Single-phase SEPIC-based power factor correction for electric vehicles charging

Abstract

Electric Vehicles (EVs) employment has been widely spread recently due to their environmental-friendliness. Many research efforts are being put into developing the charging infrastructure to meet the customer needs while complying with international power quality standards. Accordingly, this work presents the development of a single-stage single-phase SEPIC-based Power Factor Correction (PFC) charger. The analysis and modeling of the proposed system are presented. The Discontinuous Inductor Current Mode (DICM) operation is considered for the SEPIC converter since it behaves as a purely resistive load as seen from the grid. MATLAB/Simulink is used to simulate the system for validation and evaluation purposes of the proposed design. Moreover, a lab prototype operating at a 1.5kW power level is built. The obtained results indicate a unity power factor (PF) and a total harmonic distortion (THD) of the input current at 1.5%, meeting the required standards.