A Proposed Advanced Controller Applied to a Single-phase Power Factor Correction Converter in Electric Vehicle Chargers

This work proposes a novel approach for managing the output DC link voltage of a single-phase power factor correction (PFC) converter for electric vehicle (EV) charging without using a DC voltage sensor. The inputs and outputs of conventional boost PFC converters normally use several expensive sensors such as input voltage, input current, and output voltage. These sensors are employed to maintain system stability and control the quality of the power. A DC voltage sensorless control utilizing an estimator is used to lower the cost and hardware complexity of the power converter. The output DC link voltage is predicted using the available input voltage and current signals. For a high power factor, the controller follows the reference sine wave signal. Additionally, the converter exhibits extremely steady performance under transient fluctuations in load for a typical 1kW PFC converter. A novel Simplified Optimum Intelligent PID (SOI-PID) controller is designed for a 2.4kW, 400V output voltage, and 6A rated load, based on the second order transfer function of the system, both designs are analyzed, simulated, and compared for the same circuit parameters and loading conditions. The novel SOI-PID controller has shown advantageous performance in both transient and steady-state periods including lower rise and settling times, lower maximum overshoot, fast response to load variation, and lower stress on switching element which leads to better efficiency and lower fixed cost of the overall system.