A Comprehensive Loss Model and Comparison of AC and DC Boost Converters

Daniel L. Gerber, Fariborz Musavi, Omkar A. Ghatpande, Stephen M. Frank, Jason Poon, Richard E. Brown and Wei Feng
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Daniel L. Gerber: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Department of Building Technologies Urban Systems, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Fariborz Musavi: Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Washington State University, Vancouver, WA 99163, USA
Omkar A. Ghatpande: National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Building Energy Science Group, Golden, CO 80401, USA
Stephen M. Frank: National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Building Energy Science Group, Golden, CO 80401, USA
Jason Poon: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Department of Building Technologies Urban Systems, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Richard E. Brown: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Department of Building Technologies Urban Systems, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Wei Feng: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Department of Building Technologies Urban Systems, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 11, 1-21

Abstract: DC microgrids have become a prevalent topic in research in part due to the expected superior efficiency of DC/DC converters compared to their AC/DC counterparts. Although numerous side-by-side analyses have quantified the efficiency benefits of DC power distribution, these studies all modeled converter loss based on product data that varied in component quality and operating voltage. To establish a fair efficiency comparison, this work derives a formulaic loss model of a DC/DC and an AC/DC PFC boost converter. These converters are modeled with identical components and an equivalent input and output voltage. Simulated designs with real components show AC/DC boost converters between 100 W to 500 W having up to 2.5 times more loss than DC/DC boost converters. Although boost converters represent a fraction of electronics in buildings, these loss models can eventually work toward establishing a comprehensive model-based full-building analysis.

Keywords: DC power transmission; power converter; AC-DC power conversion; DC-DC power conversion; losses (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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