A Single-Stage Inductive-Power-Transfer Converter for Constant-Power and Maximum-Efficiency Battery Charging

This article proposes a single-stage inductive-power-transfer (IPT) converter operating as a wireless constant-power (CP) and maximum-efficiency battery charger. By maintaining a constant output power rather than providing a constant output current throughout the dominant stage of battery charging, the IPT converter can make the utmost of its power capability, thus having a faster charging rate. The proposed single-stage IPT converter adopts series-series compensation and includes a switch-controlled capacitor (SCC) and a semiactive rectifier (SAR) in the secondary side. Manipulating the SCC and the SAR to emulate the optimum impedance of the resonator and the load, we propose a novel operation approach combining the merits of load-independent transfer characteristic and load impedance matching, to achieve a simple solution to CP charging and maximum efficiency throughout the charging process. Since the control scheme is based on fixed operating frequency and secondary-side real-time regulation, wireless feedback communication is not required. Moreover, soft switching and low voltage stress can be easily achieved in this IPT converter.