Emerging Topics in Power Electronic Converters of Microgrids and Smart Grids

Dear Colleagues,

Microgrids and smart grids are leading the transformation of modern power systems, driving advancements across a wide range of industry sectors, including renewable energy generation, energy storage systems, electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, industrial automation, and smart cities. These innovative systems offer improved resilience, energy efficiency, and operational flexibility by enabling the decentralized energy management, real-time grid control, and seamless integration of distributed energy resources (DERs), such as solar photovoltaics, wind turbines, and battery storage. In electric transportation, microgrids support the efficient integration of EV charging stations, while in industrial contexts, they optimize energy utilization and enhance the reliability of critical operations. In residential applications, integrating renewable energy, energy storage, and EVs enhances energy independence, reduces costs, and provides backup power during grid outages.

Power electronic converters serve as critical interfaces between renewable energy sources and the grid, or between the grid and power-consuming devices, playing a vital role in managing power flow, maintaining grid stability, and enhancing the overall performance of microgrids and smart grids. Recent advancements in wide bandgap (WBG) power semiconductors, including silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN), have revolutionized power electronics converter design. These WBG devices offer superior properties such as faster switching speeds, higher switching frequencies, and improved thermal performance, enabling the development of advanced converter topologies and control methods, improved efficiency and power density, and enhanced power quality and stability in microgrid and smart grid environments.

This Special Issue invites original contributions and review papers on emerging trends and innovations in power electronic converters for microgrids and smart grids. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Design of power converters based on WBG devices with enhanced performance.
• Novel converter topologies and control strategies for microgrids and smart grids.
• WBG power semiconductors packaging-to-system integration.
• Advanced testing methodologies and reliability assessments of power electronic converters.
• Modeling and stability analysis of power electronics in microgrids and smart grids.
• Power quality improvement, harmonic mitigation, and voltage regulation.
• Inertia support, black start capabilities, and system protection strategies.
• Integration of renewable energy sources, energy storage systems, and electric vehicles.
• Case studies and real-world implementations of power electronics in microgrid and smart grid applications.

Dr. Zibo Chen
Dr. Zhehui Guo
Prof. Dr. Dingrui Li
Guest Editors

Technical Program Committee Member:
Dr. Zhou He;
hz_zhouhe@hust.edu.cn;
School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Whuan 430074, China

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• microgrids
• smart grids
• power electronics converter
• WBG power semiconductor
• power quality
• digital control