Multi-Input Bidirectional DC-DC Converter for Energy Management in Hybrid Electrical Vehicles Applications

Battery storage systems are widely used in several applications; in particular, they are fundamental in electrical or hybrid electrical vehicles. The different storages are interfaced to the inverter with a DC-DC converter in order to match the different voltage levels. The battery systems are subjected to aging phenomenon and if one battery is deteriorated, all the series is involved. To avoid this problem, a double-input DC-DC converter is proposed in this paper. The two storages can be controlled independently and, therefore, the system reliability is improved. Moreover, the deteriorated battery is not bypassed, therefore it can provide energy to the system at a limited rate and so the system performance is maximized. In addition, batteries based on different technologies can be mixed by the proposed converter obtaining the best from each technology.