Building SCAPE’s integrated inverter/on-board charger mock-up

SCAPE follows an iterative process for the design of the power converter prototypes, consisting of two main steps. First, a mock-up low-power version of the integrated inverter/on-board charger (IIOBC) is developed, in order to validate the switching-cell and converter-leg circuits, the online monitoring systems, basic controls, as well as a preliminary version of the advanced controls. After mock-up validation is done, the development of the final converter prototypes is performed, in order to validate the chip-embedded power converters and the definitive control strategies.

IREC is currently developing the mock-up IIOBC hardware, following a reduced power and number of legs, as seen in Figure 1. The mock-up IIOBC will be tested in an emulated environment, that is, with dc and ac power sources acting as the EV battery and motor, respectively, thanks to the control provided by a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) unit, integrating a comprehensive electrical model of both elements. Moreover, the mock-up prototype will be built with conventional power semiconductors in a discrete package (TO-247) and will integrate liquid cooling with a cold plate, ensuring a very compact design, as shown in Figure 2.