Modeling and validation of a DC/DC power converter for building energy simulations: Application to BIPV systems

Abstract

European legislation on building performance and energy efficiency pushes the shift towards minimizing the environmental footprint of buildings. Buildingintegrated photovoltaics (BIPV) is a promising technology that can accelerate the transition to energy-neutral buildings. Quantifying the potential of BIPV is crucial and one means of obtaining those results is through simulation. The state-of-the-art tools offer either thermal or electrical specialization; in particular, balance of system components (BOS) such as power converters have not been studied in detail within the building simulations BIPV domain. In this paper, a multi-physics model of a BIPV integrated DC/DC converter is developed in the Modelica language, taking into account the thermal and electrical couplings inherent to power electronic systems. The model has been validated using representative outdoor BIPV measurements and a DC/DC converter prototype. It has been found that the proposed model provides reasonable accuracy and outperforms an equivalent power conditioning model in TRNSYS. To demonstrate the model's functionality, two case studies are performed. First, the temperature-dependence of the converter's efficiency and losses is quantified and analyzed and, second, the prominent contributors to the converter losses are identified and discussed.

Impact of photovoltaic technology and feeder voltage level on the efficiency of façade building-integrated photovoltaic systems

“…The origin and calculation of losses in power electronics converters is treated in detail in [42]. A detailed boost converter loss model is used that was experimentally validated in [50]. The IIBC loss model is built up similarly but includes also transformer losses [51].…”

Analysis and Comparison of Fuzzy Models and Observers for DC-DC Converters Applied to a Distillation Column Heating Actuator

“…The model of the Buck-Boost converter is obtained from commuting the Q switch on and off, which is, from the set of expressions obtained by each topological state. The system is represented as the states matrix form (10) taking as state variables the inductor current (i L ) and the capacitor voltage (v C ).…”

“…The resulting model of the Buck-Boost converter is a commuting model between two linear subsystems, represented in ( 11) and ( 12), which commutation depends on the switch state Q. The general representation of the system in matrix form (10) is expressed in (13).…”

“…Authors in [9] present a small-signal model for a single-stage PV fed Buck converter that acts as a battery charge-controller in order to improve its MPPT performance. In [10], a multi-physics model of Building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) integrated DC/DC converter is developed to quantify the potential of BIPV.…”

Backstepping Global and Structural Stabilization of DC/DC Boost Converter

“…To this end, industries are developed around the PV panels, wind turbines, fuel cells, storage elements and other devices for optimal electricity production and storage. In all steps, from the electricity production to the deliverance to the end consumer, the converters play an important role in each phase of the process [29,30,33]. The objective of the converter is to shape the energy according to the demand using a switching mechanism governed by a control law.…”