IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 26, NO.
12, DECEMBER 2011
High-Frequency Transformer Isolated Bidirectional
DCDC Converter Modules With High Efficiency
Over Wide Load Range for 20 kVA
Solid-State Transformer
Haifeng Fan, Student Member, IEEE, and Hui Li, Senior Member, IEEE
AbstractThis paper presents the design of new high-frequency
transformer isolated bidirectional dcdc converter modules con-
nected in input-series-output-parallel (ISOP) for 20-kVA-solid-
state transformer. The ISOP modular structure enables the use
of low-voltage MOSFETs, featuring low on-state resistance and
resulted conduction losses, to address medium-voltage input.
A phase-shift dual-half-bridge (DHB) converter is employed to
achieve high-frequency galvanic isolation, bidirectional power flow,
and zero voltage switching (ZVS) of all switching devices, which
leads to low switching losses even with high-frequency operation.
Furthermore, an adaptive inductor is proposed as the main energy
transfer element of a phase-shift DHB converter so that the circu-
lating energy can be optimized to maintain ZVS at light load and
minimize the conduction losses at heavy load as well. As a result,
high efficiency over wide load range and high power density can
be achieved. In addition, current stress of switching devices can
be reduced. A planar transformer adopting printed-circuit-board
windings arranged in an interleaved structure is designed to obtain
low core and winding loss, solid isolation, and identical parameters
in multiple modules. Moreover, the modular structure along with a
distributed control provides plug-and-play capability and possible
high-level fault tolerance. The experimental results on 1 kW DHB
converter modules switching at 50 kHz are presented to validate
the theoretical analysis.
Index TermsCirculating energy, high efficiency, high-
frequency transformer, input-series-output-parallel (ISOP), iso-
lated bidirectional dcdc converter, solid-state transformer (SST),
zero voltage switching (ZVS).
I. INTRODUCTION
HE future intelligent electric energy distribution and man-
T agement systems are expected to integrate highly dis-
tributed and scalable renewable generating sources, wherein
solid-state transformer (SST) is one of the key enabling
Manuscript received January 10, 2011; revised April 26, 2011; accepted June
6, 2011. Date of current version December 6, 2011. This work was supported
by the National Science Foundation under Award Number EEC-0812121. Rec-
ommended for publication by Associate Editor J. Biela.
H. Fan is with Texas Instruments Inc., Tempe, AZ 85284 USA (e-mail:
seabreezefan@gmail.com).
H. Li is with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
Florida A&M UniversityFlorida State University College of Engineering,
Tallahassee, FL 32310 USA (e-mail: hli@caps.fsu.edu).
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available online
at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TPEL.2011.2160652
0885-8993/$26.00 2011 IEEE
3599
elements and intended to replace the conventional line-
frequency (50/60 Hz) transformer based on iron/steel cores and
copper/aluminum coil [1][3]. Besides the ability of the conver-
sion and control of electric energy, SST, a new power electronics
system, can provide many additional advantages such as intelli-
gent energy management, good power quality, low weight, low
volume, and high power density. Various configurations for SST
were reported in [1][7], of which the acdcdcac configura-
tion is the most popular one due to its capability to provide
power factor correction, reactive power compensation, and an
additional dc bus [2], [4][7]. Fig. 1 shows the circuit diagram of
a 20-kVA-single-phase SST consisting of an acdc rectifier, an
isolated bidirectional dcdc converter, and a dcac rectifier. The
high-frequency transformer isolated bidirectional dcdc con-
verter not only provides the galvanic isolation function and a dc
bus, but also becomes critical to determine the overall efficiency
and power density of the system, and, therefore, is one of the
main challenges for the SST design.
There are two possible ways to address the demand of medium
voltage (MV) and high power capability of the dcdc con-
verter stage of SST. One is to develop a semiconductor tech-
nology and /or directly connecting devices in series to reach
higher nominal voltages while maintaining conventional con-
verter topologies; the other is to develop new converter topolo-
gies with traditional semiconductor technology, known as mul-
tilevel converters [4], [5], [8] or modular converters [9][11].
