Bipolar DC Power Conversion: State-of-the-Art and Emerging Technologies

This paper provides a detailed analysis of the power electronics solutions enabling bipolar dc grids. The bipolar dc grid concept has proven to be more efficient, flexible and higher in quality than the conventional unipolar one. However, despite its many features, these systems still have to overcome their issues with asymmetrical loading to avoid voltage imbalances, besides meeting regulatory and safety requirements that are still under development. Advances in power electronics and the large-scale deployment of dc consumer appliances has put this growing architecture in the spotlight, as it has drawn the attention of different research groups recently. The following pages provide an insightful discussion regarding the topologies that enable these architectures, their regulatory requirements besides their features and level of development. Additionally, some future trends and challenges in the further development of this technology are discussed to motivate future contributions that address open problems and explore new possibilities.