Advanced DC–DC Converters for Renewable Energy Applications
A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "A: Sustainable Energy".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 December 2025 | Viewed by 18
Special Issue Editor
Interests: power converters; supercapacitor applications; power conditioning; surge protection; linear circuits; power electronics; electrical energy storage; photovoltaic power systems
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Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Renewable energy systems are proliferating rapidly. In typical solar and wind systems, a DC bus supplies energy to the downstream systems. Modern trends in the utilization of DC supply involve the development of DC microgrids, DC homes, and DC appliances. In such a context, deviating from the tradition of utilizing a DC-to-AC converter (inverter) with or without battery-based energy storage to buffer the fluctuations of DC bus supply, DC–DC converters with built-in energy storage are required due to their reliability.
DC–DC converters can be designed based on three different fundamental approaches, namely, (a) linear converters, (b) inductor-based switch-modes, and (c) switched capacitor converters (charge pumps). A more recent approach is to combine supercapacitors with linear converters in a (4th) new technique involving the production of supercapacitor-assisted low-dropout (SCALDO) regulators. In all practical converters, (i) conversion efficiency, (ii) load regulation, (iii) line regulation, (iv) loop stability, (v) power density, and (vi) EMC compatibility are important design parameters.
DC converter techniques, useful in renewable systems, require improved design parameters, namely, the energy buffers necessary to overcome frequent fluctuations in DC bus and provide protection against overcurrent and overvoltage. At present, a battery pack is typically used for energy buffering, with the designer factoring in rapid charging. This demands maximum power point tracking (MPPT)-type DC–DC converters. With the processing of supercapacitor-type new energy storge systems, battery banks may be supplemented with or replaced by supercapacitors. Research must enquire whether MPPT based DC–DC converters can be adopted? If not, new theoretical considerations are to be addressed based on conversion efficiency, charging speed, and reliability.
Another important topic to be discussed is the DC–DC converters for data centres powered by renewable sources, considering converter efficiency, packaging, and cooling requirements. Higher losses in kilowatt- to megawatt-order converters significantly increase cooling requirements .
This Special Issue will address the relevant aspects of DC–DC converters with the objective of developing renewable energy systems.
Dr. Nihal Kularatna
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- DC–DC converters
- DC-UPS capability
- energy efficiency
- EMC control
- renewable energy
- converter design
- converter modelling
- energy storage systems
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