Greater efficiency with 2kW bidirectional power reference design

Texas Instruments has introduced the industry’s first 2kW isolated bidirectional DC/DC converter reference design for 48-400V Uninterruptable Power Supplies (UPS) and energy storage systems.

Designers can leverage this reference design, which features innovative TI analog and embedded technologies, to achieve greater than 93% efficiency in next-gen UPS, energy storage, power banks and battery charger applications.

An energy efficiency story

The increasing need for renewable energy resources across a variety of markets makes power efficiency more important than ever. Global energy standards and regulations continue to increase pressure on engineers to develop energy-efficient systems, while balancing the need to keep overall system costs low. The isolated bidirectional DC/DC converter reference design empowers designers to increase efficiency over a wide load range for charger and backup converter operations, while reducing system power consumption.

Key benefits of TI’s new isolated bi-directional DC/DC converter reference design:

• 48-400V range: The industry’s first design to provide support for energy storage supplies with a wide range of input voltages.
• Greater than 93% efficiency: A fully tested design with TI products to help designers quickly meet ENERGY STAR guidelines and quicken time to market.
• Zero Voltage Switching (ZVS) in boost mode: Innovative DC/DC converters help enable higher efficiency and lower Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) than traditional hard-switching converters.
• Wide low-voltage DC bus range: Designed to charge a wide range of batteries, the design gives engineers flexibility to design with lithium ion (Li-ion), lithium polymer (Li-poly) and lead-acid battery banks ranging from 36-60V.
• Seamless mode changeover: Less than 100µS mode change over from charging to backup mode helps reduce high-voltage hold up capacitor requirements.

The bidirectional standard

For applications with wide-range voltage needs such asElectric Vehicles (EVs) or industrial servers, the integration of a backup converter and charger into a single power stage, coupled with the compact board space of this reference design, allows developers to more easily implement the transfer of energy to designs. The reference design includes TI’s industry-leading analog technology, including the 100V NexFET CSD19536KCS power MOSFET and half-bridge UCC27211A gate driver, for achieving high efficiency. The INA240 current sense amplifier provides accurate current measurements, while the AMC1301 reinforced isolated amplifier and the UCC21520 isolated half-bridge gate driver provide an effective option for sensing the isolated high-voltage rail and driving the high-voltage full-bridge respectively. The Piccolo™ TMS320F28033 microcontroller implements system control digitally.