Reliability-oriented design of a cost-effective active capacitor

Abstract

This paper presents the reliability-oriented design of a two-terminal active capacitor proposed recently. The two-terminal active capacitor has the same level of convenience as a passive capacitor with reduced requirement of overall energy storage. In order to fully explore the potential of the proposed concept, a comprehensive design procedure is necessary to optimally sizing the key components of the active capacitor in terms of cost and reliability. Moreover, the inherent condition monitoring capability of the active capacitor is discussed by utilizing the existing feedback signals. A 500 W single-phase rectifier is built up to experimentally verify the theoretical studies.