Design of a high-efficiency, high-performance zero-voltage-switched battery charger-discharger for the NASA EOS space platform

The integration of two Zero-Voltage-Switched Bidirectional Battery Charger Discharger (ZVS-BBCD) units into a space power system is shown. A robust design featuring: four interleaved phases, commandable charge rates, overcurrent protection, overvoltage protection, soft starting, reliable gate drive circuitry, high efficiency, and good dynamics is demonstrated. The ZVS-BBCD is compared to separate hard-switched multimodule charge and discharge units in weight and efficiency and is found to be significantly lighter with comparable losses. The ZVS-BBCD has similar characteristics in discharge and in charge bus regulation modes and allows the use of a common control design for both modes. The two ZVS-BBCDs are integrated into the NASA power system testbed built at the Virginia Power Electronics Center (VPEC) to test their dynamics. The result shows good characteristics including low bus impedance and fast transient response.