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fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI
10.1109/TPEL.2013.2296053, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics
A MODIFIED SEPIC CONVERTER WITH HIGH STATIC GAIN FOR
RENEWABLE APPLICATIONS
Roger Gules, Member IEEE, Walter Meneghette dos Santos, Flavio Aparecido dos Reis, Eduardo Felix
Ribeiro Romaneli and Alceu André Badin, Member IEEE
Abstract
Two high static gain step-up DC-DC converters based
on the modified SEPIC converter are presented in this
paper. The proposed topologies present low switch
voltage and high efficiency for low input voltage and high
output voltage applications. The configurations with
magnetic coupling and without magnetic coupling are
presented and analyzed. The magnetic coupling allows
the increase of the static gain maintaining a reduced
switch voltage. The theoretical analysis and experimental
results show that both structures are suitable for high
static gain applications as a renewable power sources
with low DC output voltage. Two experimental
prototypes were developed with an input voltage equal to
15 V and an output power equal to 100 W. The efficiency
at nominal power obtained with the prototype without
magnetic coupling was equal to 91.9% with an output
voltage of 150 V. The prototype with magnetic coupling
operating with an output voltage equal to 300 V, presents
an efficiency at nominal power equal to 92.2%.
Index Terms: DC-DC power conversion, Voltage multiplier
and Solar power generation.
I. INTRODUCTION
The development of high static gain DC-DC converters is
an important research area due to the crescent demand of this
technology for several applications supplied by low DC
output voltage power sources. Some examples are renewable
energy sources as low power wind turbine, photovoltaic (PV)
modules and other applications as fuel-cells, embedded
systems, portable electronic equipments, uninterruptable
power supply and battery powered equipment [1].
Some requirements are normally necessary in these
applications as reduced losses, high power density, low
weight and volume. The high efficiency operation is
particularly important, mainly for battery powered systems
and high cost power sources.
Manuscript received xxx x5, 2013; revised xxxx , 2013; accepted xxx,
2013. Date of current version December xx,xxx. This work was supported in
part by Fundação Araucária and Paraná State Government. Recommended
for publication by Associate Editor xxx.
R. Gules, W. M. Santos, F. A. Reis, E. F. R. Romaneli and A. A. Badin are
with the Federal University of Technology, Curitiba, PR 80230901,Brazil
(e-mail: rgules@gmail.com; wmeneghette@gmail.com;
flavioa.reis@hotmail.com; eduardo.romaneli@gmail.com;
handreh@gmail.com>).
Digital Object Identifier xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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An application where the proposed converters can be
applied is the photovoltaic energy generation in grid
connected systems using the AC module or microinverter
structure [2]. The usual structure used for high power grid
connected photovoltaic generation is the centralized inverter
where several PV modules are connected in series in order to
obtain the DC voltage level necessary for the inverter
operation and the energy transference to the grid with low
current harmonic distortion. However, a common problem in
this structure is the power losses due to the centralized
maximum power point tracking (MPPT), mismatch losses
among the PV modules and generation reduction due to a
partial shading of the series connected PV modules [2]. Some
of these problems are minimized with the multi-string
structure where reduced strings are connected with DC-DC
converters with the MPPT algorithm and the output of these
DC-DC converters are connected to the inverter input.
However, in residential applications, most research is
focused on the module integrated converters where the
energy generated by a single PV module is transferred to the
grid by a dedicated converter integrated with the PV module
[3]. Some of the main advantages of this PV generation
structure are the modularity, allowing an easy increase of the
installed power, the individual MPPT and reduction of the
partial shading and panel mismatching effects, thus
improving the energy harvesting capability. However, there
are some design challenges in AC module structure as the
efficiency improvement, cost reduction and the reliable
operation throughout the module lifetime. An alternative for
the AC module implementation is a two-stage topology as
presented in Fig. 1. The operation with high efficiency is a
problem for the DC-DC converter due to the low input
voltage, high input current, high output voltage and static
gain.
Commercial monocrystalline and multicrystalline PV
module presents normally a maximum output power (PMPP)
lower than 350W with maximum power point voltage (VMPP)
range from 15V to 40 V [3]. Common specifications
depending on the number of photovoltaic cells are
PMPP=100W with VMPP=15 V, PMPP=200W with VMPP=30 V
and PMPP=300W with VMPP=40 V. In this work the
specification of PMPP=100W with VMPP=15 V was
considered, but increasing the PV module power, the voltage
also increases at the maximum power point. In this condition,
DC-DC converter input current and the converter conduction
losses are maintained almost at the same level.
When a high step-up ratio is necessary for the
implementation of the first power stage, the usual solution is
the use of isolated DC-DC converters.
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10.1109/TPEL.2013.2296053, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics

