Copyright © 2011 Kuo-Kuang Chen. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

The main purpose of this paper is to develop a novel application of a resonant switch converter for battery chargers. A zero-current-switching (ZCS) converter with a quasiresonant converter (QRC) was used as the main structure. The proposed ZCS dc–dc battery charger has a straightforward structure, low cost, easy control, and high efficiency. The operating principles and design procedure of the proposed charger are thoroughly analyzed. The optimal values of the resonant components are computed by applying the characteristic curve and electric functions derived from the circuit configuration. Experiments were conducted using lead-acid batteries. The optimal parameters of the resonance components were determined using the load characteristic curve diagrams. These values enable the battery charger to turn on and off at zero current, resulting in a reduction of switching losses. The results of the experiments show that when compared with the traditional pulse-width-modulation (PWM) converter for a battery charger, the buck converter with a zero- current-switching quasiresonant converter can lower the temperature of the activepower switch.