Super High gain dc-dc converters Epiphany

The SC-based power converter, possessing charge pump structure, is one of the
good solutions for low-power dcdc conversion because it has only
semiconductor switches and capacitors. Unlike traditional converters, SC ones
need no magnetic element, so they always have a light weight and a small
volume. The SC converter is usually designed to obtain an output higher/lower
than supply voltage or a reverse polarity voltage. Such a step-up/reverse
function fits many applications, e.g., OP-amp, flash EEPROM, WLED, fluorescent
lamp, and LCD drivers. In fact, the SC idea has existed over half a century. Up to
now, the various SC types have been suggested for power conversion, and some
well-known ones are: (i) Dickson charge pump, (ii) Ioinovici SC converter, (iii)
Ueno charge pump, and (iv) Makowski charge pump. In 1976, Dickson charge
pump was proposed with a two-phase diode-capacitor chain,1 and the dynamic
model and efficiency analysis were discussed.2,3 drawbacks of the Disckson
charge are the fixed gain and larger device area. In the 1990s, Ioinovici suggested
SC converters with two capacitor cells working complementarily, and used
pulse-width-modulation (PWM) for the flexible voltage gain.4,5 In 1996, Chung
and Ioinovici6 suggested a current-mode SC for improving supply-terminal
current waveforms. In 1997, Zhu and Ioinovici7 performed a
comprehensive/accurate SC steady-state analysis. Following these, Chang
proposed an integrated step-up/down SC.8,9 Recently, Axelrod et al. suggested
a hybrid switched-capacitor/inductor converter,10 and Tan et al. proposed a
low-EMI interleaved SC.11 However, Ioinovici. SC has the gain proportional to
the number of pumping capacitors. In 1991, Ueno proposed many new known
structures: Series-parallel, Fibonacci, etc. The SC transformer idea was proposed
for step-up ratio of Fibonacci series for an emergency power supply,12 as well
as a low ripple-noise SC.13 But, these converters (series-parallel, Fibonacci, etc)
suffered from a limited line regulation capability. In 1997, Makowski14 suggested
a two-phase canonical multiplier charge pump. An n-stage Makowski charge
pump can obtain the voltage gain limited by the (n 1)th Fibonacci
number.15,16 In 2001, Starzyk et al.17 proposed a multiphase voltage doubler
(MPVD) by using multiphase operation different from previous two-phase, and
the relationship (voltage gain, phase number) was presented by generalized
Fibonacci number.18 An n-stage Starzyk MPVD can boost the gain up to 2n at
most, i.e., the number of pumping capacitors in Starzyk is fewer than that in
Makowski for the same gain. Nevertheless, some improved spaces still exist. (i)
Starzyk MPVD has the merits of high gain and the fewer number of capacitors,
but it needs a complicated multiphase control circuit. Ioinovici SC has a simple
two-phase control circuit, but its gain is just proportional to the number of
capacitors. Here, a new two-phase interleaved multistage switched-capacitor-
voltage-multiplier (SCVM) converter is proposed for a compromise among
voltage gain, control circuit, and the number of capacitors. (ii) Since Starzyk
multiphase operation is fixed, the gain is also fixed. When a lower output is
desired, it results in the efficiency degradation. For improving efficiency,
variable-conversion-ratio (VCR) is proposed here to obtain a more suitable gain
level by changing the running stage number and topological path. Besides,
since Starzyk circuit is fixed, the regulation capability is limited. Here, PWM is
adopted to reinforce output regulation as well as robustness to source/loading
variation. [world scientific 2012].

High voltage gain dcdc converters are required in many industrial

applications.
For example, photovoltaic energy conversion systems and fuelcell systems
usually need high step up and large input current dcdc converters to boost low
voltage (1856 V) to high voltage (200400 V) for the grid-connected inverters.
High intensity discharge lamp ballasts for automobile headlamps call for high
voltage gain dcdc converters to raise a battery voltage of 12 V up to 100 V at
steady operation [2], [3]. Also, the low battery voltage of 48 V needs to be
converted to 380 V in the front-end stage in some uninterruptible power
supplies and telecommunication systems by high step-up converters [4], [5].
Theoretically, a basic boost converter can provide infinite voltage gain with
extremely high duty ratio. In practice, the voltage gain is limited by the parasitic
elements of the power devices, inductor and capacitor. Moreover, the extremely
high duty cycle operation may induce serious reverse-recovery problem of the
rectifier diode and large current ripples, which increase the conduction losses.
On the other hand, the input current is usually large in high output voltage and
high power conversion, but low-voltage-rated power devices with small on-
resistances may not be selected since the voltage stress of the main switch and
diode is, respectively, equivalent to the output voltage in the conventional boost
converter. Many single switch topologies based on the conventional boost
converter had been presented for high step-up voltage gain [6][7]. The
cascaded boost converter is also capable of providing high voltage gain without
the penalty of extreme duty cycle [8]. However, the voltage stress of the main
switch is equal to the output voltage. In [9] and [10], several switching
capacitor/switching-inductor structures are proposed, and transformerless
hybrid dcdc converters with high voltage gain are derived by the use of
structures integrated with classical single switch non isolated PWM converters.
They present the following advantage: the energy in the magnetic elements is
low, which leads to weight, size, and cost saving for the inductor, and less
conduction losses. Another method for achieving high step-up gain is the use
of the voltage-lift technique [11], showing the advantage that the voltage stress
across the switch is low. However, several diodecapacitor stages are required
when the conversion ratio is very large, which makes the circuit complex. In
addition, the single switch may suffer high current for high power applications,
which risks reducing its efficiency. Another alternative single switch converters
including forward, fly-back and tapped-inductor boost can achieve high
conversion ratio by adjusting the turns ratio of the transformer [12][13], but
these converters require large transformer turns ratio to achieve high voltage
gain. In [14], an integrated boost flyback converter is proposed to achieve high
voltage gain, and the energy of a leakage inductor is recycled into the output
during the switch-off period. Unfortunately, the input current is pulsed from the
experimental results. In addition, it should be noticed that the low-level input
voltages usually cause large input currents and current ripples to flow through
the single switch for high step up and high power dcdc conversion, which also
leads to increasing conduction losses. Therefore, the single-switch topologies
are not perfect candidates for high step up dcdc conversion. In order to handle
high input currents and reduce current ripples, the three-state switching cell
based on interleaved control is introduced in boost converters. However, the
voltage gain of the conventional three-state switching boost converter is only
determined by the duty ratio. Moreover, the voltage stresses of the power
devices are still equivalent to output voltage. Thus, the large duty ratios, high
switch voltage stresses, and serious output diode reverse recovery problem are
still major challenges for high step up and high power conversion with
satisfactory efficiency. [15] To solve aforementioned drawbacks, some three-
state switching converters with high static gain employing diodecapacitor cells
were presented. However, several diodecapacitor cells are required to meet a
very high step-up gain. Thus, other topologies using three-state switching cell
and coupled inductors are investigated in. The authors in proposed an
interleaved boost converter with coupled inductors and a voltage doubler
rectifier in order to satisfy the high step-up applications and low input current
ripple, in which the secondary sides of two coupled inductors are connected in
series.[16] The winding-cross-coupled inductors and output diode
reverserecovery alleviation techniques are also introduced in an interleaved
three-state switchingdcdc converters, which can get a considerably high
voltage conversion ratio and improve the performance of the converter. In, an
interleaved fly-back converter based on three-state switching cell for high step
up and high power conversion is proposed. Although the converter can
eliminate the main limitations of the standard fly back, this circuit is a little
complex and the input current ripples are large from the experimental results.[
A_HIGH_GAIN_STEP_UP_DC_DC_CONVERTER_WITH_DUAL_COUPLED_INDUC
TORS_FOR_RENEWABLE_ENERGY_APPLICATIONS_ijariie3281]