converter, operating as a flyback transformer, increasing the

Fig. 1. Two-stage AC module structure.
The transformer turns ratio allows to increase the
converter static gain. However, the isolated solution presents
some problems as the efficiency reduction due to the power
transformer losses and intrinsic parameters as the leakage
inductance [1]. The power transformer also presents an
important contribution in the converter weight and volume.
The power converters used with renewable energy sources
must present a high efficiency due to the high cost of the
energy source, as photovoltaic module or fuel-cells. Also in
embedded systems and portable equipments, the converter
power density is an important design parameter. Therefore,
the solutions that allow the elimination of the power
transformer can improve the efficiency and power density of
the power conversion system. However, the classical non-
isolated DC-DC converters present a limited step-up static
gain (q=Vo/Vi). The boost converter is the classical non
isolated step-up DC-DC converter and normally can operate
with an adequate static and dynamic performance with a
duty-cycle close to D=0.8 resulting in an output voltage
around five times the input voltage. A static gain equal to
q=5 is a limited value for the applications considered in this
work. Therefore, three static gain ranges are considered in
this paper. A DC-DC converter operating with a static gain
range until q=5 is considered a standard static-gain, a static
gain range higher than q=10 is considered a high static gain
solution and an operation with static gain higher than q=20 is
considered a very high static gain solution.
The main desired characteristics in the considered
applications are a static gain equal or higher than ten times,
low switch voltage, low input current ripple, reduced weight
and volume and high efficiency.
Many techniques were developed in order to increase the
static gain of the non-isolated structures for the
implementation of high efficiency and high power density
solutions. A review of the main techniques proposed is
presented in [1]. The most part of the proposed solutions of
non isolated high static gain DC-DC converter are based on
the boost topology with an additional technique associated.
The main techniques used are the switch capacitors and
voltage multiplier cells [4]-[6], switched inductors [7]-[8],
inductor magnetic coupling [9]-[15] and also combinations
of these techniques as the integration of the voltage
multiplier cell with the inductor magnetic coupling [16]-[19].
The base topology presented in this paper is a
modification of the SEPIC DC-DC converter and the main
operation characteristics obtained with this modification
comply with the requirements necessary in the high static
gain applications. The basic structure without magnetic
coupling presents a static gain close to twice of the classical
boost converter and the switch voltage is close to half of the
value obtained with the classical boost converter in the
operation with high values of duty-cycle.
The proposed solution using magnetic coupling is obtained
including a secondary winding in an inductor of the
static gain. However, due to the configuration of the power
circuit proposed, the usual problems presented by the single
switch isolated DC-DC converter are not presented by the
proposed structure with transformer. Only part of the power
processed by the converter is transferred to the output
through the coupling inductor and another part of the power
is transferred directly by the non isolated converter, reducing
the weight, volume and losses of the transformer. The
leakage inductance is a problem for the single switch isolated
DC-DC converters resulting in switch overvoltage and the
energy stored in the leakage inductance must be dissipated in
snubber or clamping circuits. However, the leakage
inductance is necessary in the proposed converter with
transformer in order to obtain ZCS turn-on commutation and
to reduce the diodes reverse recovery current, increasing the
converter efficiency. The energy stored in the leakage
inductance is transferred to the converter output through the
diodes and capacitor of the circuit. The voltages in all
semiconductors are clamped by the intrinsic converter
operation without dissipative components.
The theoretical and experimental analysis of the
modified SEPIC DC-DC converter is developed in this paper
for low DC input voltage and high output voltage
applications. The topology using magnetic coupling with the
inclusion of an inductor auxiliary winding operating as a
flyback transformer is also presented and studied in this
paper in order to increase the static gain maintaining low
switch voltage.
II. PROPOSED CONVERTER WITHOUT MAGNETIC
COUPLING
A. Power Circuit without Magnetic Coupling
The power circuit of the classical SEPIC converter is
presented in Fig. 2. The step-up and step-down static gain of
the SEPIC converter is an interesting operation characteristic
for a wide input voltage range application. However, the
switch voltage is equal the sum of the input and output
voltages and the static gain is lower than the classical boost
converter. The modification of the SEPIC converter is
accomplished adding only two components with the
inclusion of the diode DM and the capacitor CM, as presented
in Fig. 3.
Fig. 2. Classical SEPIC converter.
Fig. 3. Modified SEPIC converter without magnetic coupling.

