Guest Editorial Special Issue on Topology, Modeling, Control, and Reliability of Bidirectional DC/DC Converters in DC Microgrids

DC microgrids have higher efficiency, better current carrying capacity, and faster response compared to the conventional ac systems. They also provide more natural interface with many types of renewable energy resources (RERs) and energy storage systems (ESSs), as well as better compliance with consumer electronics. These facts lead to increased applications of dc microgrid-type power architectures in remote households, data/telecom centers, renewable energy systems, electric vehicle charging stations, ships, aircrafts, and so on. Bidirectional dc/dc power converters (BDCs) constitute the fundamental building blocks of dc microgrids. They can be isolated or non-isolated and operated independently or in parallel to manage the power flow between sources and the dc microgrid. They can also be stacked together to operate in the so-called solid-state transformer architecture, which manages the power flow between dc microgrid and the upstream distribution network. The reliability, stability, efficiency, and power density of the BDC become very crucial for the dc microgrids. There are thus increasing research efforts made on the topology, modeling, control, and reliability of the BDC.