A 25 Kw 4-Port High-Power Density Multiple Active Bridge as an Efficient Means to Incorporate Hydrogen Into Buildings and Small Industries

In this paper, the investigation, design and implementation of a 25 kW power converter for the integration of Hydrogen Technologies (namely electrolysers and fuel cells) with other renewable energy sources is presented, including PV cells and the grid. Working at high switching frequencies, thanks to the use of wide bandgap devices, it is able to achieve very high efficiency and power density; besides, due to the topology selected, the Quadruple Active Bridge (QAB), the component list is drastically reduced and any of the four ports can function as a source or load, choosing the requested power as desired. Before its implementation, several simulations have been conducted for which the electrical model of an electrolyser has been previously obtained. As regards the modulation and control, single phase shift (SPS) modulation with a novel control strategy has been devised. Furthermore, employing Processor-in-the-loop and Model Based Design for the control part, the design has been validated and, eventually, tested experimentally.