A Triple-Port Active Bridge DC-DC Converter for Integration of Energy Storage Systems in Concentrator Photovoltaic

A Triple-Port Active Bridge (TAB) dc-dc converter, designed for performing the decoupled control of two batteries, is presented in the paper. The proposed configuration has been developed to counteract the power intermittency occurring in Concentrator Photovoltaic (CPV) power plants, managing the power balance into a microgrid simultaneously. Specifically, the implementation of real-time CPV smoothing control algorithms allows the evaluation of power battery set-points for balancing both the CPV power intermittency and microgrid power flow. In the present paper, the feasibility of the proposed configuration, referring to an installed CPV power plant, has been investigated. The decoupled management of two batteries, resorting to TAB implementation, was first verified by simulation analysis. Subsequently, the designed hardware TAB configuration is presented. Finally, the preliminary experimental results of the proposed energy storage system are reported.