Javier Calvente

A Fast Current-Based MPPT Technique Employing Sliding Mode Control

This paper introduces a novel maximum power point tracking (MPPT) technique aimed at maximizing the power produced by photovoltaic (PV) systems. The largest part of the MPPT approaches presented in the literature are based on the sensing of the PV generator voltage. On the contrary, in this paper, a current-based technique is proposed: the sensing of the current in the capacitor placed in parallel with the PV source is one of the innovative aspects of the proposal. A dual control technique based on an inner current loop plus an outer voltage loop allows to take profit of the fast current tracking capability of the inner current loop while the voltage loop benefits from the logarithmic dependency of the PV voltage on the irradiation level. The features of the proposed algorithm, particularly in terms of tracking of irradiation variations and disturbance rejection, are supported by theoretical analysis, simulations, and experimental results. The technique described in this paper is patent pending.

A Noninverting Buck–Boost DC–DC Switching Converter With High Efficiency and Wide Bandwidth

A novel dc-dc switching converter consisting of a boost stage cascaded with a buck converter with their coils magnetically coupled is presented. The disclosed converter has the same step-up or step-down voltage conversion properties than the single inductor noninverting buck-boost converter but exhibits nonpulsating I/O currents. The converter control-to-output transfer function is continuous between operation modes if a particular magnetic coupling is selected. The addition of a damping network improves the dynamics and results in a control-to-output transfer function that has, even in boost mode, two dominant complex poles without right-half-plane zeros. An example shows that an output voltage controller can be designed with the same well-known techniques usually applied to the second-order buck regulator. Details of a prototype and experimental results including efficiency, frequency, and time domain responses are presented. The experimental results validate the theoretical expected advantages of the converter, namely, good efficiency, wide bandwidth, and simplicity of control design.

Analysis of a bidirectional coupled-inductor Cuk converter operating in sliding mode

Analytic models for a bidirectional coupled-inductor Cuk converter operating in sliding mode are described. Using a linear combination of the converter four state variable errors as a general switching surface, the expression for the equivalent control is derived and the coordinates of the equilibrium point are obtained. Particular cases of the general switching surface are subsequently analyzed in detail: (1) surfaces for ideal line regulation, (2) surfaces for ideal load regulation, and (3) surfaces for hysteretic current control. Simulation results verifying the analytical predictions are presented.

Current-Mode Control of a Coupled-Inductor Buck–Boost DC–DC Switching Converter

This paper deepens in the study of the recently described coupled-inductor buck-boost converter. The output voltage of this dc-dc converter can be regulated above and/or below its input voltage with high efficiency and wide bandwidth. The control of the input and/or output nonpulsating converter currents is addressed in this paper. The small-signal control-to-input/output-current transfer functions in open-loop permits the design of the respective average current-mode controllers. The combination of the input- and output-current controllers with an additional output voltage limiter loop is proposed as a method to regulate one of the currents while limiting the maximum values of the other two variables. The theoretical analyses have been validated by means of simulations and also experimentally on a 48-V 800-W purpose built-prototype. In particular, the frequency response measurements that have been carried out for a representative set of the converter operating points are in good agreement with the simulations.

Two-Loop Digital Sliding Mode Control of DC–DC Power Converters Based on Predictive Interpolation

Digital implementation of sliding-mode current control applied to dc-dc switching converters is analyzed and developed in this paper. It is based on an interpolation predictive strategy that avoids problems associated to continuous sampling process of the controlled variable and minimizes quasi-sliding effects. In addition to inherent advantages of digital implementation, as programmability, flexibility, complex calculation capability and noise immunity, the proposed strategy maintains robustness and has similar behavior than analog sliding-mode current control implementations. In order to obtain output voltage regulation, an outer proportional-integral digital output voltage control loop is added. Simulated and experimental results in a boost converter are in good agreement with the theoretical predictions.

Minimizing the effects of shadowing in a PV module by means of active voltage sharing

Negative effects in a two-section-module PV system due to shadowing are minimized by using active voltage sharing of section voltages. Instead of conventional bypass diodes, a bidirectional buck-boost-type circuit with current control guarantees equal section voltages yielding a unique maximum power point for the global system. Connecting an external maximum point power tracking (MPPT) converter results in bigger power extraction than the one obtained with the bypass diodes case, the improvement being in some cases up to 40%. Also, voltage values corresponding to the maximum power point (MPP) are less scattered than in the bypass diode solution, this facilitating the MPPT converter operation. To improve the efficiency, the current control strategy permits to identify the conditions to disconnect the bypass. PSIM simulations verify the theoretical predictions of the proposed technique.

Dynamics and Stability Issues of a Single-Inductor Dual-Switching DC–DC Converter

A single-inductor two-input two-output power electronic dc-dc converter can be used to regulate two generally nonsymmetric positive and negative outputs by means of a pulsewidth modulation with a double voltage feedback. This paper studies the dynamic behavior of this system. First, the operation modes and the steady-state properties of the converter are addressed, and, then, a stability analysis that includes both the power stage and control parameters is carried out. Different bifurcations are determined from the averaged model and from the discrete-time model. The Routh-Hurwitz criterion is used to obtain the stability regions of the averaged (slow-scale) dynamics in the design parameter space, and a discrete-time approach is used to obtain more accurate results and to detect possible (fast-scale) subharmonic oscillations. Experimental measurements were taken from a system prototype to confirm the analytical results and numerical simulations. Some possible nonsmooth bifurcations due to the change in the switching patterns are also illustrated.

Using magnetic coupling to eliminate right half-plane zeros in boost converters

A dynamic analysis of the boost converter with an output filter reveals that magnetic coupling between inductors allows transfer of the zeros to the left half-plane of the control-to-output transfer function. Similar results requiring smaller magnetic components are obtained by combining magnetic coupling with damping of the output filter. The analysis is based on the application of the Routh-Hurtwitzs criterion to the numerator of the transfer function in order to derive the design conditions for the converter parameters. A design example illustrates the procedure, and experimental results verify the theoretical predictions. The application of these techniques will allow the design of high efficiency voltage boost-based regulators with dynamic behavior similar to buck-derived structures.

Large-signal modeling and simulation of switching DC-DC converters

A general nonlinear continuous formulation procedure for large-signal analysis of switching DC-DC converters is presented. The method can be applied in either of the two conduction modes, and it is easily programmed for computer-aided analysis with small simulation time. A boost regulator operating in constant-frequency current-programmed mode is used to illustrate the application of the method. A stability graph is subsequently developed to facilitate the design of DC-DC switching regulators for large-signal applications. The graph provides an estimation of the values of input voltage and load resistance leading to a stable regulator behavior.

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The design of a two-loop control for nonminimum phase-switching converters is presented in this letter. An internal sliding-mode control loop forces the converter inductor current to follow the reference established by