The former inherits the benefit of well-known circuit structures
and control methods. However, the new power semiconductor
devices are more expensive. In addition, the power semicon-
ductor devices with higher voltage rating usually have very high
switching losses when operated with the switching frequency
of more than 20 kHz, and, therefore, fail to achieve high ef-
ficiency and high power density. Multilevel converters enable
low-voltage rating switches to be used under MV input appli-
cations. However, for those over than three-level converters, the
system reliability cannot be guaranteed for a large quantity of
diodes or flying capacitors [12], [13]. By adopting new con-
verter topologies, the modular approach is able to use the well
known, mature, and more economic power semiconductor de-
vices to handle MV power conversion. The main advantages of
the modular approach include: 1) significant improvement in
reliability by introducing desired level of redundancy; 2) stan-
dardization of components leading to reduction in manufactur-
ing cost and time; 3) power systems can be easily reconfigured
3600
Fig. 1. Circuit diagram of 20-kVA-single-phase SST.
to support varying input-output specifications; and 4) possi-
bly higher efficiency and power density of the overall system.
Input-series-output-parallel (ISOP) modular configuration is the
most promising candidate to realize MV to low voltage conver-
sion for SST application.
Several ISOP modular dcdc converters have been reported
in [14][18], and much of previous work has focused on devel-
oping control techniques to achieve input voltage and output cur-
rent sharing, stable operation, and better dynamic performance
in terms of ISOP configuration. However, all the previous work
has little attention paid to the topology of the constituent mod-
ules of ISOP modular dcdc converter, and none of them has set
MV power system as the target application. Although various
topologies have been employed for the constituent modules of
ISOP modular dcdc converter in previous research, unfortu-
nately, none of them can meet the requirements of SST. Phase-
shift full-bridge converter presented in [16] and [17] is attrac-
tive for high power application, and can achieve zero-voltage-
switching (ZVS) operation for primary switches, but fails to pro-
vide bidirectional power flow path due to the rectifying diodes on
secondary side. The forward converter in [14] and [15] requires
additional circuitry for transformer reset and lacks bidirectional
power flow capability. The pushpull converter proposed as the
constituent module of ISOP modular converter for information
technology equipment application in [18] succeeds to provide
bidirectional power flow, and achieve high efficiency with high-
frequency operation with each module operated with less 10-V
input. However, the voltage stress of primary side switches in
the pushpull converter twice the input voltage; hence, it is not
suitable for the MV application.
None of previous work, however, has investigated the phase-
shift dual-bridge bidirectional dcdc converter as the constituent
module of the ISOP converter, although it appears to be the
most promising candidate for MV power conversion system
due to its capability to achieve high-frequency transformer iso-
lation, bidirectional power flow, and ZVS operation for all
switching devices without auxiliary switch devices. The phase-
shift dual-bridge dcdc converters such as dual-active-bridge
(DAB) and dual-half-bridge (DHB) converters have been re-
ported in [19][22]. However, these converters can operate in
the ZVS mode only within a limited region restricted by the con-
verter voltage ratio of input to output and the load condition, and
suffer additional conduction losses due to the circulating energy
at heavy load. Consequently, high efficiency can be achieved
only within a limited load range. A few new control methods
were proposed in [23] and [24] to handle the loss of ZVS due
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 26, NO. 12, DECEMBER 2011
to input voltage variations. However, none of these previous
attempts addressed both the loss of ZVS at light load and the
additional conduction losses due to circulating energy at heavy
load at the same time.
This paper proposes an ISOP modular DHB converter as the
high-frequency transformer isolated bidirectional dcdc con-
verter stage of SST. The proposed converter employs phase-
shift DHB topology for the individual modules to achieve high-
frequency galvanic isolation, bidirectional power flow, and ZVS
