A comprehensive review of power electronic converter topologies to integrate photovoltaics (PV), AC grid, and electric vehicles

Abstract

Integrated PV-powered, grid-tied electric vehicle (EV) charging is attracting more and more attention. Using the solar powered carports at home, the car owner can charge his/her vehicles without using the grid energy. When the car is away or fully charged, the PV module sends the energy to the grid. In the case that the PV energy is not enough, the grid completes the charging process. Other than home application, this technology can also be employed at work place. In this paper, the specifications of a PV-powered, grid-tied carport power converter system for home application is studied. In this application both DC-DC and DC-AC converters are needed. The DC-DC converter is used for the battery and the PV Module. The DC-AC inverter is used to connect the output of the DC-DC converter to the grid. The goal of this paper is to review the necessary specifications of these two converters for this application. The possible converter topologies are also discussed.