Module structure of step-up converter with a single PV has one major

disadvantage
which is low efficiency due to high voltage amplification, so the price per watt
is the largest of the four topologies discussed. This review therefore highlights
the highest efficiency step-up converter topologies.
Comparison of DC-DC boost converters 2.1. Transformerless solutions. In order
to satisfy the stringent requirements with performance in renewable energy
gridconnected power applications, many researchers concentrate on how to
realize high voltage gain step-up, low cost and high efficiency single-stage
converters [12]. The brief comparison of available single-stage transformerless
converters will be presented below. They provide the voltage gain up to 20
using coupled inductors or switched capacitor technique. Usually the
efficiencies of high voltage gain step-up converters are at the levels over 90% at
sub kilowatt or single kilowatt powers. To increase the overall efficiency of
converter soft switching technique [8] as well as active clamped circuit [12]
introduction may be considered. Boost converter. The single phase single switch
boost converter is a basic step-up topology [32] (Fig. 4). The voltage gain
theoretically is infinite when duty cycle reaches 1. But switch turn on period
becomes long as the duty cycle (D) increases causing conduction losses to
increase. The power rating of single switch boost converter is limited to switch
rating. In order to obtain higher gain several boost converters can be cascaded
at the expense of efficiency decrease. Interleaved parallel topology is the
solution to increase the power and reduce input current ripple allowing lower
power rated switches to be used. Interleaved boost converters. The simplicity is
major advantage of that topology (Fig. 5) [6]. Since interleaved boost converter
cells share the input current the input current ripples are small which increases
the life of PV modules. Moreover single cell feeds only the fraction of total input
current and the duty cycle of a single switch does not exceed 0.25. Smaller
inductors can be used along with the power rating of switches and diodes
decrease. When driving sequentially switches are switched on and off one by
one enabling low output voltage ripples. The diode reverse recovery current
flow when the diodes are switched off causes electromagnetic noise (EMI). To
overcome that problem discontinuous inductor current driving mode should be
used. In the other hand continuous inductor current mode demonstrates lower
input current ripples as well as lower switching losses. The main disadvantage
(of interleaved boost converters) of that topology is relatively low voltage gain,
usually not higher than 2. To improve voltage gain interleaved structures can be
mixed with transformers [27] or the inductors can be coupled [10, 11, 16]. Soft
switching boost converters. This high performance converter (Fig. 6), [7] has
slightly improved voltage gain in comparison to single switch boost converter.
It operates in ZVS (Zero Voltage Switching) mode dramatically reducing
switching losses thus achieving better efficiency. The driving sequence is bit
more complex, but both switches operate at the same ground potential thus
additional separation at driver side is needless. The disadvantage of that
topology is the complexity of the circuit, because of 5 more components
addition including a switch and an extra inductor. Coupled inductor structures.
Coupled inductor can serve as a transformer to enlarge the voltage gain in
nonisolated DC/DC converters in proportion to winding turns ratio (Fig. 7). These
converters can easily achieve high voltage gain using low RDSon switches
working at relatively low level of voltage. The switch driving scheme is simple as
the converter usually utilizes single switch. Common mode conducted EMI is
reduced due to balanced switching. To reduce passive component size coupled
inductors can be integrated into single magnetic core [12]. Boost, flyback or
charge-pump topologies or the combinations of any of them (Fig. 8) can be
utilized achieving the efficiency better than 95% [9, 10, 15]. However, the voltage
gain can be easily achieved by turns-ratio of coupled inductors the leakage
energy induces high voltage stress and switching losses. Thanks to the active
clamp circuit used the leakage energy can be recycled. The other benefits of
presented circuit are wide input voltage range, high voltage gain and low cost
simultaneously. At kilowatt power level the power dissipation within the
components becomes an important issue especially in case of inductive
components. Interleaved solutions can tackle that problem as the input current
is shared between the cells. Interleaved Step-up Converter with Voltage
Multiplier Cell. In presented topology (Fig. 9) high voltage gain can be achieved
without extreme duty cycles adjusting the turns ratio of two same coupled
inductors [11]. That straightforward topology utilizes current sharing technique
at the input allowing the use of smaller inductors and lower power rated
switches. The voltage multiplier cell composed of two diodes, capacitor and
secondary windings of coupled inductors is inserted in conventional interleaved
boost converter structure. Low RDSon switches can be used to improve the
converter performance. Presented circuit works in turn-on ZCS (Zero Current
Switching) mode which reduces switch losses as well as EMI noise. Isolated
boost converter with coupled inductors. Proposed topology satisfies high
efficiency and high voltage gain in combination with isolation requirements (Fig.
10). In order to share large input current and conduction losses parallel circuit is
adopted. Output inductors are connected in series to double an output voltage
gain. The switching losses are reduced and efficiency improved by applying
active clamp technique. ZVS soft switching mode is implemented leveraging
the efficiency [16]. Because of the inductor used in the other hand there is the
limitation as to the maximum operating temperature above which the magnetic
core looses its magnetic features. Noninductive solutions. Avoiding the
transformers brings obvious benefits of size, cost and weight reduction thus the
reduction of overall complexity of the converter. The other advantage is the
possibility to work at higher temperatures than inductor based counterparts.
Recently there has been a new converter developed [13] which meets the
requirements of high efficiency and ability to work in high temperatures (Fig.
11). The voltage gain is accomplished by voltage multiplier cells that operate
basing on switching capacitor principle. The penalty is relatively big number of
switches, which is in this case 12. Moreover, due to capacitive load the switches
are exposed to high current stress. The possibility to use low voltage rated
switches and the lack of inductors make it possible to achieve the compact and
cost effective solution. [High efficiency high step-up DC-DC converters a
review 2011]
PV output voltage is function of irradiance and operating point, which cause it
also to vary. The low unregulated voltage of PVs calls for a high efficiency high
ratio dc-dc converter. Practical considerations limit the output voltage of the
conventional boost converter to be approximately six times its applied voltage.
In order to supply high output voltage, the conventional boost converter must
operate at extremely high duty-cycle ratios. Extreme duty cycles impose
inefficiently small off-times or low switching frequencies. Small off-times cause
severe diode reverse-recovery current which will increase the electromagnetic
interference (EMI) levels [2]. Lower switching frequency causes higher ripple
current and increase magnetic components. Moreover, an extreme duty cycle is
not desirable since no room is left for control to compensate changes in load or
line. Furthermore, conventional high step-up boost converter requires a high
current and voltage rated MOSFET, hence, it will require a MOSFET with a higher
RDS-ON. The drawbacks of this are increased size, cost, and degrading the overall
converter efficiency [2]. However, to deliver a continuous or regulated output
voltage, DCDC converters are utilized. In recent work, high efficiency step-up
DC/DC converter has been achieved with lower conduction losses by
decreasing the duty cycle and reducing voltage stress on switches by applying
soft switching technique and utilizing modified boost, coupled boost and Ultra-
lift Luo[2]-[10]. Quadratic converters can provide large step-up voltage
conversion ratios [4], however, the switch voltage stress in quadratic converters
is equal to the output voltage. Thus, no advantage over conventional boost
converter is achieved. Converters with coupled inductors can achieve high step-
up voltage gain [5-8], but their efficiency is degraded due to the losses
associated with leakage inductors. Moreover, these converters require high
voltage rated switch and suffer from EMI problems. Topologies based on
capacitor-diode voltage multiplier can eliminate the above drawbacks, reduces
the size and cost, and increases the efficiency and reliability [9-10]. However,
these topologies cannot provide ultra-high voltage gains at moderate duty
cycles. One possible solution for this problem is to use the voltage lift converters
presented in [11-15]. These converters have higher voltage gain with smaller
ripples than the exiting conventional DC-DC step-up converters. Other
advantages include a high power density, high efficiency and relatively non-
expensive topology in simple structure. The proposed high step-up DC-DC
converter as shown in Fig.(1)is an integration of Boost converter with quadratics
Boost converter. The voltage conversion ratio is the sum of the individual voltage
gain of the two converters with the following main advantages: 1. The ability of
using a lower voltage and MOSFET because of low MOSFET stress
voltage, which considered to be cost effective, in addition to switch conduction
and turn-on losses. 2. Low voltage stress across the diode which enable to use
Schottky rectifiers for alleviating the reverse-recovery current problem which in
return lead to more reduction in the switching and conduction losses. 3. The
two inductors can be magnetically coupled into a single magnetic core to
reduce size, weight and cost of the converter.[ High gain for PV]

