POWER CONVERSION SYSTEM AND METHOD OF CONTROLLING THE SAME

Abstract

The application discloses a power conversion system and a controlling method of the same. The power conversion system includes: n choppers, comprising n switching arms connected in parallel, each chopper including: the switching arm, an inductor having a first end connected to a midpoint of the switching arm, and a first capacitor connected in parallel to the switching arm; and n DC components corresponding to the n choppers with a one-to-one relation, wherein one of the DC components is a DC power supply or a DC load, first ends of the DC components are connected together, and a second end of each of the DC components is connected to a second ends of the inductor of the corresponding chopper, where n is a natural number of 2 or more.

Claims

1. A power conversion system, comprising: n choppers, comprising n switching arms connected in parallel, each chopper comprising: the switching arm; an inductor having a first end connected to a midpoint of the switching arm; and a first capacitor connected in parallel to the switching arm; and n DC components corresponding to the n choppers with a one-to-one relation, wherein one of the n DC components is a DC power supply or a DC load, and first ends of the n DC components are connected together, and a second end of each of the n DC components is connected to a second end of the inductor of the corresponding chopper, where n is a natural number greater than or equal to 2.

2. The power conversion system according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the n DC components is the DC power supply, and at least one of the n DC components is the DC load.

3. The power conversion system according to claim 1, wherein the switching arm comprises a first switch and a second switch connected in series, and a common connection node of the first switch and the second switch is the midpoint of the switching arm.

4. The power conversion system according to claim 1, wherein the switching arm comprises a third switch, a fourth switch, a fifth switch and a sixth switch connected in series, each of the choppers further comprises a flying capacitor electrically coupled between a common connection node of the third switch and the fourth switch and a common connection node of the fifth switch and the sixth switch, and a common connection node of the fourth switch and the fifth switch is the midpoint of the switching arm.

5. The power conversion system according to claim 1, wherein the DC power supply comprises battery, rectifier or supercapacitor.

6. The power conversion system according to claim 5, wherein the DC power supply further comprises a DC-DC converter electrically coupled between the inductor and the battery, the rectifier or the supercapacitor.

7. The power conversion system according to claim 1, wherein the DC load comprises battery, supercapacitor, resistor, or a DC side of DC/DC converter or DC/AC converter.

8. The power conversion system according to claim 1, wherein each of the n choppers further comprises a second capacitor electrically coupled between a first end or a second end of the switching arm and the second end of the inductor.

9. The power conversion system according to claim 1, wherein a voltage of the first capacitor is lower than a voltage of the DC components.

10. The power conversion system according to claim 1, further comprising a compensation power supply connected in parallel to the switching arm.

11. The power conversion system according to claim 1, wherein one of the n DC components is a DC side of an inverter.

12. The power conversion system according to claim 11, further comprising a control unit for controlling the n switching arms.

13. The power conversion system according to claim 11, wherein a voltage at the DC side of the inverter is equal to a weighted mean value of voltages of the remaining (n−1) DC components.

14. The power conversion system according to claim 13, wherein a weight of the voltage of each of the remaining (n−1) DC components is calculated as a ratio of a current flowing through it to a total current flowing through the remaining (n−1) DC components.

15. The power conversion system according to claim 12, wherein the remaining (n−1) DC components are battery packs, and the control unit controls currents flowing through the remaining (n−1) DC components.

16. The power conversion system according to claim 15, wherein a voltage of the first capacitor is less than 50% of a rated voltage of the corresponding battery pack.

17. The power conversion system according to claim 12, wherein the remaining (n−1) DC components are photovoltaic battery strings.

18. The power conversion system according to claim 17, wherein when a voltage at the DC side of the inverter is around an average voltage of the maximum power point (MPP) voltage of the (n−1) photovoltaic battery strings, the control unit controls a voltage at the second end of each of the inductors by using the MPP voltage of each of the photovoltaic battery strings as a target value.

