Power Electronics (PE) is a fast-developing enabling technology for strategic applications, such as transportation electrification, grid integration of renewables and electrical storage, and high-efficiency industrial process. The course uses the Project-Based Learning (PBL) approach to future electrical engineers able to design power electronic converters, with focus on electric powertrains for xEVs (battery powered electrical vehicles – BEV, hydrogen fuel-cell electrical vehicles – HyEV and hybrid vehicles – HEV), as well as on charging systems (on-board charges and off-board chargers). The course will provide the main concepts on modeling of energy sources, such as traction batteries and fuel-cells. The PBL approach is known to be a motivating problem-centered teaching method that allows the student to apply their theoretical knowledge in a most efficient way in a working team for: • Implementing effective cooperation with others within the specific design project to distribute workload, analyze problems and help each other. • Writing technical reports and presenting one's own work to others including the external examiner. Today the engineers dealing with emerging and fast-developing technologies are working in multi-disciplinary teams involving people with different backgrounds, such as: electrical, thermal, embedded control, mechanical, signal processing, and so on. Following this multi-disciplinary approach, this course is managed by an academic team involving teachers with electrical and thermal-chemical backgrounds.

Starting for a power converter to be designed, the students must be able to: • Understand and adopt the best design methodology • Understand and define power converter specifications • Understand and analyze both known and unknown converter topologies to evaluate properly the advantages and disadvantages with respect to the application. • Select of the proper converter topology and of power electronic devices, including the proper packaging. • Perform the electro-thermal design of the power converter: gate drive design, loss calculation and thermal design, sensors selection and electronic signal conditioning design. • Input/output filter design • Simulate the power converter under design using advanced simulation tools. • Simulate the energy power sources (battery, fuel cells), according to electrical/thermal/energetic modeling approaches.

Fundamentals in electrical circuits, fundamental concepts in power electronics, fundamental concepts of thermal heat transfer.

• Introduction: power electronics as enabling technology, academic team, course objectives and description of evaluation through project work. • Introduction to various projects, groups definition and choose specification • Short overview on eMobility as application: xEV architectures and battery chargers. • Overview on power electronic switches: basic operation, commutation, technologies and packaging • Thermal modeling of power switches and modules • Overview on power converter topologies for eMobility: inverters and chargers • Fundamental principles of power electronic converter design • Design of power converters: thermal desig, loss computation, gate drivers, sensing. • Simulation of power converters using PLECS • Analysis and modeling of energy sources for eMobility: batteries and fuel cells.

In addition to classroom lectures, the following exercise activities are planned: • Battery modeling and simulation using solutions available on electrical vehicles. • Converter simulation using PLECS circuital models and dynamic average models. • Laboratory demo on a three-phase inverter. • Laboratory demo on grid rectifier • Laboratory exercise on a reduced scale fuel cell stack. Group discussions will be scheduled, where the team will present preliminary results of their work.

Books: • Rashid, M. H., 'Elettronica di Potenza', Prentice Hall • Ali Emadi, "Advanced Electric Drive Systems", CRC Press, 2014. • Chris Mi, “Hybrid Electric Vehicles”, John Wiley&Sons, 2018. Operating manuals and application notes: • PLECS User Manual • Application manual power semiconductors SEMIKRON Scientific IEEE papers on power electronics, source: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/Xplore/home.jsp The IEEE Explore can be accessed using Polito networks. Other specific material, such as academic courses, data sheets of power semiconductors, scientific papers, will be provided on the web portal by the academic team.

Slides;

Modalità di esame: Prova orale obbligatoria; Elaborato progettuale in gruppo;

Exam: Compulsory oral exam; Group project;

... The academic team will provide a list of projects within 4 weeks from the course starting. The students will be required to assemble into up to three- or four-person teams, based on commonality of interest. Each team will select a project from the project list. The assessment consists in a final report that must be presented during an oral exam by the entire team. The final report is document (edited in Word or Latex) supported by simulation models and any other software tools used for the project. The presentation of the report must be performed in Powerpoint. The final score, is calculated as the weighted arithmetic mean between the report (60%) (evaluated for technical content, technical clarity and writing clarity), and the score for the presentation of the results during the oral exam (40%).

Gli studenti e le studentesse con disabilità o con Disturbi Specifici di Apprendimento (DSA), oltre alla segnalazione tramite procedura informatizzata, sono invitati a comunicare anche direttamente al/la docente titolare dell'insegnamento, con un preavviso non inferiore ad una settimana dall'avvio della sessione d'esame, gli strumenti compensativi concordati con l'Unità Special Needs, al fine di permettere al/la docente la declinazione più idonea in riferimento alla specifica tipologia di esame.