The lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles have a shorter lifespan than other vehicle components, and the degradation mechanism inside these batteries reduces their life even more. Battery degradation is considered a significant issue in battery research and can increase the vehicle’s reliability and economic concerns. This study highlights the degradation mechanisms in lithium-ion batteries. The aging mechanism inside a battery cannot be eliminated but can be minimized depending on the vehicle’s operating conditions. Different operating conditions affect the aging mechanism differently. Knowing the factors and how they impact battery capacity is crucial for minimizing degradation. This paper explains the detailed degradation mechanism inside the battery first. Then, the major factors responsible for the degradation and their effects on the battery during the operation of electric vehicles are discussed. Also, the different techniques used to model the degradation of a battery and predict its remaining life are explained in-depth, along with the techniques to abate the aging process. Finally, this study focuses on the research gaps, difficulties in predicting the lifetime, and reducing the degradation mechanism of a battery used in electric vehicles.

This paper proposes a stochastic framework for the optimal operation and management of hybrid ac-dc microgrids (MGs) in the presence of renewable energy sources (RESs) and storage devices. Hybrid ac-dc MGs can provide benefit over the traditional ac MGs by elimination of inverting equipment and reducing power losses caused by the ac-dc convertors. A stochastic load flow based on an unscented transform is employed to model the uncertainties of active and reactive loads, market power price, wind turbine, and photovoltaic output power. Additionally, a new powerful optimizer based on crow search algorithm (CSA) is devised to search the problem space. The proposed method uses a new two stage modification method to increase the search ability of CSA when avoiding premature convergence. The feasibility and performance assessment of the proposed framework are examined on an IEEE standard test system.

Recently, the thermal management of power electronic converters has gained significant attention due to the continuous trend of developing very compact power electronic converters with high power density. With the evolution of power semiconductor devices, high operating temperatures and large thermal cycles have become possible, necessitating a significant improvement in thermal system designs. Researchers have made significant efforts to develop effective thermal management systems to improve the reliability and lifetime of power electronic converters. This article intends to present a thorough review of thermal management systems employed in power electronics cooling. The applied thermal management techniques have been reviewed from the perspective of electrical parameter regulation and heat dissipation control. Regulation of electrical parameters involves active thermal control, which is a method for controlling junction temperature and thermal cycling of power semiconductor devices. The active thermal control implementation processes reviewed in this article consist of increasing overload capacity, manipulating switching and conduction losses, employing modified modulation processes, balancing thermal stress at the converter level, and controlling thermal stress at the system level. Control of heat dissipation can be achieved through direct and indirect cooling of power electronic converters with air or liquid as the coolant. The effectiveness and implementation methods of these cooling techniques, such as channel cooling, phase change material-based cooling, immersion cooling, jet impingement and spray cooling, are reviewed in this paper. Moreover, performance-enhancing ideas and challenges for these techniques are discussed. The primary objective of this review paper is to bridge the existing gap in the literature by offering a comprehensive comparison of commonly employed thermal management techniques.

Electric systems for naval applications create a challenge for the power system associated control. When incorporating loads with a high-power ramp rate within what is essentially an islanded microgrid, energy sources that supplement generators must be used due to the ramp rate constraints of the generators; this is where energy storages play a key role. A higher-level control layer is needed to effectively coordinate the distributed energy storage in order to ensure that the effect on the generators is minimised. The Energy Management layer is responsible for maintaining the desired state of charge for the distributed energy storage and ensuring that load demand is met while minimising ramp rate violations. In this paper, a distributed Energy Management scheme for a 4-zone ship power system is presented. Experimental results validate the proposed control technique using hardware controllers interfacing with a real-time simulator.

Power converters have widespread applications in automotive, renewables, and power systems. The demand for power modules with low power consumption and high efficiency has increased due to advancements in semiconductor devices. So, power converters need to be highly efficient to reduce costs associated with energy dissipation and cooling requirements. This paper discusses various active thermal control methods for high-power power converters. It covers modulation and configuration techniques, ranging from single configurations to cascaded, modular, and multilevel converters. These concepts form the basis of power electronics building blocks, particularly relevant in all-electric ship systems. Power electronics building blocks represent a thriving technology that will advance ship power systems, the thermal design of which plays a crucial role in managing high heat dissipation levels. Hence, thermal management is essential for reliable device performance. The paper thoroughly studies different active thermal control methods and their impact on power semiconductor devices and converters, categorized per configurations, power routing methods, modulation, and control layers. The review then moves to thermal control methods for the PEBBs concept using multilevel converters in all-electric ship systems and outlines future research directions for the thermal aspect of power electronics building blocks.

In recent years, there has been growing research interest in the virtual integration of hardware and software assets across different geographical locations. However, achieving joint real-time simulation in virtually connected laboratories presents several challenges that must be addressed. One critical aspect involves selecting suitable interface algorithms to conserve energy, ensure signal decomposition, and reconstruct data accurately, thereby preventing distortions. Additionally, communication latencies must be taken into account to maintain experiment fidelity. The establishment of fast and reliable communication between real-time simulators in different laboratories through coupling interfaces, is of utmost importance for successful real-time co-simulation. Nevertheless, assuming the constant availability of reliable and delay-free communication is unrealistic, which can lead to performance degradation and system instability. These requirements pose significant obstacles to implementing virtual integration involving various real-time simulators and hardware-in-the-loop setups across diverse laboratories. The real-time co-simulation of power systems, in particular, is highly susceptible to ineffective interface algorithms, signal decomposition, and reconstruction, as well as communication delays, potentially causing loss of synchronism and negatively impacting simulation fidelity. Consequently, these limitations render such setups unsuitable for dynamic and transient studies. In light of these challenges, this paper aims to provide an overview of interface algorithms, signal decomposition and reconstruction techniques, communication protocols, and delay compensation approaches. The goal is to ensure system fidelity, enhance coupling point modeling, and improve the accuracy of real-time co-simulation in virtual environments across long distances while preserving ongoing research confidentiality, safeguarding intellectual property, and facilitating collaborative research.