Maximum voltage gain in conventional boost converter like, switched inductor

converter, switched capacitor converter, cascaded boost converter etc. are
limited due to extreme duty cycle (i.e. duty cycle near to unity). Operation at
extreme duty cycle leads to, serious reverse recovery problem at the switches,
high conduction losses, high electromagnetic interference etc. Isolated
converter such as fly-back converter, push-pull converter, forward converter,
bridge converters etc. overcomes the above issues, where basically a
transformer or coupled inductor is used to boost the voltage. But, inclusion of
transformer or coupled inductor introduces voltage spike at the main switch and
power loss due to leakage inductance. Recently, DC micro-grid gets major
importance because of the significant increase in DC loads and demand of high
quality power. These DC loads require different voltage levels based on their
power ratings. Photo voltaic source (PV) is one of the prime source of energy in
DC micro-grid. A very high voltage gain converter is necessary for DC micro-grid
because of low PV source voltage. In this regard, here a step up DC-DC converter
is proposed, which possess a very high voltage gain characteristic. Along with
this, it provides the additional advantage of supplying power to two different
loads (i.e. one for high voltage level and another for low voltage level), which
makes it more suitable for DC micro-grid application.
Photovoltaic panel has the limitation of low single cell voltage, at the same time,
those cannot be connected in series to achieve higher voltage level because of
the reliability issues [5][6]. To overcome this issue, a boost converter is used in
between the PV source and DC bus [7][8]. But conventional boost converter,
cascaded boost converter, switched inductor converter, switched capacitor
converter etc. experience the issues like reverse recovery problem and
electromagnetic interference problem, when it is operated with extreme duty
cycle, to get higher voltage gain [9][10]. Isolated converter such as fly-back
converter, push-pull converter, forward converter, bridge converters etc.
overcome the above issues, where high voltage gain can be achieved by
adjusting the transformer turns ratio[11].But the principal controlled switch of
these converters, suffer from high voltage spike and power loss due to leakage
inductance of the transformers [12]. Self lift converters overcomes the above
issues, which use more number of inductors and capacitors to boost the voltage
[13][ high gain 2014]

Manufacturers of fuel cell generation systems have been using a low voltage,
28~43Vdc, as a standard output voltage. This low voltage characteristic requires
that the output voltage of the fuel cell and solar cell is needed to boost using
dc-dc converter to grid connected applications [3]. In conventional fly back
converter topology has been attractive for a long time solution because of its
relative simplicity when compared with other topologies used in low power (up
to several hundred watts) applications. A fly back converter plays additional
purposes of providing energy storage. Even with merits are present in fly back,
the demerits are voltage and current stress by its active elements. High peak RMS
current stress is a particular problem during a discontinuous conduction mode
(DCM). This problem causes a primary loss to increasing output power [4]-[6]. Fly
back converter divides the center-tap to reduce interferences on the common
center-tap. So the loss caused by the interference is reduced [9]-[10]. Therefore,
active clamp SEPIC-FLYBACK converter was designed to separate the center tap
to minimize the interference generated by using a common center tap
transformer. The active clamp SEPIC-fly back converter performs DC/DC
conversion that is similar to the operation of the buck-boost converter whose
output DC voltage can be regulated by the duty ratio. The voltage control loop
needs a lower bandwidth due to a zero in the returns of the converter. When
duty cycle crossed 50% current control loop is used.based on this statement
hybrid source or hybrid power conversion is complicated in septic fly back
converter. [Hybrid full bridge dc dc]

In dcdc converters with high voltage gain, there are several requirements such
as high voltage gain [2], [3], [5], [6], low reverse-recovery loss [7], [8], soft-
switching characteristic [16], low voltage stress across the switches, electrical
isolation, continuous input current, and high efficiency. In order to meet these
requirements, various topologies are introduced. In order to extend the voltage
gain, the boost converters with coupled inductors are proposed in [9] and [10].
The voltage gain is extended but continuous input current characteristic is lost
and the efficiency is degraded due to hard switching of power switches. In [11],
a step-up converter based on a charge pump and coupled inductor is
suggested. Its voltage gain is around 10 but its efficiency is not high enough due
to the switching loss. In [12], a high-step-up converter with coupled inductors is
suggested to provide high voltage gain and a continuous input current.
However, its operating frequency is limited due to the hard switching of the
switches. The converters suggested in [13][15] have a comparable drawback.
Their hard-switching operation limits the switching frequency. With the
intention of increase the efficiency and power density, soft-switching technique
is required in dcdc converters. A range of soft-switching techniques are
suggested in [16][24]. In general, there is a trade-off between soft-switching
characteristic and high voltage gain. It is because an inductor that is linked with
soft-switching limits the voltage gain. In order to unravel these problems, a zero-
voltage-switching (ZVS) dcdc converter with high voltage gain is proposed. As
shown in Fig.1, it consists of a ZVS boost converter stage to make the input
current continuous and provide ZVS functions and a ZVS half-bridge converter
stage to provide high voltage gain. Since single power processing stage can be
a more efficient and costeffective solution, both stages are merged and share
power switches to increase the system efficiency and simplify the structure.
Since both stages have the ZVS function, ZVS operation of the power switches
can be obtained with wider load variation. Moreover, due to the ZVS function of
the boost converter stage, the design of the half-bridge converter stage can be
focused on high voltage gain. As a result, high voltage gain is easily obtained.
The switching loss during the switching transition is reduced by ZVS operation
of the power switches and improves the overall efficiency. Theoretical analysis
and simulation result of the proposed converter were verified at 100 kHz
switching frequency with 24360 V conversion. [A ZVS DC-DC Converter with
High Voltage Gain for Fuel Cell Systems 2014]

The classical boost converter topology is not sufficient to produce high voltage
gain even with large duty cycle value. As the design aims large duty cycle value,
the reverse recovery and electromagnetic interference issues will occur in the
converter output [10]. Hence the classical converter efficiency gets reduced
even in the low power application. Alternately, many papers are proposed with
high step up dc-dc converters [11-22], which have large input current and high
output voltages. The high inrush current passes to the system introduces high
voltage stress for the switch and diode in the circuit. This reduces the efficiency
of the converter due to switching and conduction loss. The transformer less
converters operates using large duty cycle to attain the high voltage gain [11-
13]. Some of the other converters in the literature use transformers with flyback
and forward converters. These converters reach the high voltage by varying the
transformer turns ratio instead of duty cycle. Due to the presence of leakage
inductance in the transformer coil, high voltage stress is developed across the
semi-conductor devices [14]. The converter efficiency and high voltage gain was
achieved in various converters that are proposed in [15- 17]. The coupled
inductor methodology is used instead of transformer to obtain the high voltage
gain with reduction in the leakage inductance. This introduces voltage spike
across the switch and hence the conversion efficiency gets reduced [18, 19].
Combination of boost and fly-back converter was proposed in [20], in which the
secondary coil of coupled inductor is used to increase the voltage gain. By
adjusting the turns ratio of coupled inductor the voltage spike of the main
switch and stress gets reduced. In [21], converter is designed using the
combination of coupled inductor with two multiplier voltage cells to produce
high voltage gain and applied for the renewable applications. The energy in the
leakage inductor is recycled with the help of passive clamp circuit. Boost
interleaved converter [22] is also used for high step voltage operation but the
number of switches are high which leads to the conduction loss. This article
proposes a high voltage gain dc-dc isolated converter suitable for PV system to
generate the high voltage gain with reduced switching voltage stress. In this
proposed converter topology, the reverse recovery losses are avoided(HOW?).()
[Modified High Step-Up Coupled Inductor based DC-DC 2016]

