Development of solar powered grid integrated on-board charger for light EVs

This article proposes the architecture of a solar-powered grid integrated on-board charger for electric vehicles (EVs) utilizing the unique combination of an interleaved Cuk converter and a modified flyback converter. On one side, the interleaved Cuk converter ( IL-Cuk ) power factor corrected (PFC) converter outstandingly satisfies the grid side necessities; whereas, the flyback converter on the other side confirms ripple (twice the line frequency ripples) free charging of the EVs under different charging modes. The discontinuous conduction mode (DCM), which is intended for use by the IL-Cuk converter, has inherent benefits like zero current switching and the elimination of losses because of reverse recovery in diodes. Due to its DCM features, this operating mode also leads to smaller PFC inductors and fewer sensors. The developed charger’s dependability is enhanced by using both the grid and the solar PV (SPV) array for charging. The execution of the developed charger is assessed across a gamut of operating situations in order to determine its compatibility with renewable energy sources such as solar photovoltaic (SPV) array. In modern transportation, battery electric cars (EVs) using solar power are becoming more and more popular. The developed topology has been experimentally verified through real-time hardware implementation using an OPAL-RT platform, demonstrating that the obtained real-time results closely correspond to practical experimental performance under both grid-supplied and solar-powered operating conditions. The proposed 2.4 kW charger maintains a regulated DC-link voltage of 300 V and charges the battery at a constant current of 10 A during both grid-only and grid-assisted solar charging modes. The proposed charger achieves a peak efficiency of 92.75%, operates at nearly unity power factor, and restricts the grid current THD to 0.3% under rated conditions and below 2% during dynamic grid voltage variations, thereby complying with the IEC 61000-3-2 power quality requirements.