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Many operational characteristics of the classical SEPIC equal to the VCM voltage. Therefore, the switch voltage will
converter are changed with the proposed modification, as the be lower than the converter output voltage.
elevation of the converter static gain. The capacitor CM is Vo 1 + D (1)
charged with the output voltage of the classical boost =
Vi 1 − D
converter. The polarity of the CS capacitor voltage is inverted
in the proposed converter and the expressions of the VCM 1 (2)
=
capacitors voltages and other operation characteristics are Vi 1− D
presented in the theoretical analysis. The voltage across the CS capacitor is calculated by (3).
The continuous conduction mode (CCM) of the modified VCS D
SEPIC converter presents two operation stages. All = (3)
capacitors are considered as a voltage source and the Vi 1− D
semiconductors are considered ideals for the theoretical
analysis. The static gain of the classical SEPIC, boost and
1) First Stage [t0 - t1] (Fig. 4) - At the instant t0, switch S is modified SEPIC converters are presented in Fig. 7. As it can
turned-off and the energy stored in the input inductor L1 is be observed in this figure, with a duty-cycle equal to
transferred to the output through the CS capacitor and output D=0.818, a static gain equal to 10 is obtained and the switch
diode Do and also is transferred to the CM capacitor through voltage is equal to 5.5 times the input voltage. Therefore, the
the diode DM. Therefore, the switch voltage is equal to the switch voltage is close to half of the output voltage.
CM capacitor voltage. The energy stored in the inductor L2 is The theoretical analysis, operation stages and waveforms
transferred to the output through the diode Do. of the modified SEPIC converter operating in discontinuous
2) Second Stage [t1 - t2] (Fig. 5) - At the instant t1, switch S is conduction mode (DCM) is not presented in this paper.
turned-on and the diodes DM and Do are blocked and the However, the static gain and the CM and CS capacitor
inductors L1 and L2 store energy. The input voltage is applied voltages operating in DCM are presented in equations (4), (5)
to the input inductor L1 and the voltage VCS-VCM is applied to and (6) respectively.
the inductor L2. The VCM voltage is higher than the VCS
voltage.
The main theoretical waveforms operating with hard-
switching commutation are presented in Fig. 6.

Fig. 4. First operation stage.

Fig. 5. Second operation stage.

The maximum voltage in all diodes and in the power

switch is equal to the CM capacitor voltage. The output
voltage is equal to the sum of the CS and CM capacitors
voltage. The average L1 inductor current is equal to the input
current and the average L2 inductor current is equal to the
output current.
The static gain of the proposed converter can be obtained
considering null the average inductors voltage at the steady-
state and it is presented in (1) considering the CCM
operation. The static gain of the proposed converter is higher
than the obtained with the classical boost. The CM capacitor
voltage is calculated by (2) that is the same output voltage of
the classical boost converter. The maximum switch voltage is Fig. 6. Main theoretical waveforms.

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3) L1 and L2 inductance
The current ripple ( iL) of the inductors L1 and L2 are
calculated by the same equation. Considering L1 equal to L2
and an input current ripple equal to 5 A, the inductance value
is calculated by (10). The average current value of the L1
inductance is equal to the input current and the average
current value of the L2 inductance is equal to the output
current.
V ⋅ D 15 ⋅ 0.8182 (10)
L1 = L 2 = i = = 102 µH
∆i L ⋅ f 5 ⋅ 24 ⋅ 103
4) Capacitors CS and CM
The capacitors CS and CM present the same voltage
ripple. The capacitance can be calculated by the capacitor
Fig. 7. Converters static gain. charge variation, considering null the capacitor series
equivalent resistance. Normally, a small capacitance value is
obtained and a capacitor with low series equivalent resistance
Vo Vi ⋅ D 2 (4)
= 1+ can be used. Considering a capacitor voltage ripple ∆VC
Vi 2 ⋅ i o ⋅ L eq ⋅ f equal to 10% of the nominal voltage of the CM capacitor, the
capacitances are calculated by (11).
VCM Vi ⋅ D 2 (5)
= 1+
Vi 4 ⋅ i o ⋅ L eq ⋅ f Io 0.667 (11)
CS = CM = = = 3.37 µF
2 ∆Vc ⋅ f 8.25 ⋅ 24 ⋅ 10 3
VCS Vi ⋅ D (6)
= Where:
Vi 4 ⋅ i o ⋅ L eq ⋅ f
 Vi  10  15  (12)
Where: ∆VC =   ⋅ =  ⋅ 0.1 = 8.25
L ⋅L  1 − D  100  1 − 0. 8182 
L eq = 1 2 (7)
5) Semiconductor current effort
L1 + L 2
The average current of the diodes IDM and IDo are equal to
the output current Io.
B. Design Considerations of the Proposed Converter without
P 100 (13)
Magnetic Coupling I Do = I DM = I o = o = = 0.667A
The main equations to design the modified SEPIC Vo 150
converter without magnetic coupling shown in Fig. 3 The switch current is equal the sum of the currents of the
operating in CCM, are presented with an example inductance L1 and L2. The switch current is a trapezoidal
considering the following specifications: waveform as presented in Fig. 6. I1 is the switch current at
the beginning of the turn-on period (t1) calculated by (14)
Output Power: Po = 100 W
and I2 is the switch current at the end of the turn-on period
Input Voltage: Vi = 15 V
(t2) calculated by (15), considering a theoretical efficiency
Output Voltage: Vo=150V
Switching Frequency: f=24 kHz equal to η=92%.
The RMS switch current is calculated by (16).
1) Switch duty-cycle
Considering the static gain presented in (1), the nominal  P ∆  P ∆  (14)
converter duty-cycle is calculated by (8). I1 =  o − iL  +  o − iL 
V
 i ⋅ η 2   Vo 2 
V − V 150 − 15 (8)
D= o i = = 0.8182  100 5.1   100 5.1 
Vo − Vi 150 + 15 I1 =  − + −  = 2 .8 A
 15 ⋅ 0.92 2   15 2 
2) Switch and diodes voltages  P ∆  P ∆  (15)
The switch voltage (Vs) and the voltage across the diode I 2 =  o + iL  +  o + iL 
V
 i ⋅ η 2   Vo 2 
DM are equal to the voltage of the capacitor CM. The
theoretical output diode voltage (VDo) is equal to the output  100 5.1   100 5.1 
voltage minus the voltage across the capacitor CS and the I2 =  + + +  = 13.02 A
 15 ⋅ 0.92 2   15 2 
result is the same calculated by (9).
Vs = VDo = VDM =
Vi
=
15
1 − D 1 − 0.8182
= 82.5V (9) IS RMS =
1
3
(
⋅ I12 + I1 ⋅ I 2 + I 2 2 ⋅ D) (16)