operation of all the switch devices. The ZVS technique com-
bined with low-voltage MOSFETs leads to low switching and
conduction losses even under high-frequency operation. Fur-
thermore, an adaptive inductor is proposed as the main energy
transfer element of phase-shift DHB converter so that the cir-
culating energy can be optimized to maintain ZVS operation at
light load and minimize the conduction losses at heavy load as
well. As a result, the efficiency at both light and heavy load can
be significantly improved compared with the conventional DHB
converter with fixed commutation inductor, and, therefore, high
efficiency over wide load range and high power density can be
achieved. In addition, current stress of switching devices can
be reduced. Moreover, a planar transformer adopting printed-
circuit-board (PCB) windings arranged in an interleaved struc-
ture is designed to obtain low core loss, low winding loss, solid
isolation, and identical parameters in multiple modules. Besides,
the modular structure along with a distributed control scheme
provides plug-and-play capability and possible high-level fault
tolerance. Finally, the experimental results on a 1-kW-DHB con-
verter module switching at 50 kHz are presented to validate the
theoretical analysis.
II. HIGH-FREQUENCY TRANSFORMER ISOLATED
BIDIRECTIONAL DCDC CONVERTER
A. System Description of the Proposed ISOP Modular DHB
Converter
As shown in Fig. 2, the SST in the future renewable electric
energy delivery and management (FREEDM) system not only
delivers energy to loads but also integrates distributed renewable
energy sources and energy storage devices. Similar to the block
diagram shown in Fig. 1, the SST consists of an acdc rectifier,
an isolated dcdc converter, and a dcac inverter. The acdc rec-
tifier interfacing with the 7.2-kV-electric utility grid is used to
provide power factor correction function while converting 7.2-
kV ac to 12-kV dc. The dcdc converter, the key stage of SST,
provides high-frequency galvanic isolation and converts 12-kV
FAN AND LI: HIGH-FREQUENCY TRANSFORMER ISOLATED BIDIRECTIONAL DCDC CONVERTER MODULES
Fig. 2. Single-phase SST in the FREEDM system at one residential home.
Fig. 3. ISOP modular DHB converter.
dc to 400-V dc as well. The 400-V dc is used to interface dc
loads, distributed renewable energy sources, and distributed en-
ergy storage devices, and meanwhile it can also be converted to
120/240-V ac for end-use application through a dcac inverter.
At FREEDM systems center, two different approaches are
being investigated for the line side acdc rectifier. One is the
flying-capacitor multilevel converter reported in [25], and the
other is the multilevel-cascaded H-bridge converter presented
in [26]. In order to interface with 12-kV dc bus generated by an
acdc rectifier from 7.2-kV-electric utility grid, the proposed
high-frequency transformer isolated dcdc converter for the
dcdc conversion stage of SST, as shown in Fig. 3, is divided
into multiple low-voltage dcdc converter modules connected
in ISOP configuration. The input and output voltages of each
module are chosen as 500 and 400 V, respectively. Thus, the
low-voltage commercial silicon MOSFETs with low conduc-
tion losses and high switching speed can be selected as the
switching device. The complete dcdc converter, of which the
3-D design is shown in Fig. 4, has an eight-layer structure with
3601
Fig. 4. 3-D design of the proposed ISOP modular DHB converter.
three modules on each layer. Each module is a bidirectional
dcdc converter, which adopts phase-shift technique to real-
ize ZVS operation for all switching devices without auxiliary
switching devices in either direction of power flow [7][9], and,
therefore, enables the high-frequency operation while keeping
low switching losses. Although a total of 24 modules will be
used to interface MV, the utilization of low-voltage device along
with ZVS operation results in high efficiency, high frequency,
good thermal performance, and eventually high power density
of the dcdc conversion stage. As a result, the SST can achieve
much smaller size than conventional line-frequency (50/60 Hz)
transformer by adopting the proposed high-frequency high-
efficiency modules design.
B. Topology Selection of the Constituent Modules
DAB and DHB are two popular topologies among phase-shift
dual-bridge bidirectional dcdc converters. Fig. 5 and Table I
compare the operational conditions of DAB and DHB convert-
ers. Transformer flux swing of DHB is only half of DABs when
3602 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 26, NO. 12, DECEMBER 2011