19. A method of controlling a power conversion system, comprising: providing n choppers, the n choppers comprising n switching arms connected in parallel, each chopper comprising: the switching arm; an inductor having a first end connected to a midpoint of the switching arm; and a first capacitor connected in parallel to the switching arm; providing n DC components corresponding to the n choppers with a one-to-one relation, wherein one of the n DC components is a DC power supply or a DC load, first ends of the n DC components are connected together, and a second end of each of the n DC components is connected to a second end of the inductor of the corresponding chopper, where n is a natural number greater than or equal to 2; and regulating currents through the n DC components or voltages across the n DC components by controlling the n switching arms.

20. The control method according to claim 19, wherein one of the n DC components is a DC side of an inverter.

21. The control method according to claim 20, wherein a voltage at the DC side of the inverter is controlled to be equal to a weighted mean value of the voltages of the remaining (n−1) DC components.

22. The control method according to claim 21, wherein a weight of the voltage of each of the remaining (n−1) DC components is calculated as a ratio of a current flowing through it to a total current flowing through the remaining (n−1) DC components.

23. The control method according to claim 20, wherein the remaining (n−1) DC components are battery packs.

24. The control method according to claim 23, wherein a voltage of the first capacitor is controlled to be a fixed value.

25. The control method according to claim 24, wherein the fixed value is lower than a voltage of the battery packs and a voltage at the DC side of the inverter.

26. The control method according to claim 25, wherein the fixed value is less than 50% of a rated voltage of the battery packs.

27. The control method according to claim 20, wherein the remaining (n−1) DC components are photovoltaic battery strings.

28. The control method according to claim 27, wherein a voltage at the DC side of the inverter is controlled to be around an average voltage of the MPP voltage of the (n−1) photovoltaic battery strings, and a voltage at the second end of each of the inductors is controlled by taking the MPP voltage of each of the photovoltaic battery strings as a target value.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0042] To make the above and other objects, features, advantages and examples of the disclosure more apparent, the accompanying drawings are explained as follows:

[0043] FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of a power conversion system according to a first embodiment of the disclosure.

[0044] FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of a power conversion system having multiple types of DC power supplies or DC loads according to a second embodiment of the disclosure.

[0045] FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram of a power conversion system configured with filter capacitors at different positions according to a third embodiment of the disclosure.

[0046] FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram of a power conversion system according to a fourth embodiment of the disclosure, in which inductors of choppers are connected to negative electrodes of DC power supplies or loads, and positive electrodes of the power supplies or loads are connected together in parallel.

[0047] FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram of a power conversion system according to a fifth embodiment of the disclosure, in which a local DC bus is connected to a compensation power supply.

[0048] FIG. 6 is a circuit diagram of a power conversion system according to a sixth embodiment of the disclosure.

[0049] FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram of a power conversion system according to a seventh embodiment of the disclosure.

[0050] FIG. 8 is a circuit diagram of a power conversion system according to an eighth embodiment of the disclosure.

[0051] FIG. 9 is a flow chart of a method of controlling a power conversion system according to one embodiment of the disclosure.

[0052] FIG. 10 is a circuit diagram of a power conversion system according to a ninth embodiment of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0053] To make description of the disclosure more specific and complete, the accompanying drawings and various examples can be referred, and the same numbers in the drawings represent the same or similar components. On the other hand, the commonly known components and steps are not described in the examples to avoid unnecessary limit to the disclosure. In addition, for sake of simplifying the drawings, some known common structures and elements are illustrated in the drawings in a simple manner.

