DC - DC Converter

Total Energy Company initial product is a high efficiency DC to DC converter product ideal for photovoltaic systems and wide variety of hybrid renewable energy systems including fuel cells, battery, micro-wind, tidal, geothermal and biomass.

The Total Energy Company converter accepts a wide input voltage range (37 to 70 volts) and provides 200 / 400v DC output. The DC-DC converter can be used with the Total Energy Company inverter (in development) for the North American market grid-tied systems, or third party inverters, or by itself for a standalone DC power systems. Different power needs can be accommodated for international systems.

The Total Energy Company DC-DC converter uses a proprietary converter topology called V6. It enables the most efficient, high power DC-DC converter system. The V6 converter delivers peak efficiency of up to 97%. It is efficient over a wide range of load power from 10% to 100% of rated power.

In comparison, other high power converter systems only deliver efficiencies in a lower range. The improved efficiency of the Total Energy Company converter enables many new markets for this technology with Total Energy Company owning exclusive worldwide rights and patents to renewable energy applications.

The V6 DC-DC converter was developed by Dr. Jason Lai, Director of the Virginia Tech Future Energy Electronics Center. It has been licensed exclusively to Total Energy Company for worldwide renewable energy applications (except Solid Oxide Fuel Cells). (See: A Low-Cost Soft-Switched DC/DC Converter for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells)

The V6 DC-DC converter was development began under a United States Department of Energy grant for Solid Oxide Fuel Cell research. The U.S. Department of Energy announced, on February 9, 2005, a significant advancement in fuel cell technology, stating, "Researchers at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, working under a research grant managed by the National Energy Technology Laboratory, developed a highly efficient converter that can boost low DC (direct current) voltage produced by solid oxide fuel cell stacks to the higher voltage required (DC) for conversion to AC (alternating current) for household and commercial applications. The boost is significant because it provides another technological step in increasing the efficiency, and reducing the size and cost of fuel cells.

The release further noted, "The significance of Virginia Tech's work is that it facilitates the downsizing of the fuel cell stack and boosts net power output, while at the same time reducing the size and cost of the electronic systems behind it-key technical objectives for maturing solid oxide fuel cell technology to commercial-market self-sustainable status - Virginia Tech's device, the V6, when combined with highly efficient switching and digital control techniques, converts 22 volts to 400 volts, for fuel cells, at 97 percent energy efficiency. The device is able to boost voltage and reduce 120-hertz ripple current to 2 percent without the costly, bulky capacitors or additional converters that are customarily used. The net effect is that fuel consumption, the size of fuel cell systems, and costs are reduced, thereby taking a significant step toward the Solid State Energy Conversion Alliance Program's (SECA) goal of 40-60 percent overall fuel cell efficiency at a capital cost of $400 per kilowatt by 2010."