This thesis deals with quantifying the merits of Distributed Maximum Power Point Tracking (DMPPT), as well as providing solutions to achieve DMPPT in PV systems. A general method based on 3D modeling is developed to determine the energy yield of PV installations exploiting different levels of DMPPT granularity. Sub-string-level DMPPT is shown to have up to 30% more annual energy yield than panel-level DMPPT. A Multi-Input-Single-Output (MISO) dc-dc converter is proposed to achieve DMPPT in parallel-connected applications. A digital current-mode controller is used to operate the MISO converter in pseudo-CCM mode. For series-connected applications, the virtualparallel concept is introduced to utilize the robustness of the parallel connection. This concept is demonstrated on a three-phase boost converter. The topology offers reduced output voltage ripple under shading which increases the life-time of the output capacitor. The prototypes yield output power benefits of up to 46% and 20% for the tested shading conditions.

This master work was focused on modelling and investigation of a photovoltaic module which operates in non-uniform solar irradiance and temperature changes which is typical to Lithuanian climate. 60 polycrystalline silicon cells were used to model photovoltaic module. Matlab®/Simulink® was used for modelling and calculating the whole system. To generate solar insolation curve, the latitude, longitude of the geographic place and a number of days in a year have to be selected. Buck-boost DC-DC converter and hill-climbing maximum power point tracking algorithm was used to produce maximum power point of the photovoltaic module. Modeled system has reached 93.95 % of maximum power from the photovoltaic module. Structure: introduction, review of maximum power point algorithms, system modelling, research results, conclusions, references. The thesis consists of: 60 pages, 41 figures, 16 tables, 37 references. Appendixes included. / Šiame magistro darbe buvo sumodeliuotas ir ištirtas fotovoltinio modulio veikimas, veikiant Lietuvoje būdingiems saulės apšvietos ir temperatūros pokyčiams. Fotovoltinį modulį sudaro 60 polikristalinių silicio celių sujungtų nuosekliai sistema. Modeliavimui ir skaičiavimas atlikti buvo naudojamas Matlab®/Simulink® programinės įrangos paketas. Įvedus vietos ilgumą, platumą ir pasirinkus metų dieną sugeneruojama saulės apšvietos kreivė paros bėgyje. Išgauti maksimalią galią iš fotovoltinio elemento buvo pasirinkta „buck-boost“ tipo įtampos keitiklis ir „Kalno-kilimo“ didžiausios galios taško algoritmas. Naudojant pasirinkto tipo įtampos keitiklį ir algoritmą galima pasiekti iki 93,95 % maksimalios galios. Darbą sudaro 7 dalys: įvadas, maksimalios galios algoritmų literatūros apžvalga, sistemos modeliavimas, maksimalios galios algoritmo sudarymas, rezultatai, išvados, literatūros sąrašas. Darbo apimtis 60 puslapiai, 2 priedai, 41 iliustracijų 16 lentelių, 37 bibliografiniai šaltiniai.

