Bi-directional Dual Active Bridge Converter applying variable switching frequency for low battery charger

This paper proposed an optimized design of a dual active bridge converter for a low-voltage charger. The dual active bridge converter among various bi-directional DC/DC converters is a high-efficiency isolated bi-directional converter. In the general design, when the battery voltage is high, the ZVS region is reduced. In contrast, when the battery voltage is low, the efficiency is low due to high conduction loss. In order to increase the ZVS region and the power conversion efficiency, depending on the battery voltage, variable switching frequency method is applied. At the same duty, the same power is obtained regardless of the battery voltage using the variable switching frequency method. The proposed method was applied to a 5kW prototype converter, and the experimental results were analyzed and verified.