In this article, a broad overview of the current research trends in power-electronic innovations in cyber–physical systems (CPSs) is presented. The recent advances in semiconductor device technologies, control architectures, and communication methodologies have enabled researchers to develop integrated smart CPSs that can cater to the emerging requirements of smart grids, renewable energy, electric vehicles, trains, ships, the Internet of Things (IoT), and so on. The topics presented in this article include novel power-distribution architectures, protection techniques considering large renewable integration in smart grids, wireless charging in electric vehicles, simultaneous power and information transmission, multihop network-based coordination, power technologies for renewable energy and smart transformer, CPS reliability, transactive smart railway grid, and real-time simulation of shipboard power systems. It is anticipated that the research trends presented in this article will provide a timely and useful overview to the power-electronics researchers with broad applications in CPSs.

Microinverters for grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) power conversion systems often require voltage boost due to the low dc voltage of the PV panels. High-frequency transformer-isolated differential-mode Cuk inverter (DMCI) is an attractive topology due to its inherent voltage boost capability and high power density. A significant operational issue of the DMCI is the presence of lower-order harmonic distortion in the injected grid current. It is shown that lower-order odd and even harmonic voltages are generated with this topology. This problem is accentuated due to the low damping offered by the grid to harmonic voltages. A systematic low-complexity control design is proposed to address this issue. It is shown experimentally that the DMCI operates stably with effective attenuation of the lower-order harmonics using the proposed design. Practical operational issues of the DMCI with fast-switching GaN field-effect transistors (FETs) are analyzed and solutions proposed. It is shown that there can be significant high-frequency noise generation in the DMCI with a frequency range higher than the switching frequency. Practical solutions for resolving high-frequency issues using a combination of circuit layout design and additional passive components are proposed and validated. All of the experimental results are demonstrated on a 500 W GaN-FET based microinverter prototype.

In this paper, a modular control approach has been proposed for a single- and three-phase differential-mode Ćuk inverter (DMCI) operating with a recently proposed discontinuous-modulation scheme that offers tangible performance benefits over conventional continuous modulation scheme. The modular control scheme uses a combination of a transformation and adaptive control law to meet tracking requirements in the presence of converter nonlinearity. Experimental results for the single- and three-phase DMCI are provided for startup, steady state, load transition, and total harmonic distortion using different types of loads, which validate the efficacy of the implemented modular tracking controller. Further, detailed stability of the closed-loop DMCI module is provided.

A two term composite nonlinear feedback (2TCNF) control technique is developed here for nonlinear time delay systems in presence of input saturation. The proposed controller consists of two terms that are conventional composite nonlinear feedback (CNF) control and delay state control. CNF control has advantage of fast transient response and delay state control improves damping characteristics. The proposed controller thus has both these advantages and it tracks the reference smoothly. The closed loop asymptotic stability is guaranteed via Lyapunov–Krasovskii analysis. The efficiency of the proposed controller is tested on exothermic chemical reactor and validated through simulation results. Its performance is compared with the conventional CNF control. The superiority of 2TCNF is established in terms of less overshoot, fast transient response and reduced steady state error.