L’objectif de cette étude est d’améliorer les performances des transformateurs piézoélectriques en terme de courant de sortie et de puissance pour des applications d’alimentation DC/DC, grâce à la gestion de l’échauffement. Le courant de sortie des transformateurs piézoélectriques, et donc la puissance transmise, sont directement liés à la vitesse de vibration qui pour des valeurs élevées engendre des pertes et une forte élévation de température. Cette élévation excessive de la température a comme conséquence le changement des caractéristiques du transformateur et plus particulièrement la diminution du facteur de qualité Q. Ainsi cela entraine une limite structurelle de la puissance transmise du transformateur. Une solution pour augmenter le courant de sortie est l’utilisation d’un redresseur doubleur de courant, qui grâce à 2 inductances permet, à courant de charge donné, de diminuer la vitesse de vibration du transformateur, mais ne permet pas de régler le problème d’échauffement du transformateur. Dans cette thèse nous proposons des moyens d’évacuation de la chaleur ainsi que le choix de l’environnement dans lequel le transformateur devra fonctionner. L’influence de différents systèmes de refroidissement d’un convertisseur DC/DC à base transformateur piézoélectrique est étudiée. L’étude thermique du transformateur piézoélectrique multicouche polarisé en épaisseur et ayant des électrodes circulaires met en évidence un comportement non linéaire. Une plaque vibrante piézoélectrique est d’abord envisagée pour créer un flux d’air qui augmente l’évacuation de chaleur par convection, puis un module de refroidissement utilisant l’effet thermoélectrique. Les mesures montrent que la première solution est plus avantageuse car elle améliore sensiblement les performances du transformateur pour un coût énergétique très faible. Une étude thermique par éléments finis complète cette étude, montrant que l’approche par schéma électrique est pertinente. La puissance que peut délivrer le transformateur sur une charge optimale est encore augmentée. Enfin, ce travail montre qu’en combinant les dispositifs de refroidissement tout en respectant la condition de température inférieure à 55°C, le rendement du convertisseur reste raisonnable (70%) et la puissance disponible peut doubler dans le meilleur des cas. / The objective of this study was to increase the output current and power in a piezoelectric transformer (PT) based DC/DC converter by adding a cooling system. It is known that the output current of PT is limited by temperature build-up because of losses especially when driving at high vibration velocity. Excessive temperature rise will decrease the quality factor Q of piezoelectric component during the operational process. Simultaneously the vibration energy cannot be increased even if under higher excitation voltage. Although connecting different inductive circuits at the PT secondary terminal can increase the output current, the root cause of temperature build-up problem is not solved.This dissertation presents the heat transfer technology to deal with the temperature build-up problem. With the heat transfer technology, the threshold vibration velocity of PT can be increased and thus the output current and output power (almost three times).Furthermore, a comparison between heat transfer technology and current-doubler rectifier applied to the piezoelectric transformer based DC/DC converter was also studied. The advantages and disadvantages of the proposed technique were investigated. A theoretical-phenomenological model was developed to explain the relationship between the losses and the temperature rise. It will be shown that the vibration velocity as well as the heat generation increases the losses. In our design, the maximum output current capacity can increase 100% when the operating condition of PT temperature is kept below 55°C. The study comprises of a theoretical part and experimental proof-of-concept demonstration of the proposed design method.

Os controladores Proporcional+Integral+Derivativo (PID) são largamente empregados na indústria devido à sua estrutura contendo ações integral e derivativa e por possuir ordem fixa. Na literatura, encontram-se vários métodos para a sua sintonia. Nesse trabalho é apresentada uma forma de obter a sintonia do PID utilizando o índice de desempenho H∞ de forma não-iterativa. Essa sintonia é feita utilizando-se a representação em espaço de estado na forma canônica controlável. No entanto, como trata-se de um controlador de ordem fixa, variações na planta podem interferir de forma significativa no desempenho desejado e precisam ser compensadas. Assim, propõe-se também uma adaptação dos parâmetros do PID de modo a manter a função de transferência de malha fechada o mais próximo possível da nominal utilizada na sintonia. Para isso, modela-se a estrutura de controle como um sistema linear sobre-determinado com restrições lineares, advindos de conjuntos estabilizantes baseados no conceito de assinatura Hurwitz, e utiliza-se um método de otimização quadrática para obter os parâmetros do controlador. Para circunvir o conservadorismo da norma H∞, um método para mitigar apenas o efeito de algumas harmônicas na saída do sistema também é proposto, restringindo-se a sensibilidade do sistema que é representada por elipses no lugar geométrico dos ganhos estabilizantes do PID. Simulações no software Matlab, Simulink e PSIM foram utilizadas para validar os modelos e metodologias propostas. Resultados experimentais demonstraram a eficácia do método para mitigação de harmônicos em um conversor CC–CC do tipo boost. / Proportional + integral + derivative (PID) controllers are widely used in the industry due to their structure containing integral and derivative actions and for having a fixed order. In the literature, there are several methods for PID tuning. In this work it is presented a way to obtain PID tuning using a non-iterative H∞ design. This tuning is done using the state-space representation in the controllable canonical form. However, because it is a fixed-order controller, plant variations can significantly interfere with the desired performance and need to be compensated. Thus, it is also proposed to adapt the PID parameters so as to keep the closed-loop transfer function as close as possible to the nominal used in the tuning. For this, the control structure is modeled as an over-determined linear system with linear constraints, derived from stabilizing sets based on the Hurwitz signature concept, and a quadratic optimization method is used to obtain the controller parameters. In order to circumvent the conservatism of the norm H∞, a method to mitigate only the effect of selected harmonics on the output of the system is also proposed, constraining the sensitivity function of the system which is represented by ellipses in the stabilizing gains locus of the PID. Simulations in Matlab, Simulink and PSIM softwares were used to validate the proposed models and methodologies. Experimental results demonstrated the effectiveness of the harmonic mitigation method in a boost DC–DC converter.