Fig. 6. Conventional DHB converter.

Fig. 5. Comparison between DAB and DHB.

TABLE I
OPERATIONAL CONDITIONS COMPARISON

Fig. 7. Proposed DHB converter with an adaptive inductor.

same switching frequency and effective cross-sectional area of

the transformer core are employed. It indicates that the DHB
converter achieves smaller transformer core loss, which will be
elaborated in Section IV. Moreover, a DHBs use of half the
number of switching devices and corresponding drivers as DAB
results in a more economical implementation especially in this
multiple-module structure. The phase-shift DHB is, therefore,
selected for the dcdc converter module in this paper.
The output power of phase-shift DHB can be expressed as
n (Vin /2) (Vout /2) ( ||)
Pout = (1)
2 2 f L
where L is the sum of the leakage inductance of the transformer
and the external auxiliary inductance and is the phase-shift
angle. Then, the output current can be given by Fig. 8. Key ideal waveforms of the phase-shift DHB converter.

Pout nVin ( ||)

Iout = = . (2)
Vout 8 2 f L
The output current expression suggests that the output current
Iout is independent from the output voltage Vout . This unique
current source like characteristics distinguishes DHB from the
buck-derived dcdc converters, and enables inherent stable op-
eration when they are connected in input-parallel-out-parallel
(IPOP). As a result, multiple ISOP modular DHB converters
can be directly connected in IPOP to extend the power rating
while no additional control is needed. This is an important ad-
vantage of the proposed ISOP modular DHB converter for the
MV high-power application.
III. NEW PHASE-SHIFT DHB CONVERTER WITH HIGH
EFFICIENCY OVER WIDE LOAD RANGE
A. Operation Principle Description
Figs. 6 and 7 show the circuit diagram of the conventional
DHB converter and that of the proposed DHB converter with
an adaptive inductor, respectively. The key ideal steady-state
waveforms of the two converters are similar and are shown in
Fig. 8. The operation of the conventional DHB converter is fully
described in [19][22]. In the proposed new DHB converter, an
auxiliary adaptive inductor L is used as the commutation in-
ductor and can be controlled to adapt to the output power by
FAN AND LI: HIGH-FREQUENCY TRANSFORMER ISOLATED BIDIRECTIONAL DCDC CONVERTER MODULES 3603

utilizing the output current Iout as the bias current IBIAS , while
the commutation inductance of the conventional DHB converter
is fixed regardless of the output power. This feature enables the
new DHB converter to be operated with optimized L, , and cor-
responding circulating energy over the entire load range. The
appropriate circulating energy will help the converter reduce
switching losses by maintaining ZVS operation at light load
and minimize additional conduction losses caused by circulat-
ing energy at heavy load as well. As a result, the efficiency
under both light and heavy load conditions, compared with the
conventional DHB converter, can be significantly improved.
To simplify the analysis, the converter voltage ratio of the
input voltage Vin to output voltage Vout is assumed to be 1(i.e.,
Vout = Ns Vin /Np , where Np and Ns are the number of pri- Fig. 9. Circulating energy of the conventional DHB converter with an opti-
mary and secondary turns in the transformer, respectively.). The mized fixed inductor.
output power can be given by
 t7
1 vae iL = Vin2 ( ||)
Pout = (3) EC , and can be expressed as
