A New Isolated Multi-Port Converter With Multi-Directional Power Flow Capabilities for Smart Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

If the batteries are charged by clean renewable energy sources, electric vehicles (EVs) can have zero gas emission, contributing greatly toward the preservation of the green environment. In a smart micro-grid, EVs together with other distributed energy storage units can be used to supply electricity to the loads during the peak hours so as to minimize the effects of the load shedding and improve the quality of electricity. To achieve these goals, an isolated hybrid multi-port converter is required to control the power flows and balance the energy among renewable energy sources, EVs, and the grid. In this paper, a new isolated multi-port converter is proposed, which can control the power flow in multiple directions. The converter is modeled in the MATLAB/Simulink software environment and this validates the technology with a laboratory prototype test platform. The modeling, implementation, and results are discussed comprehensively.