One of the requirements for the next generation of power supplies for distributed power systems (DPSs) is to achieve high power density with high efficiency.

In the traditional front-end converter based on the two-stage approach for high-power three-phase DPSs, the DC-link voltage coming from the power factor correction (PFC) stage penalizes the second-stage DC/DC converter. This DC/DC converter not only has to meet the characteristics demanded by the load, but also must process energy with high efficiency, high reliability, high power density and low cost. To meet these requirements, approaches such as the series connection of converters and converters that reduce the voltage stress across the main devices have been proposed.

In order to improve the characteristics of these solutions, this dissertation proposes high-efficiency, high-density DC/DC converters for high-power high-voltage applications.

In the first part of the dissertation, a DC/DC converter based on a three-level structure and operated with pulse width modulation (PWM) phase-shift control is proposed. This new way to operate the three-level DC/DC converter allows soft-switching operation for the main devices. Zero-voltage switching (ZVS) and zero-voltage and zero-current switching (ZVZCS) soft-switching techniques are studied, analyzed and compared in order to improve the characteristics of the proposed converter. This results in a series of ZVS and ZVZCS three-level DC/DC converters for high-power high-voltage applications. In all cases, results from 6kW prototypes operating at 100 kHz are presented.

In addition, with the ultimate goal of improving the power density of the DC/DC converter, a study of several resonant DC/DC converters that can operate at higher switching frequencies is presented. From this study, a three-element ZVS three-level resonant converter for applications with wide input voltage and load variations is proposed. Experimental results at 745 kHz obtained without penalizing the efficiency of the PWM approaches are presented.

The second part of the dissertation proposes a quasi-integrated AC/DC three-phase converter that aims to reduce the complexity and cost of the traditional two-stage front-end converter. This converter improves the complexity/low-efficiency tradeoff characteristics evident in the two-stage approach and previous integrated converters. The principle of operation for the converter is analyzed and verified on a 3kW experimental prototype.