DC microgrid has attracted more and more attention due to its unique characteristics, but the development of DC microgrid is also facing some challenges, such as interruption and isolation of short circuit fault currents. Therefore, DC circuit breaker plays an important role in ensuring the normal work of DC microgrid. In this paper, a novel bidirectional DC solid-state circuit breaker is proposed to realize the bidirectional flow of energy, which ensures the higher operating efficiency of the DC microgrid. Compared with other solid-state circuit breakers, the proposed novel topology has simpler structure, common ground and fewer components. Firstly, this paper makes a detailed analysis of the different working stages of the circuit when the fault occurs in combination with simulation results of the circuit topology. Then, the standard of selecting the components through the calculation and analysis of the circuit is given in this paper. Finally, the performance of the novel bidirectional solid-state circuit breaker is verified by experiments.

The development of the DC microgrid system on-board has promoted the development of the DC circuit breaker, due to that the short circuit fault may cause serious damage to the system. However, the traditional DC circuit breaker exists many problems such as long period of fault interruption, complex circuit structure, existing arc, low reliability and low anti-interference. Aiming to solve these problems, a novel solid-state DC circuit breaker was proposed in this paper. Firstly, this paper analyzes the working principle and process of the circuit in detail according to the results of the simulation based on Saber. Secondly, this paper gives the criteria on how to choose the parameters of the components correctly in the circuit. The concept of the maximum fault resistance according to the minimum fault current is also introduced. Moreover, this paper analyzes the influence of the minimum fault ramp rate on the circuit performance. Finally, experimental results verify that the performance of this novel solid-state circuit breaker agree with theoretical analysis.

This article proposes a predefined-time leader-following consensus control scheme for a second-order multiagent system (MAS) whose communication network is subject to channel fading. New distributed observers are designed to achieve prescribed-time leader’s states estimation under undirected graph and digraph over faded communication channel. Then, a new adaptive dynamic surface predefined-time control is developed for the elimination of the mismatched disturbances stemmed from estimation error and achieving practical predefined-time leader-following consensus. It is proved that the developed control approach achieves predefined-time consensus tracking. This article’s contribution is to propose novel distributed observers to remove the influence of channel fading and estimate leader’s states under undirected graph and digraph within prescribed time and develop a novel predefined-time control to achieve predefined-time consensus tracking over fading channel. A simulation example verifies that the designed control scheme is effective.

The efficient operation of power-electronic-based systems heavily relies on the reliability and longevity of battery-powered systems. An accurate prediction of the remaining useful life (RUL) of batteries is essential for their effective maintenance, reliability, and safety. However, traditional RUL prediction methods and deep learning-based approaches face challenges in managing battery degradation processes, such as achieving robust prediction performance, to ensure scalability and computational efficiency. There is a need to develop adaptable models that can generalize across different battery types that operate in diverse operational environments. To solve these issues, this research work proposes a TransRUL model to enhance battery RUL prediction. The proposed model incorporates advanced approaches of a time series transformer using a dual encoder with integration positional encoding and multi-head attention. This research utilized data collected by the Centre for Advanced Life Cycle Engineering (CALCE) on CS_2-type lithium-ion batteries that spanned four groups that used a sliding window technique to generate features and labels. The experimental results demonstrate that TransRUL obtained superior performance as compared with other methods in terms of the following evaluation metrics: mean absolute error (MAE), root-mean-squared error (RMSE), and $R^2$ values. The efficient computational power of the TransRUL model will facilitate the real-time prediction of the RUL, which is vital for power-electronic-based appliances. This research highlights the potential of the TransRUL model, which significantly enhances the accuracy of battery RUL prediction and additionally improves the management and control of battery-based systems.

Multiactive bridge (MAB) converter has played an important role in the power conversion of renewable-based smart grids, electrical vehicles, and more/all electrical aircraft. However, the increase in MAB submodules greatly complicates the control architecture. In this regard, the conventional centralized control strategies, which highly rely on the central controller, are limited by the computation burden and flexibility. To overcome this problem, this article proposes a decentralized control for MAB converters. The MAB submodules switching frequencies are adaptively regulated based on local information. Through this effort, flexible electrical power routing can be realized without the need for communications. The proposed control strategy not only relieves the computation burden of MAB control system, but also improves its modularity, flexibility, and expandability. Finally, hardware experimental results of a typical MAB converter are presented for verification.

Power-electronics-interfaced soft open points (SOPs) emerge as a promising solution for the fault-tolerant operation of distribution networks. The conventional SOPs interface two AC terminals with a back-to-back circuit configuration. Nevertheless, the SOP will break down if a fault occurs and interferes with the converter responsible for DC-link voltage regulation. To address this problem, a smart SOP with enhanced reliability is developed in this paper. The proposed SOP can protect the system from the fault, which occurs at any of the two AC terminals. More importantly, the control of SOP is fully autonomous and does not need remote monitoring, manual activation, or operation mode transformation. This merit makes the proposed SOP more reliable and intelligent than the conventional SOP and normally-open point (NOP). Finally, the effectiveness of this proposal is validated by simulation and experimental results.