However, due to the non idealities of the circuit as the IS RMS =

1
3
( )
⋅ 2.8 2 + 2.8 ⋅ 13.02 + 13.082 ⋅ 0.8182 = 7.63 A
reverse recovery current of the output diode and the intrinsic
circuit inductance and capacitance, the output diode voltage
can reach the output voltage value.

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The theoretical efficiency was estimated with a simplified
analysis, considering the parameters of the components used
in the prototypes shown in Table II- Prototypes Components,
presented in session IV- Experimental Results.
Considering the RMS switch current calculated by (16)
and also obtained through simulation and a RDSon MOSFET
resistance equal 17 mΩ (80ºC), the switch conduction loss is
equal to 1 W. Considering the MOSFET turn-on time equal
to 180 ns and the MOSFET turn-off time equal to 122 ns, the
switch voltage equal to 83V and the switch current I1 and I2
calculated by (14) and (15), the total switch commutation
losses is equal to 2W.
The average current in al diodes is equal to the output
current calculated by (13) and considering a diode forward
voltage equal to 1.5 V, the total diode conduction losses is
equal to 2 W. Considering a total loss equal to 2 W for the
input filter inductor L1 and equal to 1.5 W for the inductor
L2, the estimated theoretical efficiency is close to 92%.
III. PROPOSED CONVERTER WITH MAGNETIC
COUPLING
A. Power Circuit with Magnetic Coupling
The modified SEPIC converter without magnetic
coupling can operate with the double of the static gain of the
classical boost converter for a high duty-cycle operation.
However, a very high static gain is necessary in some
applications. A practical limitation for the modified SEPIC
converter in order to maintain the converter performance is a
duty-cycle close to D=0.85, resulting in a maximum static
gain equal to q=12.3. A simple solution to elevate the static
gain without increases the duty-cycle and the switch voltage
is to include a secondary winding in the L2 inductor. The L2
inductor operation is similar to a buck-boost inductor and a
secondary winding can increases the output voltage by the
inductor windings turns ratio (n), operating as a flyback
transformer. Figure 8 shows this alternative circuit.
However, this converter structure presents the problem of
overvoltage at the output diode Do due to the existence of the
coupling winding L2 leakage inductance. The energy stored
in the leakage inductance, due to the reverse recovery current
of the output diode, results in voltage ring and high reverse
voltage at the diode Do. This overvoltage is not easily
controlled with classical snubbers or dissipative clamping. A
simple solution for this problem is the inclusion of a voltage
multiplier at the secondary side as presented in Fig. 9. This
voltage multiplier increases the converter static gain, the
voltage across the output diode is reduced to a value lower
than the output voltage and the energy stored in the leakage
inductance is transferred to the output.
Fig. 8. Modified SEPIC converter with magnetic coupling.
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Fig. 9. Proposed converter - Modified SEPIC converter with magnetic
coupling and output diode voltage clamping.
Therefore the secondary voltage multiplier composed by
the diode DM2 and capacitor CS2 is also a non-dissipative
clamping circuit for the output diode. The circuit presented in
Fig. 8 is the power circuit studied in this paper.
The solutions based on the classical boost converter with
magnetic coupling or the integration of the magnetic
coupling and the voltage multiplier cell can present very high
voltage gain and an excellent performance as presented in
[11]-[19]. However, as the magnetic coupling is
accomplished with the input inductor in the boost based
solutions, the input current ripple is significantly increased
and depends on the inductor winding turns ratio. Increasing
the inductor turns ratio and the static gain, the input current
ripple rises. The input current ripple increment is a non
desirable operation characteristic for some applications as the
fuel cell power source. As the magnetic coupling is not
accomplished with the input inductor in the proposed
topology, the input current ripple is low and is not changed
by the magnetic coupling.
There are also some proposed solutions based on the
integration of the SEPIC converter with boost and flyback
DC-DC converters. An isolated active clamp SEPIC-flyback
converter is presented in [21] in order to obtain high
efficiency. However, the proposed topology presents
pulsating input current and the active clamp technique
increases the converter complexity with an additional
controlled switch and command circuit.
The integration of the boost converter with a SEPIC
converter is also proposed in [22] and [23]. Some operation
characteristics of this converter are similar to the circuit with
magnetic coupling proposed in this paper. The main
differences of the proposed converter with respect the
previous topology are the ZCS switch turn-on obtained with
a resonant operation stage, reducing the commutation losses
even in the operation with light load and a higher static gain
considering the same transformer turns ratio, reducing the
converter duty cycle and the switch voltage.
The continuous conduction mode operation of the
modified SEPIC converter with magnetic coupling and
output diode clamping presents five operation stages. All
capacitors are considered as a voltage source and the
semiconductors are considered ideals for the theoretical
analysis.
1) First Stage [t0 - t1] (Fig. 10) – The power switch S is
conducting and the input inductor L1 stores energy. The
capacitor CS2 is charged by the secondary winding L2S and
diode DM2. The leakage inductance limits the current and the
energy transference occurs in a resonant way. The output
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diode is blocked and the maximum diode voltage is equal to