Efficient transmission of the generated power over these long distances requires
boosting turbine output voltages to high voltage. High-voltage dc (HVDC)
transmission appears promising for offshore wind farms, but it requires power
electronic converters to boost and control wind turbine outputs. Conventional
HVDC, a mature technology that has been in use for decades, uses ac
transformers for voltage boosting and a 12-pulse thyristor bridge for rectification
and power flow control. This technology is robust and reliable, but it requires
bulky, complex, and costly line-frequency transformers at each end of the
conversion (rectification and inversion). The inherent bidirectional power flow
capability is of less importance at the offshore wind farm side, so simpler
unidirectional converters are more attractive in these applications. High-
frequency pulse transformers with large turns ratios are difficult to design at high
voltage and power levels. Problems include poor coupling, dielectric losses in
insulation, and core losses from nonsinusoidal excitation. The distributed
capacitance of the winding turns can lower efficiency and slow the pulse
transitions [15][18]. Unidirectional high-gain dcdc converters can eliminate
the transformers. Many high-gain dcdc transformerless converters have been
reported in the literature, although most are limited to a few kilowatts at best.
Several authors have proposed the use of coupled inductors to extend gain,
assist in turning off rectifier diodes, or both. A boost converter with a coupled
inductor that provides additional gain and regenerative snubbing is proposed
in [19]. A converter using a complicated coupled inductor to provide additional
gain and lossless snubbing is proposed in [20]. A multiple-input converter for
fuel cell vehicles that uses coupled inductors for additional gain and alleviating
reverse recovery problems is proposed in [21]. The coupled inductors in these
converters operate like transformers and face the same design challenges. A
series of high-gain dcdc converters known as Luo converters is described in
[22][24]. Starting with either an inverseSEPIC converter or a buckboost (BB)
converter with output filter, sets of capacitors, inductors, and diodes are added
to reach high gains at lower duty cycles. The low duty cycles allow greater
converter efficiency, even with additional series element losses, but both the
component count and the converter order increase dramatically. The large
number of components, multiple series semiconductor drops, and complicated
small signal response appear to limit the use of Luo converters in high-power
applications. Research has turned recently to multiple modules of transformer-
isolated converters, although much of the work has focused on input-series
output-parallel connections for large voltage step-down ratios [25][27]. For
example, a 10 kV-to- 400 V step-down converter using multiple low-voltage dc
dc forward converter modules is presented in [28]. The high frequency isolation
transformers in these approaches allow arbitrarily many series connections. This
paper describes a new approach to high-voltage high gain dcdc converters
using multiple modules of single-switch single-inductor transformerless
converters. The use of high power semiconductors with low-per-unit
conduction losses allows operation well beyond the traditional limits of these
converters. The simple structure makes interleaving possible for reduced loss
and increased reliability. In this paper, two modules are used to increase
reliability and reduce control complexity [DCDC Transformers for Offshore
grid-connected inverters. High intensity discharge lamp ballasts for automobile
headlamps call for high voltage gain dcdc converters to raise a battery voltage
of 12 V up to 100 V at steady operation [2], [3]. Also, the low battery voltage of
48 V needs to be converted to 380 V in the front-end stage in some
uninterruptible power supplies and telecommunication systems by high step-
up converters [4], [5]. Theoretically, a basic boost converter can provide infinite
voltage gain with extremely high duty ratio. In practice, the voltage gain is
limited by the parasitic elements of the power devices, inductor and capacitor.
Moreover, the extremely high duty cycle operation may induce serious reverse-
recovery problem of the rectifier diode and large current ripples, which increase
the conduction losses. On the other hand, the input current is usually large in
high output voltage and high power conversion, but low-voltage-rated power
devices with small on-resistances may not be selected since the voltage stress
of the main switch and diode is, respectively, equivalent to the output voltage
in the conventional boost converter. Many single switch topologies based on
the conventional boost converter had been presented for high step-up voltage
gain [6][7]. The cascaded boost converter is also capable of providing high
voltage gain without the penalty of extreme duty cycle [8]. However, the voltage
stress of the main switch is equal to the output voltage. In [9] and [10], several
switching capacitor/switching-inductor structures are proposed, and
transformerless hybrid dcdc converters with high voltage gain are derived by
the use of structures integrated with classical single switch non isolated PWM
converters. They present the following advantage: the energy in the magnetic
elements is low, which leads to weight, size, and cost saving for the inductor,
and less conduction losses. Another method for achieving high step-up gain is
the use of the voltage-lift technique [11], showing the advantage that the
voltage stress across the switch is low. However, several diodecapacitor stages
are required when the conversion ratio is very large, which makes the circuit
complex. In addition, the single switch may suffer high current for high power
applications, which risks reducing its efficiency. Another alternative single switch
converters including forward, fly-back and tapped-inductor boost can achieve
high conversion ratio by adjusting the turns ratio of the transformer [12][13],
but these converters require large transformer turns ratio to achieve high
voltage gain. In [14], an integrated boost flyback converter is proposed to
achieve high voltage gain, and the energy of a leakage inductor is recycled into
the output during the switch-off period. Unfortunately, the input current is
pulsed from the experimental results. In addition, it should be noticed that the
low-level input voltages usually cause large input currents and current ripples to
flow through the single switch for high step up and high power dcdc
conversion, which also leads to increasing conduction losses. Therefore, the
single-switch topologies are not perfect candidates for high step up dcdc
conversion. In order to handle high input currents and reduce current ripples,
the three-state switching cell based on interleaved control is introduced in
boost converters. However, the voltage gain of the conventional three-state
switching boost converter is only determined by the duty ratio. Moreover, the
voltage stresses of the power devices are still equivalent to output voltage. Thus,
the large duty ratios, high switch voltage stresses, and serious output diode
reverse recovery problem are still major challenges for high step up and high
power conversion with satisfactory efficiency. [15] To solve aforementioned
drawbacks, some three-state switching converters with high static gain
employing diodecapacitor cells were presented. However, several diode
capacitor cells are required to meet a very high step-up gain. Thus, other
topologies using three-state switching cell and coupled inductors are
investigated in. The authors in proposed an interleaved boost converter with
coupled inductors and a voltage doubler rectifier in order to satisfy the high
step-up applications and low input current ripple, in which the secondary sides
of two coupled inductors are connected in series.[16] The winding-cross-
coupled inductors and output diode reverserecovery alleviation techniques are
also introduced in an interleaved three-state switchingdcdc converters,
which can get a considerably high voltage conversion ratio and improve the
performance of the converter. In, an interleaved fly-back converter based on
three-state switching cell for high step up and high power conversion is
proposed. Although the converter can eliminate the main limitations of the
standard fly back, this circuit is a little complex and the input current ripples are
large from the experimental results.[
A_HIGH_GAIN_STEP_UP_DC_DC_CONVERTER_WITH_DUAL_COUPLED_INDUC
TORS_FOR_RENEWABLE_ENERGY_APPLICATIONS_ijariie3281]