[0054] According to one embodiment of the disclosure, referring to FIG. 1, a power conversion system is provided, including n choppers CH1-CHn and n DC components B1-Bn, where n is a natural number greater than or equal to 2. The n choppers CH1-CHn includes n switching arms connected in parallel. Each chopper includes: the switching arm, an inductor L 1 having a first end connected to a midpoint of the switching arm, and a first capacitor CB1 connected in parallel to the switching arm. Further, each switching arm includes a first switch Q1 and a second switch Q2 connected in parallel. The inductor L1 has a first end connected to a midpoint of the switching arm, i.e., a common connection node of the first switch Q1 and the second switch Q2. The first capacitor CB1 is connected in parallel to the switching arm. The n DC components B1-Bn correspond to the n choppers CH1-CHn with a one-to-one relation, and the DC component is a DC power supply or a DC load. First ends of the n DC components are connected together, and a second end of each the n DC components is connected to a second end of the inductor L1 of the corresponding chopper. At least one of the n DC components B 1-Bn is a DC power supply, and at least one of the n DC components B1-Bn is a DC load. In some embodiments, the choppers work unidirectionally. In some embodiments, the choppers work bidirectionally. In some embodiments, a part of the choppers work unidirectionally, and a part of the choppers work bidirectionally. Further, each switching arm is connected in parallel between two ends LB+and LB- of a local DC bus L. There is no direct connection between the DC components B1-Bn and the first capacitor CB1, i.e., the local DC bus L.

[0055] Specifically, the DC power supply includes battery, rectifier or supercapacitor. The DC power supply may further include DC-DC converter electrically coupled between the inductors L1 and the battery, or electrically coupled between the inductors L1 and the rectifier, or electrically coupled between the inductors L1 and the supercapacitor.

[0056] Further, the DC load include battery, supercapacitor, resistor, or DC side of DC/DC converter or DC/AC converter.

[0057] Referring to FIGS. 2-3, each of the choppers further includes a second capacitor electrically coupled between a first end or a second end of the switching arm and the second end of the inductor L1. Further, the second capacitor Cfl is coupled between the first end of the switching arm and the second end of the inductor L1, and the second capacitor Cf2 is electrically coupled between the second end of the switching arm and the second end of the inductor L1.

[0058] Further, the rated working voltages of the first switch Q1 and the second switch Q2 are lower than a voltage of the DC components, and a voltage of the first capacitor CB1 is lower than the voltage of the DC components.

[0059] Referring to FIG. 4, the inductors L1 of the choppers are connected to negative electrodes Bn- of the DC components, and positive electrodes Bn+ of the DC components are connected together in parallel. Alternatively, referring to FIGS. 1-3, the inductors L1 of the choppers are connected to positive electrodes Bn+ of the DC components, and negative electrodes Bn- of the DC components are connected together.

[0060] According to another embodiment of the disclosure, referring to FIG. 5, the power conversion system further includes a compensation power supply connected in parallel to the switching arm. Specifically, the compensation power supply is connected to the local DC bus L.

[0061] According to another embodiment of the disclosure, referring to FIG. 6, one of the n DC components B1-Bn is a DC side of an inverter 10, and the remaining (n−1) DC components are battery packs B1-Bn-1. FIG. 6 illustrates a case in which n=7. In some embodiments, the inverter 10 transmits power unidirectionally. In some embodiments, the inverter 10 may transmit power bidirectionally. In some embodiments, the inverter 10 is a power conditioning system (PCS). The power conversion system further includes a control unit 11 for controlling the first switch Q1 and the second switch Q2. The control unit 11 includes a multipath regulating controller 112 and a field controller 111. The multipath regulating controller 112 is in communication with the remaining (n−1) DC components, except the DC side of the inverter 10, and is electrically connected to the first switch Q1 and the second switch Q2 of each chopper. The multipath regulating controller 112 is connected to the inverter 10 through the field controller 111. Further, a voltage at the DC side of the inverter 10 is equal to a weighted mean value of a voltage of the remaining (n−1) DC components. It can be understood that a weight of the voltage of each of the remaining (n−1) DC components is calculated as a ratio of a current flowing through the DC component to a total current flowing through the remaining (n−1) DC components.

[0062] In some embodiments, the remaining (n−1) DC components are battery packs, and the control unit 11 controls currents flowing through the remaining (n−1) DC components.