(Vo-VCM). At the instant t1 the energy transference to the
capacitor CS2 is finished and the diode DM2 is blocked.
2) Second Stage [t1 - t2] ( Fig. 11) – From the instant t1,
when the diode DM2 is blocked, to the instant t2 when the
power switch is turned off, the inductors L1 and L2 store
energy and the currents linearly increase.
3) Third Stage [t2 - t3] (Fig. 12) - At the instant t2 the Fig. 13. Fourth operation stage.
power switch S is turned off. The energy stored in the L1
inductor is transferred to the CM capacitor. Also there is the
energy transference to the output thought the capacitors CS1,
CS2 inductor L2 and output diode Do.
4) Fourth Stage [t3 - t4] (Fig. 13) - At the instant t3, the
energy transference to the capacitor CM is finished and the
diode DM1 is blocked. The energy transference to the output
is maintained until the instant t4, when the power switch is Fig. 14. Fifth operation stage.
turned on.
5) Fifth Stage [t4 - t5] (Fig. 14) – When the power switch is
turned on at the instant t4, the current at the output diode Do
linearly decreases and the di/dt is limited by the transformer
leakage inductance, reducing the diode reverse recovery
current problems. When the output diode is blocked, the
converter returns to the first operation stage.
The main theoretical waveforms of the modified SEPIC
converter with magnetic coupling and with the voltage
multiplier at the secondary side are presented in Fig. 15. The
switch voltage and the voltage across all diodes are lower
than the output voltage. The power switch turn on occurs
with almost zero current reducing significantly the switching
losses. The current variation ratio (di/dt) presented by all
diodes is limited due to the presence of the coupling inductor
leakage inductance, reducing the negative effects of the
diode reverse recovery current.

Fig. 10. First operation stage.

Fig. 11. Second operation stage. Fig. 15. Main theoretical waveforms of the modified SEPIC converter with
magnetic coupling and voltage multiplier at the secondary side.

