage mosfet have
high di/dt at turn-off. Some have some Qrr loss.
─ At light load, need to operate in burst mode.
─ Efficiency upto 95% possible when the Low
voltage mosfet is operated as synchronous
rectifier.

27
Mode Transition Waveform: Charging to Backup

<30uS Mode transition from Charging to Backup

28
Efficiency Results

Peak Efficiency 96.9% in prototype Board Peak Efficiency 95.2% in prototype Board
29
 Key Points for Fix Frequency Resonant Converters
ADVANTAGES DIS-ADVANTAGES
• Topology capable of achieving high efficiency. • Slightly Complex topology for control
• High switching frequency possible to increase • Using high voltage mosfet limit operating range.
power density. • Preferable to use SiC or GaN
• Backup mode efficiency ~97.5% possible. • Topology suitable for limited input/output
• Using C-LLC, battery charging mode efficiency voltage range region.
also can be further increased.

• ESS
• EV/HEV OBC /Off Board (SiC)

30
Phase Shift Resonant
Converters
Hybrid Control Strategy for Wide Input and Output
Voltage Range Applications

• Addition of Phase shift Control,

allows us to vary the resonant
tank gain without changing the
switching frequency.

• Primary phase shift to reduce

the gain.

• Secondary phase shift to

increase the gain.

Primary Phase Normal LLC Secondary Phase

shift Resonant Operation shift Resonant
Case #3 Case #1 Case #2

32
 Case #2 Battery Voltage Between 410 – 450V
Key operating waveform

500V
410–
460V

Gain Boost

• Secondary side phase shift + Resonant LLC • Green waveform shows the secondary SiC
operation. current. Can clearly see the non ZCS
• Very little reduction switching frequency. This results operation at turn off, resulting in slight
in reduced increase in RMS current increase in switching loss.
• Achieves high efficiency.
• ZVS for primary mosfet. Slight turn-off loss for • Blue waveform shows the GaN switch
secondary mosfet. current indicated ZVS.
33
Case #3 Battery Voltage between 250-310V
Key operating waveform

Gain Buck
390V
250 –
310V

• Primary side phase shift + Resonant LLC operation.

• Green waveform shows the secondary high
• The added phase shift helps in clamping the max
voltage SiC current.
switching frequency of the converter.
• This can help in both reducing switching loss and
• Blue waveform shows the GaN switch
above resonant frequency operation.
current indicated ZVS.
• ZVS for primary mosfet. ZCS for the secondary SiC

34
Case #4 Enhanced Case #3 with Range Extension
• At very light loads and lower voltage
range, primary phase shift cannot
gaurantee ZVS turn-on of the GaN
390V
250V-
switches.
270V

• This lowers the efficiency, as well as

can lead to huge temperature rise on
the GaN switches.

• An additional inductance is switched

into the system to increase the primary
circulating current, thus ensuring ZVS
across full load and line ranges.

• This inductance is switched in and out

using a snubbed bi-directional low
switches.
35
Hybrid Efficiency Result

Load Fixed at 1.1KW Light load efficiency

while Output Battery Voltage varies Battery Voltage fixed at 250V

36
 Key Points for Phase Shift LLC
ADVANTAGES DIS-ADVANTAGES
• Topology capable of achieving wide range input • Complex topology for control
and output voltage variation with high efficiency. • Needs high bandwidth isolated current sensing
• High switching frequency possible to increase
power density.
• In some applications, can eliminate a second
stage DC/DC .
• Backup mode efficiency ~97.5% possible.
• ESS
• Enables single stage LLC operation using Si
• EV/HEV OBC /Off Board (SiC)
Mosfet for wide line and load ranges.

37
97.5% Efficient, 3.3KW Off Board EV Charger with GaN
In Design
Features Benefits
• Dual Phase shift FB LLC topology • Dual phase shift resonant control enables wide output battery
• Full load efficiency >97% with peak efficiency >97.5% voltage range.
• Extended battery voltage support from 250V to 450V DC • Minimal DC Bus voltage variation limited to 390-480V DC.
• Compact form factor 179x100x45mm • LLC stage switching between 200KHz to 500KHz enabling a
• Using GaN for LLC primary stage, SiC for LLC secondary compact power stage while optimizing efficiency.
• Output OCP, OVP, Short-circuit Protection, OTP
• Meets Norms: EN–55022 class A (CE)

Target Applications
• Off Board EV Charger

Tools & Resources

• TIDA-0xxx and Tools Folder
• Design Guide
• Design Files: Schematics, BOM,
Gerbers
• Device Datasheets:
‒ UCC256403, UCC28064A
Topology Summary : Bi-Directional DC/DC
Param ACTIVE LLC CLLC DAB PS-LLC
Clamp
Suitable Application ESS ESS EV EV EV/ESS

Wide Battery Voltage, Yes No, needs additional Limited range Yes (with reduced Yes (if a 10% bus
Fixed Bus Voltage DC/DC stage efficiency) voltage variation is
acceptable)
Efficiency in Backup Medium High High High High
Mode (nominal
voltage)
Efficiency in Charging High High High High High
Mode (nominal
voltage)
Mode change from Easy Easy Easy Easy Easy
Buck to Boost (50uS)
Startup procedure (in Needs a low power No need for startup No need for startup No need for startup No need for startup
cold start condition) startup winding winding winding winding winding
Paralleling Modules Easy Intensive Intensive Easy Intensive

Switching Frequency Low Fixed/ High (Si /SiC) High High High (advantage clamp
frequency range)
39
AC/DC Topologies
Inverter Topologies
Two level h-bridge Three level NPC

Link
Input
Link
Input N

• Simple, well known architecture. • Stacks multiple switching devices to “double” link
voltage limit.
• Low component cost.
• Able to use lower voltage/cost devices.
• Simple control structure.
• Neutral point clamp centers switching devices.
• Losses are concentrated in few devices.
• Unequal component loss distribution.
• Link voltage limited to component voltage rating.
• Increased conduction loss.
• More complex control structure.