<div> Recent advancements of health monitoring sensing technologies are enabling plethora of new applications in a variety of biomedical areas. In this work, we present a new sensing technology that enables a fully autonomous monitoring of urinary tract infection (UTI). UTI is the second most common infection in the human body caused by bacterial pathogens, and costs millions of dollars each year to the patients and the health care industry. UTI is easily treatable using antibiotics if identified in early stages. However, when early stage identification is missed, UTI can be a major source of serious complications such as ascending infections, loss of kidney function, bacteremia, and sepsis. Unfortunately, the limitations of existing UTI monitoring technologies such as high cost, time-intensive sample preparation, and relatively high false alarm rate prohibit reliable detection of UTI in early stages. The problem becomes more serious in certain patient groups such as infants and geriatric patients suffering from neurodegenerative diseases, who have difficulties in realizing the symptoms and communicating the symptoms with their caregivers. In addition to the aforementioned difficulties, the fact that UTI is often asymptomatic makes early stage identifications quite challenging, and the reliable monitoring and detection of UTI in early stages remain as a serious problem.</div><div> To address these issues, we propose a diaper-embedded, self-powered, and fully autonomous UTI monitoring sensor module that enables autonomous monitoring and detection of UTI in early stages with minimal effort. The sensor module consists of a paper-based colorimetric nitrite sensor, urine-activated batteries, a boost dc-dc converter, a low-power sensor interface utilizing pulse width modulation, a Bluetooth low energy module for wireless transmission, and a software performing calibration at run-time. </div><div> To further optimize the sensor module, a new fully integrated DC-DC converter with low-profile and low ripple is developed. The proposed DC-DC converter maintains an extremely low level of output voltage ripples in the face of different battery output voltages, which is crucial for realizing low-noise sensor interfaces. Since the DC-DC converter is a part of a module embedded into a diaper, it is highly desirable for the DC-DC converter to have a small physical form factor in both area and height. To address this issue, the proposed DC-DC converter adopts a new charge recycling technique that enables a fully integrated design without utilizing any off-chip components. In addition, the DC-DC converter utilizes sub-module sharing techniques – multiple modules share a voltage buffer and a recycle capacitor to reduce power consumption and save chip area. The DC-DC converter provides a regulated voltage of 1.2V and achieves a maximum efficiency of 80% with a 300ohm load resistance. The output voltage ripple is in the range of 19.6mV to 26.6mV for an input voltage ranging from 0.66 to 0.86V.<br></div>

Este trabalho, constitui-se em uma contribuição para o estudo das estratégias de mo-dulação direta baseadas em histerese e que funcionam em frequência fixa de comutação. Tem como objetivo principal propor a estratégia delta modificada, que diferencia-se na forma de ajuste da largura de banda de histerese, alterando-se seus limites e em como executa o comando de bloqueio das chaves de potência, para que a corrente de saída se mantenha em frequência fixa de operação e apresente rápida resposta dinâmica no sistema controlado. Para tanto, não necessita da utilização de derivadas, nem de uma corrente média de referência, tão pouco, se utiliza dos tempos de comutação. A estratégia proposta, comprova que é possível produzir os adequados pulsos de comando para o processamento da energia proveniente de célula combustível, através do conversor estático de potência, utilizando-se, principalmente, dos valores de ultrapassagem nos limites estabelecidos de histerese. Como objetivo secundário desta pesquisa, desenvolve-se um conversor CC/CC auxiliar para adaptar e estabilizar a energia proveniente da CAC, compondo-se um sistema útil que serve de base para fornecer energia, aos mais diversos tipos de cargas em CC. Além disso, apresenta-se uma revisão das estratégias de modulação em modo direto para o controle da corrente de saída no conversor estático, tendo como base a tensão nos terminais de um indutor. Contudo, outras estratégias são naturalmente citadas, no transcorrer deste trabalho, devido haver combinações entre as diferentes estratégias moduladoras e controladoras comentadas. / This work, is a contribution to the study of direct modulation strategies based on hysteresis and that operate at fixed switching frequency. Its main objective is to propose the modified delta strategy, which differentiates from the others strategies in the form of adjustment of hysteresis bandwidth, changing its limits and in executing the locking command of the power keys, so that the output current is maintain at fixed frequency of operation and a rapid dynamic response in the controlled system. In order to do so, it does not require the use of derivatives or a reference average current and also the switching times are not used. This strategy shows that it is possible to produce the appropriate command pulses for the processing of fuel cell energy by the static power converter using mainly the exceedance limit values. As a secondary objective of this research, an auxiliary DC/DC converter is developed to adapt and stabilize the energy coming from the fuel cell, forming a useful system that serves as a base to supply power to the most diverse types of DC loads. In addition, we present a review of the direct-mode modulation strategies for the control of the output current in the static converter, updating data, and based on the voltage at the terminals of an inductor; how-ever, others strategies are naturally cited because there are combinations between the different modulating strategies and controllers commented on in the course of this work.