The static gain of the modified SEPIC converter with

magnetic coupling and voltage multiplier is calculated by
(17). The static gain can be increased by the windings turns
ratio (n) without increasing the switch voltage.
Vo 1 (17)
= ⋅ (1 + n )
Fig. 12. Third operation stage. Vi 1 − D

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Where the inductor windings turns ratio (n) is calculated
by:
N L 2s
n=
N L2 p
Considering a duty-cycle equal to 0.8, a static gain equal
to q= 10 is obtained for n=1, q=15 for n=2 and q=20 for n=3
and the switch voltage is equal to five times the input voltage
for all cases.
The static gain variation as a function of the duty-cycle is
presented in Fig.16.
Fig. 16. Static gain variation as a function of the duty-cycle and transformer
turns ratio.
The third operation stage, presented in Fig. 12,
determinates the maximum switch voltage. Therefore, the
maximum switch voltage is equal to the capacitor CM voltage
calculated by (2) and it is the lowest curve presented in Fig.
16. During the fourth operation stage presented in Fig. 13,
the switch voltage presents a small reduction from calculated
by (2), as presented in Fig. 15 at the interval (t3-t4). The
voltage across the leakage inductance must be reduced from
the voltage calculated by (2) during the fourth operation
stage and this voltage reduction is proportional to the relation
between the leakage inductance of the coupling inductor L2p-
L2S and the input inductance L1.
B. Design Considerations of the Proposed Converter with
Magnetic Coupling
The main equations to design the modified SEPIC
converter with magnetic coupling presented in Fig. 9 are
shown with an example, considering the following
specifications:
Output Power: Po = 100 W
Input Voltage: Vi = 15 V
Output Voltage: Vo=300V
Switching Frequency: f=24 kHz
1) Switch duty-cycle
Considering a static gain equal to 20 and an inductor
winding turns ratio equal to n=2.6, the nominal converter
duty-cycle obtained from equation (17) is equal to:
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V 15 (19)
D = 1 − i ⋅ (1 + n ) = 1 − ⋅ (1 + 2.6) = 0.819
Vo 300
(18)
The nominal operation point is approximately the same of
the topology without magnetic coupling but with a winding
turns ratio equal to n=2.6, the static gain is equal to
Vo/Vi=20.
2) Switch and diodes voltages
The switch voltage (Vs) and the voltage across the diode
DM1 are equal the voltage of the capacitor CM.
Vi 15 (20)
Vs = VDM1 = ⋅ Vi = = 82.9 V
1− D 1 − 0.819
The diode DM2 voltage (VDM2) and the output diode
voltage (VDo) are equal and are calculated by (21).
n ⋅ Vi 2.6 ⋅ 15
VDo = VDM 2 = Vo − VCM = = = 215.5V (21)
1 − D 1 − 0.819
3) L1 and L2p-L2s inductance
The current ripple ( iL) of the inductors L1 and L2p are
calculated by the same equation (10) of the topology without
magnetic coupling. As the input voltage and the converter
duty-cycle of the converters with and without magnetic
coupling are the same, the inductance values for the magnetic
coupling converter are the same presented in (10)
L1 = L 2 p = 102 µH. However, the L2 inductor presents a
secondary winding L2S for the magnetic coupling converter.
Considering the windings turns ratio equal to n=2.6, the L2S
inductance is equal to:
L2 S = n 2 ⋅ L2 P = 2.6 2 ⋅ 102 ⋅ 10 −6 = 689.52 µH (22)
4) Leakage inductance Lr
The leakage inductance is an intrinsic parameter of the
transformer composed by the coupling inductor L2p-L2S. This
inductance is not represented in the circuit of the proposed
converter presented in Fig. 9 or in the operation stages
presented from Fig. 10 to Fig. 14, but this inductance can be
considered in series with the L2P inductor or referred to the
secondary side in series with the L2S inductor. This
inductance is very important for the reduction of the reverse
recovery current of the output diode and also in order to
obtain ZCS switch turn-on commutation. Therefore, a
minimum value is necessary in order to achieve these
operation characteristics. If the transformer leakage
inductance value is very low, some constructive technique of
the transformer can be used in order to reduce inductor’s
coupling coefficient, increasing the leakage inductance or an
external small inductance can be added in series with the
primary or secondary transformer winding, increasing the
equivalent inductance. But in most of cases, the intrinsic
leakage inductance of the transformer is adequate for the
converter operation with reduced commutation losses.
Using a conventional ultra-fast diode as output diode (Do)
and considering null the leakage inductance, when the switch
S is turned-on at the instant t4 of Fig. 15, that is the fifth
operation stage presented in Fig. 14, the output diode di/dt
This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI
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will be very high and the diode reverse recovery current will IV. EXPERIMENTAL RESULT
occurs increasing the commutation losses. With the inclusion
of a leakage inductance, the voltage applied across the The experimental results were obtained with the
leakage inductance referred to the primary side at the switch implementation of the prototype presented in Fig. 17. The
turn-on is approximately equal to (20) and the limitation of circuits presented in Fig. 3 and in Fig. 9 were implemented
the di/dt in the output diode by the leakage inductance is following the parameters presented in Table I. The
calculated by (23). components used in the prototypes are shown in Table II.
di Vi (23)
=
dt (1 − D ) ⋅ Lr ⋅ n
Therefore, considering a maximum di/dt equal to 25 A/µs
[5], the minimum value of the leakage inductance is
calculated by (24).
Vi 15 (24)
Lr = = = 1.27 µH
(1 − D ) ⋅ di ⋅ n (1 − 0.819) ⋅ 25 ⋅ 10 6 ⋅ 2.6
dt