t7 t0 t 0 8 2 f L
EC Pout
EL = = . (9)
where iL is the instantaneous current of commutation inductor 2 4f ( ||)
L and is the phase shift usually ranging from /2 to /2.
ZVS operation of the switching devices is achieved by uti-
The output power of the proposed converter can be controlled
lizing the circulating energy EC to discharge the output capac-
by and L as well, while the output power of the conventional
itance Co of the switching devices, and the circulating energy
DHB converter can only be controlled by .
EC should be no less than the total capacitor energy to maintain
The instantaneous current of commutation inductor at t2 can
ZVS operation, i.e.,
be given by
EC Eth (10)
Vin
iL (t2) = . (4) where Eth is the energy of ZVS threshold and insufficient energy
4f L
EC will result in the loss of ZVS of the switching devices. On the
By combing (3) and (4), the current stress of S2 can be given other hand, large circulating energy will cause large additional
by conduction losses. In order to achieve high efficiency over a
  2Pout wide load range, EC is expected to be large enough to maintain
iL (t2)  = . (5) ZVS to reduce switching losses at light load, but to be minimized
Vin ( ||)
to reduce additional conduction losses at heavy load.
The delivered power during (t0 t1 ) and (t2 t6 ) can be obtained In the conventional phase-shift DHB converter, commutation
by inductance L is fixed and the output power is controlled only by
 1
 t1 . According to power equation (3), phase shift , if ranging
Pd01 = t 1 t 0 t0 vae iL from /2 to /2, is proportional to the output power Pout .
 t6 (6)
1 Combined with (8), it can be seen that the circulating energy
Pd26 = t 6 t 2 t2 vae iL .
EC is proportional to Pout , and therefore, EC at heavy load
Combining (6) and the boundary conditions iL (t1 ) = iL (t0 ) is always much larger than that at light load due to larger
and iL (t2 ) = iL (t6 ) yields and Pout . Consequently, L can only be optimized for a limited
load range, and so does the high efficiency. Fig. 9 shows the
Pd01 = Pd26 = 0 (7) circulating energy with respect to the output power of the con-
ventional DHB converter with an optimized fixed inductance.
which means that the average power during both (t0 t1 ) and (t2
It can be seen that the circulating energy is too small to main-
t6 ) are equal to zero, but the energy stored in the commutation
tain ZVS under light load conditions while it is too large and
inductor will circulate in the circuit and generate additional con-
will cause large additional conduction losses under heavy load
duction losses; the total circulating energy during one switching
conditions.
period (t0 t7 ) can be given by
The proposed phase-shift DHB converter with an adaptive
 t5 inductor in this paper can overcome the aforementioned draw-
vae iL = Vin2 2 Pout
EC = 4 = . (8) backs by introducing another control variable, commutation in-
t2 8f L 2f ( ||)
ductance L. At light load, L is controlled to be relatively large
EC is the sum of the energy stored in the commutation in- to obtain large and, therefore, sufficient EC to maintain ZVS
ductor during (t0 t1 ) and (t2 t6 ), and the energy stored in the of switching devices. On the other hand, L at heavy load is con-
commutation inductor during each transition period is half of trolled to be much smaller than that at light load to reduce
3604 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 26, NO. 12, DECEMBER 2011

