Converters with a dc port and a single-phase ac port must store energy to buffer the inherent double-frequency power flow at the ac port. The minimum energy storage required to isolate the power ripple from the dc port is presented, and leads to the minimum capacitance required for converters that use capacitive energy storage. This paper presents a ripple power port to manage energy storage and decouple capacitor ripple from power ripple. A ripple power port allows the designer to make a choice of capacitor voltage independent of other system voltages. A combination of an ac link converter and a ripple power port leads to a dramatic increase in reliability: it is shown that converters with nominal ratings up to 200 W can be designed with expected mean-time-between-failure ratings on the order of 1.4 × 10 6 hsufficient for hundred-year operation in long-life applications such as photovoltaic converters and LED lamps. This large increase in life is achieved with minimal extra cost.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.