As the impact of our actions on the climate become more and more clear and environmental awareness is rising, the quest for increasing efficiency and lower environmental impact becomes very important. Efficiency is particularly important in the field of electricity consumption, which keeps on rising as electrification of our transportation, houses, offices and more continues worldwide. These loads and sustainable sources have one thing in common: Direct Current. To successfully respond to this growing usage of direct current (DC) systems it is important to provoke an evolution in the provision of DC infrastructure. The goal of this paper is to create a methodology to calculate and evaluate the power losses in both traditional AC grids and DC microgrids. This is done through simulation models made by Caspoc, a software for modeling and simulating physical systems in analog/power electronics, electric power generation/conversion/distribution and mechatronics. The results are compared on the quantifiable indicator: energy savings. The impact of cable losses and different converters is calculated through the simulation. This methodology and simulation strategy can be the basis for the optimal grid design in other infrastructures and cases. The model will be validated with intensive tests of household equipment in a later stage of the project, this paper focuses on the model and methodology itself. DOI: 10.1109/DUE.2014.6827760
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The Smart Current Limiter is a switching DC to DC converter that provides a digitally pre-set input current control for inrush limiting and power management. Being able to digitally adjust the current level in combination with external feedback can be used for control systems like temperature control in high power DC appliances. Traditionally inrush current limiting is done using a passive resistance whose resistance changes depending on the current level. Bypassing this inrush limiting resister with a Mosfet improves efficiency and controllability, but footprint and losses remain large. A switched current mode controlled inrush limiter can limit inrush currents and even control the amount of current passing to the application. This enables power management and inrush current limitation in a single device. To reduce footprint and costs a balance between losses and cost-price on one side and electromagnetic interference on the other side is sought and an optimum switching frequency is chosen. To reduce cost and copper usage, switching happens on a high frequency of 300kHz. This increases the switching losses but greatly reduces the inductor size and cost compared to switching supplies running on lower frequencies. Additional filter circuits like snubbers are necessary to keep the control signals and therefore the output current stable.
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The application of DC grids is gaining more attention in office applications. Especially since powering an office desk would not require a high power connection to the main AC grid but could be made sustainable using solar power and battery storage. This would result in fewer converters and further advanced grid utilization. In this paper, a sustainable desk power application is described that can be used for powering typical office appliances such as computers, lighting, and telephones. The desk will be powered by a solar panel and has a battery for energy storage. The applied DC grid includes droop control for power management and can either operate stand-alone or connected to other DC-desks to create a meshed-grid system. A dynamic DC nano-grid is made using multiple self-developed half-bridge circuit boards controlled by microcontrollers. This grid is monitored and controlled using a lightweight network protocol, allowing for online integration. Droop control is used to create dynamic power management, allowing automated control for power consumption and production. Digital control is used to regulate the power flow, and drive other applications, including batteries and solar panels. The practical demonstrative setup is a small-sized desktop with applications built into it, such as a lamp, wireless charging pad, and laptop charge point for devices up to 45W. User control is added in the form of an interactive remote wireless touch panel and power consumption is monitored and stored in the cloud. The paper includes a description of technical implementation as well as power consumption measurements.
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Droop control is used for power management in DC grids. Based on the level of the DC grid voltage, the amount of power regulated to or from the appliance is regulated such, that power management is possible. The Universal 4 Leg is a laboratory setup for studying the functionality of a grid manager for power management. It has four independent outputs that can be regulated with pulse width modulation to control the power flow between the DC grid and for example, a rechargeable battery, solar panel or any passive load like lighting or heating.
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