Fig. 10. Adaptive inductor. (a) Schematic. (b) Photo.

Fig. 12. Phase shift with respect to output power.

Fig. 11. Inductance as a function of dc bias current.

and, therefore, reduce EC . As a result, the circulating energy and

the resulted additional conduction losses at heavy load can be Fig. 13. Current stress of the DHB converters.
minimized without losing ZVS at light load. Compared with the
conventional phase-shift DHB converter, the efficiency of the
proposed dcdc converter can be significantly improved under
both light and heavy load conditions, and high efficiency can be
achieved over wide load range.

B. Adaptive Inductor Design

The adaptive inductor can be implemented using a dou-
ble rectangular modulus (RM) core, as explained in [27]. The
schematic and the photo are shown in Fig. 10. The main induc-
tance L is wound around the center leg whereas the symmetrical
bias winding is wound around the two side arms. The side arms
windings are serially connected in opposite polarity to cancel
out the ac voltages induced by the center leg. The inductance L
can be controlled by the bias current IBIAS . The output current
Iout is used as the bias current in this paper so that L can be
optimized according to the output power automatically.
C. Improvement of the Phase-Shift DHB Converter
With an Adaptive Inductor
The numerical analysis is presented on one dc-dc converter
module in this section. The specifications are: f = 50 kHz, rated
power Pout rated = 1 kW, Vin = 500 V, and Vout = 400 V. For
the comparison purpose, an optimized fixed 90-H inductor L
is chosen for the conventional phase-shift DHB converter, while
the adaptive inductance as shown in Fig. 11 is adopted for the
proposed DHB converter.
By substituting L into (3), as a function of output power
can be obtained as shown in Fig. 12. Then according to (5)
and (8), the current stress of S2 and the circulating energy
EC can be obtained as shown in Figs. 13 and 14, respectively.
Fig. 14. Circulating energy of the DHB converters.
Compared with the conventional DHB converter, the proposed
DHB converter with an adaptive inductor can not only achieve
much higher circulating energy at light load to maintain ZVS to
reduce switching losses, but also realize much lower circulating
energy at heavy load to reduce the additional conduction losses.
Therefore, high efficiency can be achieved over wide load range.
IV. HIGH-FREQUENCY TRANSFORMER DESIGN
Planar transformer with coils encapsulated within multi-
layer PCB can achieve lower profile and higher power den-
sity than conventional wire-wound transformer especially for
the multiple-module system. In addition, the windings of trans-
former are etched within the PCB and, thus, are completely re-
peatable; this can make the windings of the transformer identical
in multiple modules and contribute to the balance among these
modules. Furthermore, the planar transformer utilizes solid
FAN AND LI: HIGH-FREQUENCY TRANSFORMER ISOLATED BIDIRECTIONAL DCDC CONVERTER MODULES
Fig. 15. Planar transformer.
Fig. 16. Transformer core loss with respect to frequency and primary voltage.
insulation excluding air from the construction to minimize
corona and partial discharge and, therefore, enhance reliabil-
ity of SST. However, it is difficult to find a planar core suitable
for this high-voltage application requiring large cross-sectional
area. In this paper, a pair of PC40 PQ107/87/70 ferrite cores is
modified to much lower profile while keeping the desired cross-
sectional area. After modification, the total window height of
the transformer is reduced from 56 to 4.55 mm. The final trans-
former prototype is shown in Fig. 15; the primary to secondary
turn ratio is 15:12 and the core loss can be calculated by the
following empirical formula:
Pcl = Ve Cm f x Bac
y
where Ve is the effective core volume of transformer; Cm , x,
and y are the coefficients related to the core material; Bac is the
maximum flux density and can be expressed as
VT D
Bac =
2Np Ae f
where Np is the primary number of turns and VT is the applied
voltage on the primary side of transformer.
3605
Fig. 17. Cross section of transformer winding and corresponding plot of J
and H distributions. (a) Noninterleaved winding arrangement. (b) Interleaved
winding arrangement.
As shown in Fig. 5, VT equals Vin for DAB and Vin /2 for
DHB. Fig. 16 shows the calculated transformer core loss at 80
C with respect to VT and f. The higher the frequency f and
the lower VT , the lower the core loss is. For 50 kHz operation,
core loss of DAB with VT = 500 V is 10.56 W, while the core
loss of DHB with VT = 250 is only 1.778 W, which verifies the
analysis that DHB has much lower core loss than DAB when
(11) same switching frequency and effective cross-sectional area of
the transformer core are employed.
Both skin effect and proximity effect will increase high-
frequency copper losses in transformer winding [28], and there-
fore, these effects must be taken into account when designing
(12) the transformer winding. PCB winding offers the flexibility to
achieve the winding structure as desired. In this paper, ten-layer
PCB with 2 oz copper is adopted for the transformer wind-
ing. Fig. 17 shows two different winding arrangements and
3606 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS, VOL. 26, NO. 12, DECEMBER 2011

TABLE II
KEY SPECIFICATIONS AND CIRCUIT PARAMETERS

Fig. 18. ac resistance of the transformer winding with respect to frequency.

Fig. 20. Key waveforms of two DHB converters at 300 W. (a) New DHB
converter with an adaptive inductor. (b) Conventional DHB converter with a
fixed inductor.