Module structure of step-up converter with a single PV has one major

disadvantage which is low efficiency due to high voltage amplification, so the
price per watt is the largest of the four topologies discussed. This review
therefore highlights the highest efficiency step-up converter topologies.
Comparison of DC-DC boost converters 2.1. Transformerless solutions. In order
to satisfy the stringent requirements with performance in renewable energy
gridconnected power applications, many researchers concentrate on how to
realize high voltage gain step-up, low cost and high efficiency single-stage
converters [12]. The brief comparison of available single-stage transformerless
converters will be presented below. They provide the voltage gain up to 20
using coupled inductors or switched capacitor technique. Usually the
efficiencies of high voltage gain step-up converters are at the levels over 90% at
sub kilowatt or single kilowatt powers. To increase the overall efficiency of
converter soft switching technique [8] as well as active clamped circuit [12]
introduction may be considered. Boost converter. The single phase single switch
boost converter is a basic step-up topology [32] (Fig. 4). The voltage gain
theoretically is infinite when duty cycle reaches 1. But switch turn on period
becomes long as the duty cycle (D) increases causing conduction losses to
increase. The power rating of single switch boost converter is limited to switch
rating. In order to obtain higher gain several boost converters can be cascaded
at the expense of efficiency decrease. Interleaved parallel topology is the
solution to increase the power and reduce input current ripple allowing lower
power rated switches to be used. Interleaved boost converters. The simplicity is
major advantage of that topology (Fig. 5) [6]. Since interleaved boost converter
cells share the input current the input current ripples are small which increases
the life of PV modules. Moreover single cell feeds only the fraction of total input
current and the duty cycle of a single switch does not exceed 0.25. Smaller
inductors can be used along with the power rating of switches and diodes
decrease. When driving sequentially switches are switched on and off one by
one enabling low output voltage ripples. The diode reverse recovery current
flow when the diodes are switched off causes electromagnetic noise (EMI). To
overcome that problem discontinuous inductor current driving mode should be
used. In the other hand continuous inductor current mode demonstrates lower
input current ripples as well as lower switching losses. The main disadvantage
(of interleaved boost converters) of that topology is relatively low voltage gain,
usually not higher than 2. To improve voltage gain interleaved structures can be
mixed with transformers [27] or the inductors can be coupled [10, 11, 16]. Soft
switching boost converters. This high performance converter (Fig. 6), [7] has
slightly improved voltage gain in comparison to single switch boost converter.
It operates in ZVS (Zero Voltage Switching) mode dramatically reducing
switching losses thus achieving better efficiency. The driving sequence is bit
more complex, but both switches operate at the same ground potential thus
additional separation at driver side is needless. The disadvantage of that
topology is the complexity of the circuit, because of 5 more components
addition including a switch and an extra inductor. Coupled inductor structures.
Coupled inductor can serve as a transformer to enlarge the voltage gain in
nonisolated DC/DC converters in proportion to winding turns ratio (Fig. 7). These
converters can easily achieve high voltage gain using low RDSon switches
working at relatively low level of voltage. The switch driving scheme is simple as
the converter usually utilizes single switch. Common mode conducted EMI is
reduced due to balanced switching. To reduce passive component size coupled
inductors can be integrated into single magnetic core [12]. Boost, flyback or
charge-pump topologies or the combinations of any of them (Fig. 8) can be
utilized achieving the efficiency better than 95% [9, 10, 15]. However, the voltage
gain can be easily achieved by turns-ratio of coupled inductors the leakage
energy induces high voltage stress and switching losses. Thanks to the active
clamp circuit used the leakage energy can be recycled. The other benefits of
presented circuit are wide input voltage range, high voltage gain and low cost
simultaneously.
grid-connected inverters. High intensity discharge lamp ballasts for automobile
headlamps call for high voltage gain dcdc converters to raise a battery voltage
of 12 V up to 100 V at steady operation [2], [3]. Also, the low battery voltage of
48 V needs to be converted to 380 V in the front-end stage in some
uninterruptible power supplies and telecommunication systems by high step-
up converters [4], [5]. Theoretically, a basic boost converter can provide infinite
voltage gain with extremely high duty ratio. In practice, the voltage gain is
limited by the parasitic elements of the power devices, inductor and capacitor.
Moreover, the extremely high duty cycle operation may induce serious reverse-
recovery problem of the rectifier diode and large current ripples, which increase
the conduction losses. On the other hand, the input current is usually large in
high output voltage and high power conversion, but low-voltage-rated power
devices with small on-resistances may not be selected since the voltage stress
of the main switch and diode is, respectively, equivalent to the output voltage
in the conventional boost converter. Many single switch topologies based on
the conventional boost converter had been presented for high step-up voltage
gain [6][7]. The cascaded boost converter is also capable of providing high
voltage gain without the penalty of extreme duty cycle [8]. However, the voltage
stress of the main switch is equal to the output voltage. In [9] and [10], several
switching capacitor/switching-inductor structures are proposed, and
transformerless hybrid dcdc converters with high voltage gain are derived by
the use of structures integrated with classical single switch non isolated PWM
converters. They present the following advantage: the energy in the magnetic
elements is low, which leads to weight, size, and cost saving for the inductor,
and less conduction losses. Another method for achieving high step-up gain is
the use of the voltage-lift technique [11], showing the advantage that the
voltage stress across the switch is low. However, several diodecapacitor stages
are required when the conversion ratio is very large, which makes the circuit
complex. In addition, the single switch may suffer high current for high power
applications, which risks reducing its efficiency. Another alternative single switch
converters including forward, fly-back and tapped-inductor boost can achieve
high conversion ratio by adjusting the turns ratio of the transformer [12][13],
but these converters require large transformer turns ratio to achieve high
voltage gain. In [14], an integrated boost flyback converter is proposed to
achieve high voltage gain, and the energy of a leakage inductor is recycled into
the output during the switch-off period. Unfortunately, the input current is
pulsed from the experimental results. In addition, it should be noticed that the
low-level input voltages usually cause large input currents and current ripples to
flow through the single switch for high step up and high power dcdc
conversion, which also leads to increasing conduction losses. Therefore, the
single-switch topologies are not perfect candidates for high step up dcdc
conversion. In order to handle high input currents and reduce current ripples,
the three-state switching cell based on interleaved control is introduced in
boost converters. However, the voltage gain of the conventional three-state
switching boost converter is only determined by the duty ratio. Moreover, the
voltage stresses of the power devices are still equivalent to output voltage. Thus,
the large duty ratios, high switch voltage stresses, and serious output diode
reverse recovery problem are still major challenges for high step up and high
power conversion with satisfactory efficiency. [15] To solve aforementioned
drawbacks, some three-state switching converters with high static gain
employing diodecapacitor cells were presented. However, several diode
capacitor cells are required to meet a very high step-up gain. Thus, other
topologies using three-state switching cell and coupled inductors are
investigated in. The authors in proposed an interleaved boost converter with
coupled inductors and a voltage doubler rectifier in order to satisfy the high
step-up applications and low input current ripple, in which the secondary sides
of two coupled inductors are connected in series.[16] The winding-cross-
coupled inductors and output diode reverserecovery alleviation techniques are
also introduced in an interleaved three-state switchingdcdc converters,
which can get a considerably high voltage conversion ratio and improve the
performance of the converter. In, an interleaved fly-back converter based on
three-state switching cell for high step up and high power conversion is
proposed. Although the converter can eliminate the main limitations of the
standard fly back, this circuit is a little complex and the input current ripples are
large from the experimental results.[
A_HIGH_GAIN_STEP_UP_DC_DC_CONVERTER_WITH_DUAL_COUPLED_INDUC
TORS_FOR_RENEWABLE_ENERGY_APPLICATIONS_ijariie3281]
Module structure of step-up converter with a single PV has one major
disadvantage which is low efficiency due to high voltage amplification, so the
price per watt is the largest of the four topologies discussed. This review
therefore highlights the highest efficiency step-up converter topologies.
Comparison of DC-DC boost converters 2.1. Transformerless solutions. In order
to satisfy the stringent requirements with performance in renewable energy
gridconnected power applications, many researchers concentrate on how to
realize high voltage gain step-up, low cost and high efficiency single-stage
converters [12]. The brief comparison of available single-stage transformerless
converters will be presented below. They provide the voltage gain up to 20
using coupled inductors or switched capacitor technique. Usually the
efficiencies of high voltage gain step-up converters are at the levels over 90% at
sub kilowatt or single kilowatt powers. To increase the overall efficiency of
converter soft switching technique [8] as well as active clamped circuit [12]
introduction may be considered. Boost converter. The single phase single switch
boost converter is a basic step-up topology [32] (Fig. 4). The voltage gain
theoretically is infinite when duty cycle reaches 1. But switch turn on period
becomes long as the duty cycle (D) increases causing conduction losses to
increase. The power rating of single switch boost converter is limited to switch
rating. In order to obtain higher gain several boost converters can be cascaded
at the expense of efficiency decrease. Interleaved parallel topology is the
solution to increase the power and reduce input current ripple allowing lower
power rated switches to be used. Interleaved boost converters. The simplicity is
major advantage of that topology (Fig. 5) [6]. Since interleaved boost converter
cells share the input current the input current ripples are small which increases
the life of PV modules. Moreover single cell feeds only the fraction of total input
current and the duty cycle of a single switch does not exceed 0.25. Smaller
inductors can be used along with the power rating of switches and diodes
decrease. When driving sequentially switches are switched on and off one by
one enabling low output voltage ripples. The diode reverse recovery current
flow when the diodes are switched off causes electromagnetic noise (EMI). To
overcome that problem discontinuous inductor current driving mode should be
used. In the other hand continuous inductor current mode demonstrates lower
input current ripples as well as lower switching losses. The main disadvantage
(of interleaved boost converters) of that topology is relatively low voltage gain,
usually not higher than 2. To improve voltage gain interleaved structures can be
mixed with transformers [27] or the inductors can be coupled [10, 11, 16]. Soft
switching boost converters. This high performance converter (Fig. 6), [7] has
slightly improved voltage gain in comparison to single switch boost converter.
It operates in ZVS (Zero Voltage Switching) mode dramatically reducing
switching losses thus achieving better efficiency. The driving sequence is bit
more complex, but both switches operate at the same ground potential thus
additional separation at driver side is needless. The disadvantage of that
topology is the complexity of the circuit, because of 5 more components
addition including a switch and an extra inductor. Coupled inductor structures.
Coupled inductor can serve as a transformer to enlarge the voltage gain in
nonisolated DC/DC converters in proportion to winding turns ratio (Fig. 7). These
converters can easily achieve high voltage gain using low RDSon switches
working at relatively low level of voltage. The switch driving scheme is simple as
the converter usually utilizes single switch. Common mode conducted EMI is
reduced due to balanced switching. To reduce passive component size coupled
inductors can be integrated into single magnetic core [12]. Boost, flyback or
charge-pump topologies or the combinations of any of them (Fig. 8) can be
utilized achieving the efficiency better than 95% [9, 10, 15]. However, the voltage
gain can be easily achieved by turns-ratio of coupled inductors the leakage
energy induces high voltage stress and switching losses. Thanks to the active
clamp circuit used the leakage energy can be recycled. The other benefits of
presented circuit are wide input voltage range, high voltage gain and low cost
simultaneously. At kilowatt power level the

