Bidirectional soft-switched AC/AC high frequency link converter

This paper investigates a soft-switching partial-resonant link AC/AC converter. The proposed converter uses 12 unidirectional switches and overcomes the various shortcomings of conventional AC Link schemes. The switching operations occur at zero voltage instants thus lowering the switching losses. The input and output current is harmonic free and the controller also allows setting of desired power factor. It can perform buck and boost operations and has bi-directional power flow capability. As the converter operates at high switching frequency, it offers both improved performance and considerable reduction of volume, weight and cost. Detailed simulation results are presented and prototype converter system has been built and tested.