The half resonance period (Tres) at first operation stage,

where occurs the energy transference to the capacitor CS2
through the diode DM2 as presented in Fig. 10 and
represented by the interval (t0-t1) in Fig. 15, is calculated by
(25). As the leakage inductance Lr and the capacitors CS1 and
CS2 present relative low values, the half resonant period is
only a part of the switching period (T).
 C ⋅C  (25)
Tres = π ⋅ Lr ⋅  S1 S 2 

 C S1 + C S 2 

4) Capacitors CS and CM
The voltage ripple of the capacitor CS2 is calculated by
the same equation (8) of the converter without magnetic
coupling. The capacitors CS1 and CM present the same
voltage ripple and are calculated by the equation (12)
multiplied by the inductor windings turns ratio (n), as
presented in equation (26), considering a capacitor voltage
ripple ∆VC equal to 15% of the nominal voltage of the CM
capacitor .
Io ⋅ n 0.333 ⋅ 2.6 (26)
C S1 = C M = = = 2.9 µF
∆Vc ⋅ f 12.4 ⋅ 24 ⋅ 10 3
Where:
V (27)
 V  15  15  15 (27)
∆VC =  i  ⋅ = ⋅ = 12.4V
 1 − D  100  1 − 0. 819  100

5) Semiconductor current effort

The average current of all diodes are approximately equal
to the output current.
P 100 (28)
I Do = I DM1 = I DM 2 = I o = o = = 0.333A
Vo 300
The switch current waveform is presented in Fig. 15. The
RMS switch current can be calculated approximately by the Fig. 17. Prototype of the modified SEPIC with magnetic coupling.
same equation presented for the proposed converter without
magnetic coupling (16), neglecting the additional resonant All experimental results were obtained with a digital
current contribution presented in the period (t0-t1) of Fig. 15. oscilloscope TPS2024 (200MHZ-2GS/s) and a current
amplifier TCPA300 (100MHz) with a current probe TCP312
(30A – 100MHz) from Tektronix.
The experimental results obtained with the modified
SEPIC converter without magnetic coupling are presented

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This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI
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from Fig. 18 to Fig. 22 operating with a resistive load equal
to 100 W. Figure 18 shows the input current, the switch
voltage and current and the output voltage. The output
voltage is equal to 150 V and the switch voltage is close to
the theoretical value 83 V. The detail of the hard-switching
commutation is presented in Fig. 19.
Figure 20 shows the L1 and L2 inductor current. The
average value of the L1 current is equal to the input current
and the average value of L2 inductor is equal to the output
current.
Fig.18. Input current (CH4), output voltage (CH3), switch current (CH2) and
voltage (CH1) of the modified SEPIC converter without magnetic coupling
(10 A/div, 50 V/div,10 µs/div).
Fig. 19. Switch current (CH2) and voltage (CH1) of the modified SEPIC
converter without magnetic coupling (10 A/div, 50 V/div, 2.5 µs/div).
Fig.20. L1 (CH4) and L2 (CH2) inductor current of the Modified SEPIC
converter without magnetic coupling (10 A/div, 10 µs/div).
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The current and voltage of the output diode is presented in
Fig. 21. A diode reverse recovery current can be observed in
this figure and the output diode voltage is clamped at the
output voltage value.
Fig.21. Output diode Do voltage (CH1) and current (CH4) of the modified
SEPIC converter without magnetic coupling (5 A/div, 50 V/div, 5 µs/div).
Fig.22. Reverse recovery current of the output diode Do (CH4) and output
diode Voltage (CH1) of the modified SEPIC converter without magnetic
coupling (2 A/div, 50 V/div, 100 ns/div).
The detail of the output diode reverse recovery current is
shown in Fig. 22.
The diode reverse recovery current can increase the
commutation loss and the EMI generation as occurs in all
hard switching converters operating in CCM.
The results obtained with the proposed converter with
magnetic coupling and voltage multiplier are presented from
Fig. 23 to Fig. 26 operating with a resistive load equal to 100
W. Figure 23 shows the input current, the switch voltage and
current and the output voltage of the modified SEPIC
converter with magnetic coupling presented in Fig. 9. The
output voltage is equal to 300 V and the switch voltage is
close to the theoretical value (83 V).
The experimental results are similar to the theoretical
waveforms presented in Fig. 15.
The detail of the switch commutation is presented in Fig.
24. The turn on commutation loss is reduced due to the
presence of the transformer leakage inductance.
The L1 and L2 inductor current are presented in Fig. 25.
This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI
10.1109/TPEL.2013.2296053, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics

Fig.23. Input current (CH4), output voltage (CH3), switch current (CH2) and
switch voltage (CH1) of the Modified SEPIC converter with magnetic
coupling and voltage multiplier (10 A/div, 50 V/div,10 µs/div).
Fig. 24. Switch current (CH2) and switch voltage (CH1) of the Modified
SEPIC converter with magnetic coupling and voltage multiplier
(2 A/div, 50 V/div, 1 µs/div).
Fig.26. Output diode Do voltage (CH1) and current (CH2) of the Modified
SEPIC converter with magnetic coupling (2 A/div, 50 V/div, 2.5 µs/div).
The operation of the converter with magnetic coupling
with output power lower than the nominal value are
presented in Fig. 27 and Fig. 28.
Figure 27 presents the operation with input voltage equal
to 15 V and output power equal to 50 W. The ZCS turn-on
commutation is not dependent of the load and is maintained
in continuous conduction mode at light load.
The operation with an input voltage equal to 24 V and
output power equal to 50 W is presented in Fig.28. The
converter operates in discontinuous conduction mode with
these specifications.
The efficiency curves of the proposed converters
measured with the digital power meter (Yokogawa WT230)
are presented in Fig. 29. The modified SEPIC converter
without magnetic coupling (black line) presents efficiency
equal to 91.9% at the nominal power and the modified
SEPIC converter with magnetic coupling and voltage
multiplier (gray line) presents efficiency equal to 92.2% at
the nominal output power.

Fig. 25. L1 (CH3) and L2 (CH4) inductor current of the Modified SEPIC
converter with magnetic coupling (5 A/div, 10 µs/div).

The current and voltage waveform of the output diode is

shown in Fig. 26. The diode reverse recovery current is Fig.27. Input current (CH3), output voltage (CH2), switch current (CH4)
and switch voltage (CH1) of the Modified SEPIC converter with magnetic
reduced by the presence of the leakage inductance. The coupling and voltage multiplier operating with Vi=15 V and Po=50 W (5
output diode voltage ring is eliminated and the EMI A/div, 50 V/div, 5 µs/div).
generation is reduced due to the presence of the clamp circuit .
in the secondary side composed by DM2 and CS2. The output
diode voltage is close to 215 V as calculated by (21).

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This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI
10.1109/TPEL.2013.2296053, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics
Fig.28. Input current (CH3), output voltage (CH2), switch current (CH4) and
switch voltage (CH1) of the Modified SEPIC converter with magnetic
coupling and voltage multiplier operating with Vi=24 V and Po=50 W
(5 A/div, 50 V/div, 5 µs/div).
Fig. 29. Efficiency curve of the proposed converters as a function of the
output power.
The presence of the transformer leakage inductance
reduces the turn-on commutation loss and reduces the
negative effects of the diode reverse recovery current,
increasing the efficiency of the prototype with magnetic
coupling. The proposed converter without magnetic coupling
operates with hard-switching and presents the negative
effects of the diode reverse recovery current. However, the
efficiency obtained with both topologies is adequate for
many applications with a high static gain.
The experimental curve of the efficiency shows that the
high efficiency of the converter is maintained at light load
and the conduction losses are predominant reducing the
efficiency with the increment of the output power. The
operation with high efficiency at light load is important in a
photovoltaic application for example, because the most part
of the time, the power generated will be lower than the
maximum PV module power.
V. CONCLUSION
Two new topologies of non isolated high static gain
converters are presented in this paper. The first topology
without magnetic coupling can operate with a static gain
higher than 10 with a reduced switch voltage. The structure
with magnetic coupling can operate with static gain higher
than 20 maintaining low the switch voltage. The efficiency of
proposed converter without magnetic coupling is equal to
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91.9% operating with input voltage equal to 15 V, output
voltage equal 150 V and output power equal 100 W.
The efficiency of proposed converter with magnetic
coupling is equal to 92.2% operating with input voltage equal
to 15 V, output voltage equal 300 V and output power equal
100 W. The commutation losses of the proposed converter
with magnetic coupling are reduced due to the presence of
the transformer leakage inductance and the secondary
voltage multiplier that operates as a non dissipative clamping
circuit to the output diode voltage.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors would like to thank the Fundação Araucária and
Paraná State Government for financial support.
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