grid-connected inverters. High intensity discharge lamp ballasts for automobile

headlamps call for high voltage gain dcdc converters to raise a battery voltage
of 12 V up to 100 V at steady operation [2], [3]. Also, the low battery voltage of
48 V needs to be converted to 380 V in the front-end stage in some
uninterruptible power supplies and telecommunication systems by high step-
up converters [4], [5]. Theoretically, a basic boost converter can provide infinite
voltage gain with extremely high duty ratio. In practice, the voltage gain is
limited by the parasitic elements of the power devices, inductor and capacitor.
Moreover, the extremely high duty cycle operation may induce serious reverse-
recovery problem of the rectifier diode and large current ripples, which increase
the conduction losses. On the other hand, the input current is usually large in
high output voltage and high power conversion, but low-voltage-rated power
devices with small on-resistances may not be selected since the voltage stress
of the main switch and diode is, respectively, equivalent to the output voltage
in the conventional boost converter. Many single switch topologies based on
the conventional boost converter had been presented for high step-up voltage
gain [6][7]. The cascaded boost converter is also capable of providing high
voltage gain without the penalty of extreme duty cycle [8]. However, the voltage
stress of the main switch is equal to the output voltage. In [9] and [10], several
switching capacitor/switching-inductor structures are proposed, and
transformerless hybrid dcdc converters with high voltage gain are derived by
the use of structures integrated with classical single switch non isolated PWM
converters. They present the following advantage: the energy in the magnetic
elements is low, which leads to weight, size, and cost saving for the inductor,
and less conduction losses. Another method for achieving high step-up gain is
the use of the voltage-lift technique [11], showing the advantage that the
voltage stress across the switch is low. However, several diodecapacitor stages
are required when the conversion ratio is very large, which makes the circuit
complex. In addition, the single switch may suffer high current for high power
applications, which risks reducing its efficiency. Another alternative single switch
converters including forward, fly-back and tapped-inductor boost can achieve
high conversion ratio by adjusting the turns ratio of the transformer [12][13],
but these converters require large transformer turns ratio to achieve high
voltage gain. In [14], an integrated boost flyback converter is proposed to
achieve high voltage gain, and the energy of a leakage inductor is recycled into
the output during the switch-off period. Unfortunately, the input current is
pulsed from the experimental results. In addition, it should be noticed that the
low-level input voltages usually cause large input currents and current ripples to
flow through the single switch for high step up and high power dcdc
conversion, which also leads to increasing conduction losses. Therefore, the
single-switch topologies are not perfect candidates for high step up dcdc
conversion. In order to handle high input currents and reduce current ripples,
the three-state switching cell based on interleaved control is introduced in
boost converters. However, the voltage gain of the conventional three-state
switching boost converter is only determined by the duty ratio. Moreover, the
voltage stresses of the power devices are still equivalent to output voltage. Thus,
the large duty ratios, high switch voltage stresses, and serious output diode
reverse recovery problem are still major challenges for high step up and high
power conversion with satisfactory efficiency. [15] To solve aforementioned
drawbacks, some three-state switching converters with high static gain
employing diodecapacitor cells were presented. However, several diode
capacitor cells are required to meet a very high step-up gain. Thus, other
topologies using three-state switching cell and coupled inductors are
investigated in. The authors in proposed an interleaved boost converter with
coupled inductors and a voltage doubler rectifier in order to satisfy the high
step-up applications and low input current ripple, in which the secondary sides
of two coupled inductors are connected in series.[16] The winding-cross-
coupled inductors and output diode reverserecovery alleviation techniques are
also introduced in an interleaved three-state switchingdcdc converters,
which can get a considerably high voltage conversion ratio and improve the
performance of the converter. In, an interleaved fly-back converter based on
three-state switching cell for high step up and high power conversion is
proposed. Although the converter can eliminate the main limitations of the
standard fly back, this circuit is a little complex and the input current ripples are
large from the experimental results.[
A_HIGH_GAIN_STEP_UP_DC_DC_CONVERTER_WITH_DUAL_COUPLED_INDUC
TORS_FOR_RENEWABLE_ENERGY_APPLICATIONS_ijariie3281]

Module structure of step-up converter with a single PV has one major

disadvantage which is low efficiency due to high voltage amplification, so the
price per watt is the largest of the four topologies discussed. This review
therefore highlights the highest efficiency step-up converter topologies.
Comparison of DC-DC boost converters 2.1. Transformerless solutions. In order
to satisfy the stringent requirements with performance in renewable energy
gridconnected power applications, many researchers concentrate on how to
realize high voltage gain step-up, low cost and high efficiency single-stage
converters [12]. The brief comparison of available single-stage transformerless
converters will be presented below. They provide the voltage gain up to 20
using coupled inductors or switched capacitor technique. Usually the
efficiencies of high voltage gain step-up converters are at the levels over 90% at
sub kilowatt or single kilowatt powers. To increase the overall efficiency of
converter soft switching technique [8] as well as active clamped circuit [12]
introduction may be considered. Boost converter. The single phase single switch
boost converter is a basic step-up topology [32] (Fig. 4). The voltage gain
theoretically is infinite when duty cycle reaches 1. But switch turn on period
becomes long as the duty cycle (D) increases causing conduction losses to
increase. The power rating of single switch boost converter is limited to switch
rating. In order to obtain higher gain several boost converters can be cascaded
at the expense of efficiency decrease. Interleaved parallel topology is the
solution to increase the power and reduce input current ripple allowing lower
power rated switches to be used. Interleaved boost converters. The simplicity is
major advantage of that topology (Fig. 5) [6]. Since interleaved boost converter
cells share the input current the input current ripples are small which increases
the life of PV modules. Moreover single cell feeds only the fraction of total input
current and the duty cycle of a single switch does not exceed 0.25. Smaller
inductors can be used along with the power rating of switches and diodes
decrease. When driving sequentially switches are switched on and off one by
one enabling low output voltage ripples. The diode reverse recovery current
flow when the diodes are switched off causes electromagnetic noise (EMI). To
overcome that problem discontinuous inductor current driving mode should be
used. In the other hand continuous inductor current mode demonstrates lower
input current ripples as well as lower switching losses. The main disadvantage
(of interleaved boost converters) of that topology is relatively low voltage gain,
usually not higher than 2. To improve voltage gain interleaved structures can be
mixed with transformers [27] or the inductors can be coupled [10, 11, 16]. Soft
switching boost converters. This high performance converter (Fig. 6), [7] has
slightly improved voltage gain in comparison to single switch boost converter.
It operates in ZVS (Zero Voltage Switching) mode dramatically reducing
switching losses thus achieving better efficiency. The driving sequence is bit
more complex, but both switches operate at the same ground potential thus
additional separation at driver side is needless. The disadvantage of that
topology is the complexity of the circuit, because of 5 more components
addition including a switch and an extra inductor. Coupled inductor structures.
Coupled inductor can serve as a transformer to enlarge the voltage gain in
nonisolated DC/DC converters in proportion to winding turns ratio (Fig. 7). These
converters can easily achieve high voltage gain using low RDSon switches
working at relatively low level of voltage. The switch driving scheme is simple as
the converter usually utilizes single switch. Common mode conducted EMI is
reduced due to balanced switching. To reduce passive component size coupled
inductors can be integrated into single magnetic core [12]. Boost, flyback or
charge-pump topologies or the combinations of any of them (Fig. 8) can be
utilized achieving the efficiency better than 95% [9, 10, 15]. However, the voltage
gain can be easily achieved by turns-ratio of coupled inductors the leakage
energy induces high voltage stress and switching losses. Thanks to the active
clamp circuit used the leakage energy can be recycled. The other benefits of
presented circuit are wide input voltage range, high voltage gain and low cost
simultaneously. At kilowatt power level the

