Next generation of power electronic-converter application for energy-conversion and storage units and systems

By a rearrangement of the traditional supply-converter-load system connection, partial-power-processing-based converters can be used to achieve a reduction in size and cost, increase in system efficiency and lower device power rating. The concept is promising for different applications such as photovoltaic arrays, electric vehicles and electrolysis. For photovoltaic applications, it can drive each cell in the array to its maximum power point with a relatively smaller converter; for electric-vehicle applications, both an onboard charger with reduced weight and improved efficiency as well as a fast charger station handling higher power can be considered. By showing different examples of partial-power-processing application for energy-conversion and storage units and systems, this paper discusses key limitations of partial-power-processing and related improvements from different perspectives to show the potential in future power electronic systems.