ANALYSIS, DESIGN, AND EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS OF A NOVEL SOFT-SWITCHING SNUBBER-LESS CURRENT-FED HALF-BRIDGE FRONT-END CONVERTER-BASED PV INVERTER

ABSTRACT:
This paper proposes a new novel snubberless current-fed half-bridge front-end isolated dc/dc converter-based inverter for photovoltaic applications. It is suitable for grid-tied (utility interface) as well as off-grid (standalone) application based on the mode of control. The proposed converter attains clamping of the device voltage by secondary modulation, thus eliminating the need of snubber or active-clamp. Zerocurrent switching or natural commutation of primary devices and ero-voltage switching of secondary devices is achieved. !oft-switching is inherent owing to the proposed secondary modulation and is maintained during wide variation in voltage and power transfer capacity and thus is suitable for photovoltaic ("#) applications. "rimary device voltage is clamped at reflected output voltage, and secondary device voltage is clamped at output voltage. !teady-state operation and analysis, and design procedure are presented. !imulation results using "!I$ %.& are given to verify the proposed analysis and design. 'n e(perimental converter prototype rated at )&& * has been designed, built, and tested in the laboratory to verify and demonstrate the converter performance over wide variations in input voltage and output power for "# applications. The proposed converter is a true isolated boost converter and has higher voltage conversion (boost) ratio compared to the conventional active-clamped converter.