grid-connected inverters. High intensity discharge lamp ballasts for automobile

headlamps call for high voltage gain dcdc converters to raise a battery voltage
of 12 V up to 100 V at steady operation [2], [3]. Also, the low battery voltage of
48 V needs to be converted to 380 V in the front-end stage in some
uninterruptible power supplies and telecommunication systems by high step-
up converters [4], [5]. Theoretically, a basic boost converter can provide infinite
voltage gain with extremely high duty ratio. In practice, the voltage gain is
limited by the parasitic elements of the power devices, inductor and capacitor.
Moreover, the extremely high duty cycle operation may induce serious reverse-
recovery problem of the rectifier diode and large current ripples, which increase
the conduction losses. On the other hand, the input current is usually large in
high output voltage and high power conversion, but low-voltage-rated power
devices with small on-resistances may not be selected since the voltage stress
of the main switch and diode is, respectively, equivalent to the output voltage
in the conventional boost converter. Many single switch topologies based on
the conventional boost converter had been presented for high step-up voltage
gain [6][7]. The cascaded boost converter is also capable of providing high
voltage gain without the penalty of extreme duty cycle [8]. However, the voltage
stress of the main switch is equal to the output voltage. In [9] and [10], several
switching capacitor/switching-inductor structures are proposed, and
transformerless hybrid dcdc converters with high voltage gain are derived by
the use of structures integrated with classical single switch non isolated PWM
converters. They present the following advantage: the energy in the magnetic
elements is low, which leads to weight, size, and cost saving for the inductor,
and less conduction losses. Another method for achieving high step-up gain is
the use of the voltage-lift technique [11], showing the advantage that the
voltage stress across the switch is low. However, several diodecapacitor stages
are required when the conversion ratio is very large, which makes the circuit
complex. In addition, the single switch may suffer high current for high power
applications, which risks reducing its efficiency. Another alternative single switch
converters including forward, fly-back and tapped-inductor boost can achieve
high conversion ratio by adjusting the turns ratio of the transformer [12][13],
but these converters require large transformer turns ratio to achieve high
voltage gain. In [14], an integrated boost flyback converter is proposed to
achieve high voltage gain, and the energy of a leakage inductor is recycled into
the output during the switch-off period. Unfortunately, the input current is
pulsed from the experimental results. In addition, it should be noticed that the
low-level input voltages usually cause large input currents and current ripples to
flow through the single switch for high step up and high power dcdc
conversion, which also leads to increasing conduction losses. Therefore, the
single-switch topologies are not perfect candidates for high step up dcdc
conversion. In order to handle high input currents and reduce current ripples,
the three-state switching cell based on interleaved control is introduced in
boost converters. However, the voltage gain of the conventional three-state
switching boost converter is only determined by the duty ratio. Moreover, the
voltage stresses of the power devices are still equivalent to output voltage. Thus,
the large duty ratios, high switch voltage stresses, and serious output diode
reverse recovery problem are still major challenges for high step up and high
power conversion with satisfactory efficiency. [15] To solve aforementioned
drawbacks, some three-state switching converters with high static gain
employing diodecapacitor cells were presented. However, several diode
capacitor cells are required to meet a very high step-up gain. Thus, other
topologies using three-state switching cell and coupled inductors are
investigated in. The authors in proposed an interleaved boost converter with
coupled inductors and a voltage doubler rectifier in order to satisfy the high
step-up applications and low input current ripple, in which the secondary sides
of two coupled inductors are connected in series.[16] The winding-cross-
coupled inductors and output diode reverserecovery alleviation techniques are
also introduced in an interleaved three-state switchingdcdc converters,
which can get a considerably high voltage conversion ratio and improve the
performance of the converter. In, an interleaved fly-back converter based on
three-state switching cell for high step up and high power conversion is
proposed. Although the converter can eliminate the main limitations of the
standard fly back, this circuit is a little complex and the input current ripples are
large from the experimental results.[
A_HIGH_GAIN_STEP_UP_DC_DC_CONVERTER_WITH_DUAL_COUPLED_INDUC
TORS_FOR_RENEWABLE_ENERGY_APPLICATIONS_ijariie3281]

Module structure of step-up converter with a single PV has one major

disadvantage which is low efficiency due to high voltage amplification, so the
price per watt is the largest of the four topologies discussed. This review
therefore highlights the highest efficiency step-up converter topologies.
Comparison of DC-DC boost converters 2.1. Transformerless solutions. In order
to satisfy the stringent requirements with performance in renewable energy
gridconnected power applications, many researchers concentrate on how to
realize high voltage gain step-up, low cost and high efficiency single-stage
converters [12]. The brief comparison of available single-stage transformerless
converters will be presented below. They provide the voltage gain up to 20
using coupled inductors or switched capacitor technique. Usually the
efficiencies of high voltage gain step-up converters are at the levels over 90% at
sub kilowatt or single kilowatt powers. To increase the overall efficiency of
converter soft switching technique [8] as well as active clamped circuit [12]
introduction may be considered. Boost converter. The single phase single switch
boost converter is a basic step-up topology [32] (Fig. 4). The voltage gain
theoretically is infinite when duty cycle reaches 1. But switch turn on period
becomes long as the duty cycle (D) increases causing conduction losses to
increase. The power rating of single switch boost converter is limited to switch
rating. In order to obtain higher gain several boost converters can be cascaded
at the expense of efficiency decrease. Interleaved parallel topology is the
solution to increase the power and reduce input current ripple allowing lower
power rated switches to be used. Interleaved boost converters. The simplicity is
major advantage of that topology (Fig. 5) [6]. Since interleaved boost converter
cells share the input current the input current ripples are small which increases
the life of PV modules. Moreover single cell feeds only the fraction of total input
current and the duty cycle of a single switch does not exceed 0.25. Smaller
inductors can be used along with the power rating of switches and diodes
decrease. When driving sequentially switches are switched on and off one by
one enabling low output voltage ripples. The diode reverse recovery current
flow when the diodes are switched off causes electromagnetic noise (EMI). To
overcome that problem discontinuous inductor current driving mode should be
used. In the other hand continuous inductor current mode demonstrates lower
input current ripples as well as lower switching losses. The main disadvantage
(of interleaved boost converters) of that topology is relatively low voltage gain,
usually not higher than 2. To improve voltage gain interleaved structures can be
mixed with transformers [27] or the inductors can be coupled [10, 11, 16]. Soft
switching boost converters. This high performance converter (Fig. 6), [7] has
slightly improved voltage gain in comparison to single switch boost converter.
It operates in ZVS (Zero Voltage Switching) mode dramatically reducing
switching losses thus achieving better efficiency. The driving sequence is bit
more complex, but both switches operate at the same ground potential thus
additional separation at driver side is needless. The disadvantage of that
topology is the complexity of the circuit, because of 5 more components
addition including a switch and an extra inductor. Coupled inductor structures.
Coupled inductor can serve as a transformer to enlarge the voltage gain in
nonisolated DC/DC converters in proportion to winding turns ratio (Fig. 7). These
converters can easily achieve high voltage gain using low RDSon switches
working at relatively low level of voltage. The switch driving scheme is simple as
the converter usually utilizes single switch. Common mode conducted EMI is
reduced due to balanced switching. To reduce passive component size coupled
inductors can be integrated into single magnetic core [12]. Boost, flyback or
charge-pump topologies or the combinations of any of them (Fig. 8) can be
utilized achieving the efficiency better than 95% [9, 10, 15]. However, the voltage
gain can be easily achieved by turns-ratio of coupled inductors the leakage
energy induces high voltage stress and switching losses. Thanks to the active
clamp circuit used the leakage energy can be recycled. The other benefits of
presented circuit are wide input voltage range, high voltage gain and low cost
simultaneously. At kilowatt power level the