[0063] Specifically, referring to FIG. 6, a plurality of battery packs in the battery energy storage system are connected in parallel, and their rated voltages are the same. With respect to a difference in for example SOC (state of charge)/SOH (state of health), the control unit 11 regulates charging and discharging currents of the battery packs. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 6, n=7, where 6 choppers are connected to the battery packs B1-B7, respectively, and the 7.sup.th chopper is connected to the DC side of the inverter 10. A voltage of the local DC bus L is far less than a voltage of the battery packs B1-B7 or a voltage at the DC side of the inverter 10. The multipath regulating controller 112 controls currents of the respective batteries depending on SOC and SOH of the respective battery packs, the 7.sup.th chopper controls the voltage at the DC side of the inverter 10, and the voltage at the DC side of the inverter 10 is equal to a weighted mean value of voltages of all battery packs.

[0064] Since a difference between the voltage of the battery packs B1-B7 and the voltage at the DC side of the inverter 10 is small, the voltage of the local DC bus L is low, so an extremely high efficiency of the system is obtained. For example, for battery packs with a rated voltage of 1000V, a voltage difference of 8% exists between the unscreened groups, i.e., the maximum voltage 80V, and the voltage of the local DC bus L can be controlled from 100V to 120V, which is far less than the rated voltage of the battery pack.

[0065] In some embodiments, the voltage of the local DC bus L, i.e., the voltage of the first capacitor CB1, is controlled to be a fixed value, and the fixed voltage is lower than a voltage of the battery packs and a voltage at the DC side of the inverter. In some embodiments, the fixed value is less than 50% of a rated voltage of the battery packs.

[0066] According to another embodiment of the disclosure, referring to FIG. 7, one of the n DC components B1-Bn is a DC side of an inverter 10, and the remaining (n−1) DC components are photovoltaic battery strings PV1, PV2 and PV3, as shown in FIG. 7. Further, when a voltage at the DC side of the inverter 10 is around an average voltage of the maximum power point (MPP) voltage of the (n−1) photovoltaic battery strings, for example, within a range of 85% to 115% of the average voltage, the control unit controls a voltage at the second end of each of the inductors L1 by taking the MPP voltage of each of the photovoltaic battery strings as a target value.

[0067] Specifically, in a distributed PV power generation system, the inverter 10 controls the voltage at the DC side of the inverter to be around an average value of the MPP voltage of the multipath photovoltaic battery strings, for example, about 82% of an open-circuit voltage of the photovoltaic battery strings, and each of the choppers regulate a difference between the voltage at the second end of the inductor L1 and the voltage at the DC side of the inverter 10, such that a voltage of each photovoltaic battery string can reach the MPP working point.

[0068] Referring to FIG. 7, n=4, where three choppers are connected to the photovoltaic battery strings B1, B2 and B3, respectively, and the 4.sup.th chopper is connected to the DC side of the inverter 10. A voltage across the switching arm is far less than the voltage of the photovoltaic battery strings B1, B2 and B3 or the voltage at the DC side of the inverter 10, and the inverter 10 controls the voltage at the DC side of the inverter to be about 0.82 of an open-circuit voltage of the photovoltaic battery strings. The multipath regulating controller 112 regulates a difference between the voltage at the second end of the inductor L1 of each chopper and the voltage at the DC side of the inverter 10, such that the voltage of the photovoltaic battery strings tracks the MPP. Since a difference between the MPP voltage of the photovoltaic battery strings B1, B2 and B3 and the voltage at the DC side of the inverter 10 is small, the voltage of the local DC bus Lis low, so an extremely high efficiency of the system is obtained. For example, the voltage of the local DC bus is controlled to be 50% of a working voltage of the DC power supply or load, and as compared to full voltage choppers, switching devices fit to dc bus voltage can be used, and loss of the choppers is reduced in the case of the same current. Moreover, the total power from the choppers compensated into photovoltaic cell string B1, B2, and B3, can be supplied through one compensation power supply, for example the isolated bidirectional or unidirectional DC-DC converter.