O presente trabalho aborda a análise e o desenvolvimento de conversores CC-CC com alto ganho de tensão, para aplicações com fontes de energia de baixíssima tensão, porém capazes de fornecer altas correntes, como: painéis fotovoltaicos, células a combustível e baterias. O principal objetivo deste trabalho é elevar a tensão de uma única célula a combustível até um nível adequado de tensão para realizar a carga de uma bateria com tensão nominal de aproximadamente 12 V, de modo eficiente, com baixa ondulação na corrente de entrada do conversor e com baixa ondulação na tensão de saída. Para alcançar o objetivo proposto, dezenas de topologias de conversores foram estudadas, analisadas, simuladas e implementadas. O trabalho também apresenta uma comparação entre topologias de conversores CC-CC que realizam a transferência de energia por meio de indutores acoplados, com uma topologia de conversor que opera com transferência direta de energia por meio de um transformador. Por fim, os resultados experimentais são apresentados com o intuito de validar os resultados simulados e teóricos. / This work shows the analysis and development of DC-DC converters with high voltage gain, for applications with energy sources of low input voltage, but capable of providing high currents, such as: photovoltaic panels, fuel cells and batteries. The main objective of this work is to raise the voltage of a single fuel cell to a suitable vol-tage level to efficiently charge a battery with rated voltage of approximately 12 V, with low current ripple in the converter and with low output voltage ripple. To achieve the proposed objective, dozens of topologies of converters were studied, analyzed, simulated and implemented. This work shows a comparison between topologies of DC-DC converters that perform power transfer via coupled inductors, with a converter topology operating with direct energy transfer through a transformer. Finally, experimental results are presented in order to validate the theoretical and simulated results.

O presente trabalho apresenta o estudo, o equacionamento, a simulação e uma metodologia de projeto para um conversor CC/CC do tipo Half-Bridge, com transformador de potência alimentado por transistores bipolares em semi-ponte, com circuito de acionamento de base proporcional isolado. O circuito possui um controle de sincronismo aplicado ao transformador de pulso responsável pelo controle das chaves semicondutoras do conversor. A metodologia de projeto do circuito de acionamento de base proporcional isolado é discutida e alguns resultados são mostrados. Além disso, pretende-se empregar esse tipo de conversor em veículos aeroespaciais devido a robustez no circuito de acionamento de base, em específico na Unidade de Suprimento de Energia do satélite universitário ITASAT. Utilizando-se o diagrama esquemático do conversor proposto é feito o equacionamento matemático, a fim de se obter a frequência de oscilação livre, ou natural, a partir do qual é proposta uma metodologia de projeto. Ao final do trabalho são comparados os resultados experimentais com a simulação, com o objetivo de melhor avaliar a metodologia proposta. / This work presents the study, equation development, simulation and a design methodology for a Half-Bridge DC/DC converter, with power transformer fed by bipolar transistors in a half-bridge configuration, with proportional base drive circuit. The circuit has a synchronism control applied to the pulse transformer responsible for controlling the semiconductor switches of the converter. The design methodology of the proportional base drive is discussed and some results are shown. In addition, this type of converter is intended to be used in aerospace vehicles due to the increased robustness of the base drive circuit, for instance, the Power Supply Unit of ITASAT Satellite. A mathematical modeling is done in order to obtain the oscillation frequency (natural frequency) of the converter, from which a design methodology is proposed. At the end of the study the experimental are compared with the simulation, in order to evaluate the proposed methodology.