grid-connected inverters. High intensity discharge lamp ballasts for automobile

headlamps call for high voltage gain dcdc converters to raise a battery voltage
of 12 V up to 100 V at steady operation [2], [3]. Also, the low battery voltage of
48 V needs to be converted to 380 V in the front-end stage in some
uninterruptible power supplies and telecommunication systems by high step-
up converters [4], [5]. Theoretically, a basic boost converter can provide infinite
voltage gain with extremely high duty ratio. In practice, the voltage gain is
limited by the parasitic elements of the power devices, inductor and capacitor.
Moreover, the extremely high duty cycle operation may induce serious reverse-
recovery problem of the rectifier diode and large current ripples, which increase
the conduction losses. On the other hand, the input current is usually large in
high output voltage and high power conversion, but low-voltage-rated power
devices with small on-resistances may not be selected since the voltage stress
of the main switch and diode is, respectively, equivalent to the output voltage
in the conventional boost converter. Many single switch topologies based on
the conventional boost converter had been presented for high step-up voltage
gain [6][7]. The cascaded boost converter is also capable of providing high
voltage gain without the penalty of extreme duty cycle [8]. However, the voltage
stress of the main switch is equal to the output voltage. In [9] and [10], several
switching capacitor/switching-inductor structures are proposed, and
transformerless hybrid dcdc converters with high voltage gain are derived by
the use of structures integrated with classical single switch non isolated PWM
converters. They present the following advantage: the energy in the magnetic
elements is low, which leads to weight, size, and cost saving for the inductor,
and less conduction losses. Another method for achieving high step-up gain is
the use of the voltage-lift technique [11], showing the advantage that the
voltage stress across the switch is low. However, several diodecapacitor stages
are required when the conversion ratio is very large, which makes the circuit
complex. In addition, the single switch may suffer high current for high power
applications, which risks reducing its efficiency. Another alternative single switch
converters including forward, fly-back and tapped-inductor boost can achieve
high conversion ratio by adjusting the turns ratio of the transformer [12][13],
but these converters require large transformer turns ratio to achieve high
voltage gain. In [14], an integrated boost flyback converter is proposed to
achieve high voltage gain, and the energy of a leakage inductor is recycled into
the output during the switch-off period. Unfortunately, the input current is
pulsed from the experimental results. In addition, it should be noticed that the
low-level input voltages usually cause large input currents and current ripples to
flow through the single switch for high step up and high power dcdc
conversion, which also leads to increasing conduction losses. Therefore, the
single-switch topologies are not perfect candidates for high step up dcdc
conversion. In order to handle high input currents and reduce current ripples,
the three-state switching cell based on interleaved control is introduced in
boost converters. However, the voltage gain of the conventional three-state
switching boost converter is only determined by the duty ratio. Moreover, the
voltage stresses of the power devices are still equivalent to output voltage. Thus,
the large duty ratios, high switch voltage stresses, and serious output diode
reverse recovery problem are still major challenges for high step up and high
power conversion with satisfactory efficiency. [15] To solve aforementioned
drawbacks, some three-state switching converters with high static gain
employing diodecapacitor cells were presented. However, several diode
capacitor cells are required to meet a very high step-up gain. Thus, other
topologies using three-state switching cell and coupled inductors are
investigated in. The authors in proposed an interleaved boost converter with
coupled inductors and a voltage doubler rectifier in order to satisfy the high
step-up applications and low input current ripple, in which the secondary sides
of two coupled inductors are connected in series.[16] The winding-cross-
coupled inductors and output diode reverserecovery alleviation techniques are
also introduced in an interleaved three-state switchingdcdc converters,
which can get a considerably high voltage conversion ratio and improve the
performance of the converter. In, an interleaved fly-back converter based on
three-state switching cell for high step up and high power conversion is
proposed. Although the converter can eliminate the main limitations of the
standard fly back, this circuit is a little complex and the input current ripples are
large from the experimental results.[
A_HIGH_GAIN_STEP_UP_DC_DC_CONVERTER_WITH_DUAL_COUPLED_INDUC
TORS_FOR_RENEWABLE_ENERGY_APPLICATIONS_ijariie3281]

Module structure of step-up converter with a single PV has one major

disadvantage which is low efficiency due to high voltage amplification, so the
price per watt is the largest of the four topologies discussed. This review
therefore highlights the highest efficiency step-up converter topologies.
Comparison of DC-DC boost converters 2.1. Transformerless solutions. In order
to satisfy the stringent requirements with performance in renewable energy
gridconnected power applications, many researchers concentrate on how to
realize high voltage gain step-up, low cost and high efficiency single-stage
converters [12]. The brief comparison of available single-stage transformerless
converters will be presented below. They provide the voltage gain up to 20
using coupled inductors or switched capacitor technique. Usually the
efficiencies of high voltage gain step-up converters are at the levels over 90% at
sub kilowatt or single kilowatt powers. To increase the overall efficiency of
converter soft switching technique [8] as well as active clamped circuit [12]
introduction may be considered. Boost converter. The single phase single switch
boost converter is a basic step-up topology [32] (Fig. 4). The voltage gain
theoretically is infinite when duty cycle reaches 1. But switch turn on period
becomes long as the duty cycle (D) increases causing conduction losses to
increase. The power rating of single switch boost converter is limited to switch
rating. In order to obtain higher gain several boost converters can be cascaded
at the expense of efficiency decrease. Interleaved parallel topology is the
solution to increase the power and reduce input current ripple allowing lower
power rated switches to be used. Interleaved boost converters. The simplicity is
major advantage of that topology (Fig. 5) [6]. Since interleaved boost converter
cells share the input current the input current ripples are small which increases
the life of PV modules. Moreover single cell feeds only the fraction of total input
current and the duty cycle of a single switch does not exceed 0.25. Smaller
inductors can be used along with the power rating of switches and diodes
decrease. When driving sequentially switches are switched on and off one by
one enabling low output voltage ripples. The diode reverse recovery current
flow when the diodes are switched off causes electromagnetic noise (EMI). To
overcome that problem discontinuous inductor current driving mode should be
used. In the other hand continuous inductor current mode demonstrates lower
input current ripples as well as lower switching losses. The main disadvantage
(of interleaved boost converters) of that topology is relatively low voltage gain,
usually not higher than 2. To improve voltage gain interleaved structures can be
mixed with transformers [27] or the inductors can be coupled [10, 11, 16]. Soft
switching boost converters. This high performance converter (Fig. 6), [7] has
slightly improved voltage gain in comparison to single switch boost converter.
It operates in ZVS (Zero Voltage Switching) mode dramatically reducing
switching losses thus achieving better efficiency. The driving sequence is bit
more complex, but both switches operate at the same ground potential thus
additional separation at driver side is needless. The disadvantage of that
topology is the complexity of the circuit, because of 5 more components
addition including a switch and an extra inductor. Coupled inductor structures.
Coupled inductor can serve as a transformer to enlarge the voltage gain in
nonisolated DC/DC converters in proportion to winding turns ratio (Fig. 7). These
converters can easily achieve high voltage gain using low RDSon switches
working at relatively low level of voltage. The switch driving scheme is simple as
the converter usually utilizes single switch. Common mode conducted EMI is
reduced due to balanced switching. To reduce passive component size coupled
inductors can be integrated into single magnetic core [12]. Boost, flyback or
charge-pump topologies or the combinations of any of them (Fig. 8) can be
utilized achieving the efficiency better than 95% [9, 10, 15]. However, the voltage
gain can be easily achieved by turns-ratio of coupled inductors the leakage
energy induces high voltage stress and switching losses. Thanks to the active
clamp circuit used the leakage energy can be recycled. The other benefits of
presented circuit are wide input voltage range, high voltage gain and low cost
simultaneously. At kilowatt power level the