[0069] Further, referring to FIG. 8, in some battery energy storage systems, there is small difference between a voltage range of the battery packs and a voltage range of the DC side of the inverter 10. By using multipath choppers and the additional compensation power supply, charging and discharging currents of each group of batteries can be regulated through the local DC bus L with a low voltage. Specifically, in a case that n=4, where three choppers are connected to the battery packs B 1, B2 and B3, respectively, and the 4.sup.th chopper is connected to the DC side of the inverter 10. Assuming that the voltage at the DC side of the inverter 10 is slightly higher than the voltage of the battery packs B1, B2 and B3, a difference between the voltage at the DC side of the inverter 10 and the voltage of the battery packs B1, B2 and B3 is far less than the voltage of the battery packs B1, B2 and B3, so the voltage of the local DC bus L can be set to be slightly higher than the voltage difference. The control unit regulates currents of the inductors L1 of the respective choppers, such that the charging and discharging currents of the battery packs B1, B2 and B3 conform to management requirements of the SOC and SOH. Since the voltage of the local DC bus L is low, an extremely high efficiency of the system is obtained. For example, the voltage at the DC side of the inverter 10 is controlled to be 1000V, the voltage range of the battery packs B1, B2 and B3 is from 720V to 920V, and the voltage of the local DC bus L is controlled to be 350V, satisfying the requirement for improvement of the voltage of the battery packs B1, B2 and B3 when the minimum voltage is 700V and the maximum voltage is 920V. The total power from the choppers compensated into photovoltaic cell string B1, B2, and B3, can be supplied through one compensation power supply, for example the isolated bidirectional or unidirectional DC-DC converter.

[0070] According to another aspect of the disclosure, a method of controlling a power conversion system is further improved. Please refer to FIGS. 1 and 9, the control method includes:

[0071] In step S1, providing n choppers CH1-CHn, each including: a switching arm including a first switch Q1 and a second switch Q2 connected in series, an inductor L1 having a first end connected to a midpoint of the switching arm, and a first capacitor CB1 connected in parallel to the switching arm, wherein the switching arms of all the choppers are connected in parallel.

[0072] In step S2, providing n DC components B1-Bn corresponding to the n choppers CH1-CHn with a one-to-one relation, wherein the DC component is DC power supply or DC load. First ends of the n DC components B1-Bn are connected together, and second ends of the n DC components B1-Bn are connected to second ends of the inductors L1 of the corresponding choppers respectively, at least one of the n DC components B1-Bn is a DC power supply, and at least one is a DC load, where n is a natural number greater than or equal to 2.

[0073] In step S3, regulating current through the DC component or voltage across the DC component by controlling the first switch Q1 and the second switch Q2.

[0074] In some embodiments, the first switch Q1 and the second switch Q2 are controlled to work in a complementary conduction manner.

[0075] The choppers in the above embodiments all use a half-bridge structure. In this embodiment, in order to satisfy the requirement for a high voltage, the choppers can use a three-level structure. As shown in FIG. 10, a difference between this embodiment and FIG. 1 lies in that each switching arm includes a third switch Q3, a fourth switch Q4, a fifth switch Q5 and a sixth switch Q6 connected in series. The midpoint of the switching arm, i.e., a common connection node of the fourth switch Q4 and the fifth switch Q5, is connected to the first end of the inductor L1. Each chopper further includes a flying capacitor C1 electrically coupled between a common connection node of the third switch Q3 and the fourth switch Q4 and a common connection node of the fifth switch Q5 and the sixth switch Q6. Various deformations of the DC components and the control method of the switching arm in this embodiment using the half-bridge structure are applicable to the embodiment using the three-level structure.

[0076] The disclosure replaces a large power converter with low power non-isolated converters (n choppers), to achieve current regulation and circulating current suppression of the DC components. The disclosure can be applied to the energy storage system with multiple battery packs connected in parallel, achieves circulating current suppression/current regulation/SOC optimization and maintenance at low cost, and improves service life and safety of the batteries. The service life of the batteries is improved by about 15%.

[0077] Although the disclosure has been disclosed in the embodiments, the disclosure is not limited thereto. Any skilled in the art shall make various variations and modifications without departing from spirit and scope of the disclosure, so the protection scope of the disclosure shall be subjected to the scope defined by the appended claims.