Family of multiport bidirectional DC-DC converters

Multiport DC-DC converters are of potential interest in applications such as generation systems utilising multiple sustainable energy sources. A family of multiport bidirectional DC-DC converters derived from a general topology is presented. The topology shows a combination of DC-link and magnetic coupling. This structure makes use of both methods to interconnect multiple sources without the penalty of extra conversion or additional switches. The resulting converters have the advantage of being simple in topology and have a minimum number of power devices. The proposed general topology and basic cells show several possibilities to construct a multiport converter for particular applications and provide a solution to integrate diverse sources owing to their flexibility in structure. The system features a minimal number of conversion steps, low cost and compact packaging. In addition, the control and power management of the converter by a single digital processor is possible. The centralised control eliminates complicated communication structures that would be necessary in the conventional structure based on separate conversion stages. A control strategy based on classical control theory is proposed, showing a multiple PID-loop structure. The general topology and a set of three-port embodiments are detailed.