Single-Switch High Step-Down Cuk-Based PFC Rectifier for Lightweight Electric Vehicles Battery Charger

Most two-stage converters designed for light electric vehicle (LEV) battery chargers typically suffer from a high number of components, resulting in low efficiency. On the other hand, one of the key challenges with single-stage chargers for light electric vehicles (LEVs) is their limited voltage gain characteristic. In this paper, a new single-stage high step-down power factor (PFC) correction active rectifier is proposed for battery charger of light electric vehicles (LEVs) such as unmanned vehicle Systems (UVSs) and other applications. This converter, based on the Cuk topology integrated with a power factor correction converter, utilizes only one switch, resulting in not only cost reduction but also improved efficiency. As a result of the single-switch nature of this topology, we will have a simpler structure, easier control, higher reliability, and lower cost. Moreover, considering that this topology is designed based on a Cuk converter, it will have continuous and high-quality current at the input and output of this rectifier, which guarantees the total harmonic distortion (THD) of the input current below 3%.These mentioned features are highly important for battery chargers in practice. Finally, due to the inherent characteristics of this topology, the performance of this rectifier in unity power factor operation will be achieved with a simple single-loop control. As a validation for this proposed topology, we designed a simulation in MATLAB Simulink software for a 500W, 230Vrms/ 50Hz to 48VDC.