41
Inverter Topologies
Three level ANPC inverter Three level TNPC inverter

Link
Input
Link
N
N Input

• Clamping diode replaces with active device. • Reduced switching device count.
• Similar benefits of NPC. • Lower conduction loss.
• More complex control structure. • Simplified driver bias supply vs NPC and ANPC.
• Similar losses to NPC, but balanced across devices. • Simplified control structure vs NPC and ANPC.
• Increased conduction loss. • Primary switches still experience full DC link voltage
(blocking).
• Reduced switching voltage – half DC link voltage

42
Test Results – Inverter

100

99

98

Efficiency (%)
97

96

95

94

93
0% 50% 100%
Load (% of 10kW)

Peak Efficiency ~99% in the Inverter operation

3 phase output voltages with resistive load at 800V DC input

43
Test Results – PFC

Peak Efficiency 97.9% at 400VAC input

PFC Operating Waveforms

44
 Key Points for Three Phase T-type
ADVANTAGES DIS-ADVANTAGES
• T-type topology offers the best compromise • Lower efficiency than ANPC at higher power
between conduction and switching losses at this densities and power level.
voltage level.
• High power density due to SiC & reduced
inductor sizing.
• Simple control for both PFC and Inverter
Operation
• EV/HEV OBC /Off Board (SiC)
• ESS

45
10KW, 3Ph T-Type PFC/Inverter
Features Benefits
• Rated nominal/Max DC voltage at 800V/1000V DC • 3-Level T-type inverter topology for reduced ground
• 3-Ph 3-Level PFC/inverter topology current in transformer-less grid-tie inverter applications
• Max 10kW/10KVA power at 400VAC • Reduced size at higher efficiency using low RDS_ON SiC
• High Voltage (1200V) SiC MosFET based full bridge PFC/inverter MOSFETs and higher switching frequency (50kHz) at
for Peak efficiency of 98.5% higher power (10kW)
• PWM Frequency 50KHz, THD<2% at full load. • Platform for testing both 2-level and 3-level inverter by
• Isolated current sensing using AMC1301 for load current enabling or disabling middle devices through digital
monitoring control
• TMS320F28379D Control card for digital control.
• Platform for testing both 2-level and 3-level inverter by enabling
or disabling middle devices through digital control.

Applications
• Energy storage systems, solar inverters

Tools & Resources

•Design Files: Schematics, BOM and BOM Analysis, Design Files
•Key TI Devices: ISO5852S, UCC5320, SN6505, AMC1306,
TMS320F28379D, OPA4350, PTH08080WAZT
46
 6.6kW, 3 Phase, Bi-Directional ANPC Power Stage In Design

Design for ESS

Features Benefits
• Power stage for three phase inverters and PFCs using SiC • Reduced size of power stage due to high switching frequency
• Up to 15A current (on AC side) capable and high efficiency (less heat sinking)
• Bidirectional operation with less than 1ms direction changeover • Switching devices are lower voltage rated (650V)
• High efficiency (98% at 400V output) • Low component stresses help to improve system reliability
• High frequency operation (100KHz) • Only 9 PWMs needed from MCU – simple control scheme
• Non-unity power factor capable • Only four high frequency switching devices per arm – lower cost
• Isolated current sensing for excellent noise immunity

Target Applications + 400V

+ 400V
UCC28910
12V

LM5180

• Energy Storage Systems (Three phase) UCC28910

12V
X3

- 400V

R
UCC21530

Tools & Resources N

UCC21530 Y

UCC21530
B

• TIDA-0xxxx and Tools Folder

• Design Guide AMC1106
X3
R Y B

• Design Files: Schematics, BOM, UCC21530 UCC21530 UCC21530

+ 400V - 400V

Gerbers, and more - 400V

TLV9002
TMS320F28004x TLV9004

• Device Datasheets: UCC27714 UCC27714 ISO7720 UCC27714 ISO7720

‒ UCC21220, AMC1106, ISO7721, ISO7720

UCC28910, TMS320F28004x
Topology Summary: Bi-Directional AC/DC
3-Level TNPC
2-Level 3-Level NPC 3-Level ANPC

THD of output
High Very low Very low
current
Peak voltage stress
on active and High Low Low Low /(High Blocking)
passive devices
Power density Low High Higher High

Bidirectional Yes Yes Yes Yes

Conduction loss Low high Mid Mid

Switching loss High Low Low Mid

Efficiency Highest (at high

Low Mid High
frequency)
Cost Low Mid High Mid
Control Easy Mid Complex Mid

Input inductor size Large Low Low Low

48
SLYP684
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