Variable-Frequency Retuned WPT System for Power Transfer and Efficiency Improvement in Dynamic EV Charging With Fixed Voltage Characteristic

A high efficiency and a constant voltage at the output stage are among the major concerns in wireless charging of dynamic electric vehicles. They are usually achieved by additional converters or asymmetric switching which suffer from high cost and hard switching. To overcome these drawbacks, a variable-frequency retuning approach is proposed in this paper with LCL-Series compensation. As opposed to conventional control methods with resonance frequency as target operating frequency, this approach uses a new optimum frequency which enables ZVS. Also, it minimizes the conduction loss of the inverter switches in a wide range of load and coupling coefficients. In addition, it improves the total system efficiency up to 6% together with an increase in the power transfer capability. Using the proposed method, both sides' currents increases up to 45% depending on the load. To find the optimum frequency in a system without resonant parameter information, an on-line maximum efficiency search method based on Perturb and Observe is employed. Extensive simulation results using PLECS, together with experimental results from a laboratory setup are presented to confirm the effectiveness of the proposed method under varying load and coupling.

Automated summary

In wireless charging of dynamic electric vehicles, high efficiency and constant voltage at the output stage are crucial concerns. This paper proposes a variable-frequency retuning approach with LCL-Series compensation, which uses a new optimum frequency to achieve ZVS and minimize conduction loss of inverter switches.