Implementation of Snubber Circuits in a PV-Based Off-Grid Electric Vehicle Charging Station—Comparative Case Studies

Divya Krishnan Nair, Krishnamachar Prasad and Tek Tjing Lie
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Divya Krishnan Nair: School of Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences, Auckland University of Technology, 1010 Auckland, New Zealand
Krishnamachar Prasad: School of Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences, Auckland University of Technology, 1010 Auckland, New Zealand
Tek Tjing Lie: School of Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences, Auckland University of Technology, 1010 Auckland, New Zealand

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 18, 1-13

Abstract: With the penetration of electric vehicles (EVs), there have been paradigm shifts in the transportation sector. EVs are ideally considered to be clean and eco-friendly, but they can overload the existing grid infrastructure and significantly contribute towards carbon emissions depending on the source of charging. The ideal solution is to develop a charging infrastructure for EVs that is integrated with solar energy technology. This paper presents the design of a zero-voltage switching snubber-based bidirectional converter for an off-grid charging station for EVs. The proposed system includes a solar array with a boost converter, a bidirectional converter with snubber circuits and an energy storage unit. A comprehensive comparison between various types of snubbers, such as the resistive capacitive diode snubber, active clamp snubber and flyback snubber, is presented. This type of system configuration clamps the rail voltage, due to the difference in current between leakage inductance and low voltage side-fed inductor currents, resulting in reduced current spikes at the converter’s switches. Such a converter, therefore, leads to higher efficiency of the charging station for EVs. The design of a snubber-based off-grid charging station for EVs is formulated and validated in the MATLAB/Simulink environment.

Keywords: resistive capacitive diode snubber; active clamp snubber; flyback snubber; bidirectional converter; off-grid charging station (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
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