their corresponding simulation results of current and magnetic

Fig. 19. Photos of prototype. (a) Experimental setup in the lab. (b) One DHB
converter module with an adaptive inductor.
field strength distribution in each layer. Other than the non-
interleaved winding shown in Fig. 17(a), a triple interleaved
winding arrangement is utilized to optimize the magnetic field
strength and, therefore, reduce ac resistance in this paper. The
maximum magnetic field strength of the interleaved winding
is only 1000 A/m, while that of noninterleaved winding is
up to 3200 A/m. Fig. 18 shows the total ac resistance of the
FAN AND LI: HIGH-FREQUENCY TRANSFORMER ISOLATED BIDIRECTIONAL DCDC CONVERTER MODULES
Fig. 21. Key waveforms of two DHB converters at 1 kW. (a) New DHB
converter with an adaptive inductor. (b) Conventional DHB converter with a
fixed inductor.
transformer winding with respect to switching frequency. Com-
pared with noninterleaved winding, the triple interleaved wind-
ing presented in this paper can achieve much lower high-
frequency ac resistance and, therefore, lower winding loss. The
winding loss of the interleaved transformer winding is 7.48 W
out of 30.43 W overall loss of the dcdc converter at rated output
power.
V. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
The stable and accurate input-voltage and output-current shar-
ing of the proposed ISOP modular DHB converter have been
verified by both simulation and experiments in [29]. In this pa-
per, a 50-kHz, 1-kW new DHB converter module, as shown
in Fig. 19, was built in the lab and tested to verify the high-
3607
Fig. 22. Measured efficiency of two DHB converters.
frequency- and high-efficiency operation. The specifications and
circuit parameters of the individual converter module are shown
in Table II.
The conventional DHB converter with fixed inductor was also
tested and compared with the proposed new DHB converter with
an adaptive inductor to validate the extended high-efficiency
range of the latter. The adaptive inductance shown in Fig. 11 is
adopted for the new DHB converter while an optimized fixed
90 H is chosen for the conventional DHB converter. Fig. 20
shows the key switching waveforms of two DHB converters un-
der light load condition. ZVS of S2 of the DHB converter with
an adaptive inductor can be maintained in Fig. 20(a), while S2 of
the conventional DHB converter loses ZVS in Fig. 20(b). Fig. 21
shows the switching waveforms of the two DHB converters un-
der heavy load condition. The DHB converter with an adaptive
inductor can achieve lower current stress and smaller phase shift
which means smaller circulating energy and resulted additional
conduction losses. Fig. 22 shows comparison of the measured
efficiency of two DHB converters. Both DHB converters can
realize high efficiency during mid-range load conditions. How-
ever, the DHB converter with an adaptive inductor can achieve
higher efficiency under both light and heavy load conditions.
VI. CONCLUSION
High-frequency transformer isolated bidirectional dcdc con-
verter modules with high efficiency over wide load range have
been proposed and designed for 20 kVA SST in this paper. The
proposed converter modules are connected in ISOP modular
structure to enable the use of low-voltage MOSFETs, featuring
low on-state resistance and resulted low conduction losses, to
address MV power conversion. A phase-shift DHB converter
has been chosen for the individual modules to achieve high-
frequency galvanic isolation, bidirectional power flow, and ZVS
operation of all the switching devices, which leads to low switch-
ing losses even with high-frequency operation. Furthermore, an
adaptive inductor has been first introduced in this paper as the
main energy transfer element of a phase-shift DHB converter so
that the circulating energy can be optimized to maintain ZVS
operation at light load and minimize the conduction losses at
heavy load as well. As a result, high efficiency over wide load
range and high power density can be achieved. Besides, the
current stress of switch devices in the proposed DHB converter
with an adaptive inductor can be reduced when compared with
3608
the conventional DHB converter. The adaptive inductor can be
applied to other phase-shift dual-bridge converters, and same
improvements can be obtained. In addition, a planar transformer
with interleaved windings is designed and implemented to ob-
tain low core loss, optimized high-frequency copper loss, low
profile, and solid insulation which leads to enhanced reliability.
The theoretical analysis is validated by the experimental results,
which indicates that high efficiency up to 97.2% over a wide
load range with 50 kHz operation can be achieved. Moreover,
the proposed modular structure along with a distributed con-
trol scheme can provide plug-and-play capability and possible
high-level fault tolerance.
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Haifeng Fan (S09) received the B.S. degree from
the Huazhong University of Science and Technology,
Wuhan, China, in 2001, the M.S. degree from Zhe-
jiang University, Hangzhou, China, in 2004, and the
Ph.D. degree from The Florida State University, Tal-
lahassee, FL, in 2011, all in electrical engineering.
He is currently at Texas Instruments Inc., Tempe,
AZ. His research interests include high-frequency
high-power-density dcdc converters, topology and
control of bidirectional dcdc converters, and power
electronics for utility interface.
Hui Li (S97M00SM01) received the B.S. and
M.S. degrees in electrical engineering from the
Huazhong University of Science and Technology,
Wuhan, China, in 1992 and 1995, respectively. She
received the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering
from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in 2000.
She is currently an Associate Professor in the De-
partment of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
Florida A&M UniversityFlorida State University
College of Engineering, Tallahassee. Her research
interests include bidirectional dcdc converters, cas-
caded multilevel inverters, and power electronics application in hybrid electric
vehicles.