Le travail de recherche concrétisé par ce mémoire de thèse se trouve à l’intersection de deux domaines importants, la commande robuste des systèmes linéaires (LTI, LPV, en commutation) à temps discret affectés par des perturbations permanentes bornées et des contraintes et les ensembles invariants ellipsoïdaux maximal ou minimal. La première partie de ce mémoire se focalise sur l’analyse de la stabilité entrée-état (en anglais ISS) du système par rapport à une perturbation bornée et le calcul des ensembles invariants ellipsoïdaux minimal ou maximal (ou sous forme d’ellipsoïdes tronqués) satisfaisant les contraintes. La deuxième partie envisage la synthèse d’une commande par retour d’état ISS stable et robuste vis-à-vis de perturbations bornées, garantissant l’ellipsoïde invariant maximal satisfaisant les contraintes ; puis la synthèse d’une loi decommande par retour d’état et observateur ISS stable vis-à-vis de perturbations bornées, garantissant une certaine performance ; enfin la synthèse d’un paramètre de Youla afin de garantir la projection maximale sur le sous-espace de l’état initial. La projection obtenue possède alors un volume plus grand que celui obtenu sans le paramètre de Youla d’où une amélioration en termes de robustesse. Une dernière étape vise à obtenirun compromis entre la robustesse et la performance en utilisant des critères basés sur le placement de pôles ou sur la vitesse de décroissance de la fonction de Lyapunov. Tous les résultats théoriques obtenus sont exprimés sous forme d’inégalités matricielles et sont validés en simulation et de façon expérimentale dans le cadre de la commande d’un convertisseur de puissance. / The research concretized in this memory is located at the intersection of two important fields, the robust control of discrete-time linear systems (LTI, LPV, switched) affected by bounded disturbances and constraints and the ellipsoidal invariant sets theory.The first part of this memory focuses on the analysis of input-to-state stability (ISS) over a bounded perturbation and the computation of the maximal or minimal invariant ellipsoidal (or truncated ellipsoidal) set satisfying the constraints. The second part is considering the synthesis of a control state feedback law ISS stable and robust over bounded disturbances, ensuring the maximal ellipsoidal invariant set satisfying the constraints, then the synthesis of an observer-based control law ISS stable over bounded disturbances,ensuring a certain performance, and finally the design of a Youla parameter guaranteeing the maximal ellipsoidal projection on the initial state subspace. The resulting projection has a volume greater than the one obtained without the Youla parameter resulting an improvement in terms of robustness. A final step is to obtain a compromise between robustness and performance using criteria based on poles placement or on theLyapunov function decreasing rate. The theoretical results are expressed as matrix inequalities and are validated in simulation and and experimentally on a Buck DC-DC converter.

Les travaux présentés ici proposent des convertisseurs d’énergie à haut rendement et très large dynamique de tension d’entrée, c'est-à-dire capables de fonctionner avec un rendement énergétique élevé sur une plage de tension d’entrée étendue (typiquement de 9V à 200V). De multiples tensions de réseaux sont standards dans l’industrie : elles sont spécifiques à un domaine (aéronautique, ferroviaire, …) et dépendent de la source primaire d’alimentation électrique (batterie d’accumulateurs, génératrice, …). Au sein d’un équipement embarqué, plusieurs réseaux peuvent cohabiter : une alimentation principale 110V et une alimentation de secours sur batterie 12V, par exemple. Le besoin de convertisseurs large dynamique d’entrée est donc une réalité, mais il n’existe sur le marché que peu de convertisseurs capables de réaliser une dynamique d’entrée supérieure à dix. Dans un premier temps, nous avons étudié les enjeux et les problématiques liés à la large dynamique d’entrée, afin de mieux cerner les limitations des topologies de puissance classiques. Nous avons ensuite traité le cas d’une architecture de conversion d’énergie de type série, dont nous avons amélioré le rendement énergétique grâce à l’utilisation de circuits d’aide à la commutation. Cette solution ayant des performances limitées, nous avons proposé de nouvelles architectures de convertisseurs DC/DC, de type parallèle, capables de supporter des dynamiques de tension d’entrée supérieures à vingt et ayant un rendement énergétique élevé (supérieur à 80%). Nous avons également étudié et mis en œuvre des stratégies de commande, numériques et analogiques, permettant de contrôler ces nouvelles topologies complexes. / Power converters are present in virtually every embedded system, but many standards of DC networks exist: the supply voltage is depending on how the power is generated (battery, alternator …) and can range from 12V to more than 115V. When an equipment must comply with a 110V main supply and 12V back-up supply, the use of a wide input voltage range DC/DC converter is mandatory. Since classical switched mode power converters cannot achieve simultaneously high efficiency and wide input voltage range, manufacturers rarely propose DC/DC converters with an input voltage range greater than 10. This work tackles the issue of wide input voltage power conversion. After discussing about designs trade off and problems that stem from a wide input range, we try to improve the overall efficiency of a classical buck-boost converter, by using non dissipative switching-aid circuits. We also proposed a novel two stages power converter capable of dealing with very wide input voltage ranges (more than 20), without a reduction of the power efficiency. Since those new converters are far more difficult to control, some theoretical analysis was performed and some practical tests were done using complex controls laws.