An integrated parallel synchronous rectifier and bi-directional DC/DC converter system for solar and wind powered hybrid electric vehicle

Decreasing world oil and gas resources as well as environmental concerns have driven automotive industry to develop more efficient and cleaner vehicles to reduce fuel consumption and protect the environment. The hybrid vehicle technology offers a reasonable solution for the challenges of energy and environment. Renewable energies, such as solar and wind energy can also be integrated with the structure of hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) to further improve the efficiency and environmental concerns. Electric energy generated by solar panels and wind system can be stored in the energy storage system and utilized for propulsion. Braking energy generated by the propulsion machine can be used for charging the energy storage system. Due to the utilization of renewable energies, smaller sized internal combustion engine (ICE) can be replaced in the vehicle. In this paper, a new topology of integrated solar and wind powered hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) is proposed and its feasibility has been studied in the Toyota Prius.