International Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics

Volume 118 No. 24 2018

ISSN: 1314-3395 (on-line version)
url: http://www.acadpubl.eu/hub/
Special Issue
http://www.acadpubl.eu/hub/

Performance Evaluation of Interleaved

Boost Converter Topologies for
Photovoltaic Applications
Shri Soundharya J, Sowmiya A,
Subhitcha R, Dr. R. Seyezhai
UG Student, Associate Professor
Dept. Of EEE
SSN College of Engineering
Chennai, India

May 11, 2018

Abstract
Renewable energy conversion systems are gaining more
attention in recent years. The rapid rise of power genera-
tion using renewable energy sources forces to implement a
power converter with higher conversion efficiency. To ensure
this, DC-DC boost converters are employed to obtain the
required boosted voltage level. But this topology results
in higher ripple which is unfavorable for PV applications.
Hence, this paper evaluates three different topologies of In-
terleaved Boost Converter which is the parallel connection
of boost converters. The topologies analyzed are uncoupled,
coupled IBC configuration and IBC with voltage doubler
circuit. These converters are designed, simulated, and ana-
lyzed their performance has been evaluated based on various
parameters. From the results, it is observed that IBC with
doubler circuit proves to be the best. The circuit configu-
rations of the various converter topologies are simulated in
PSIM. The results are verified and validated.
Key Words:Interleaved Boost Converter (IBC); cou-
pled inductor; ripple; efficiency; gain.

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1 Introduction
Extraction of energy from renewable resources is being widely pre-
ferred because of the various advantages offered like being pollu-
tion free, less maintenance requirement, etc. Among various green
energy sources, solar energy have the potential to become a ma-
jor contributor to the future electricity supply across the globe
[1].Photovoltaic (PV) power systems have found numerous appli-
cations, ranging from small, standalone systems to utility-scale,
grid-connected power plant. To maximize the productivity and to
achieve high conversion efficiency, DC-to-DC step up (or) Boost
converters are being used to improve the voltage level required for
the considered application.
The conventional boost converters were widely being used for
several applications, but that too suffers from various drawbacks
[2]. The gain achieved by the conventional boost converters are
limited by the parasitic elements of the components and losses in
the system. These limitations are overcome by recent development
in the converter topologies.
One of the advanced topologies is the Interleaved Boost Con-
verter (IBC). These converters are found to have reduced current
ripple, voltage ripple and increased efficiency. Although the con-
ventional interleaved configuration reduces the input current ripple
significantly, gain attainable is limited. This limitation can be ad-
dressed by including coupled inductors into the existing topology.
The output voltage obtained can be further increased by incorpo-
rating voltage doubler circuit to the existing topology[3].
Thus, the main objective of the paper is to design and simu-
late the above-mentioned converters and analyze their performance.
The parameters accounted for the comparison of the above-mentioned
topologies are: output voltage ripple, input current ripple, gain and
efficiency.

2 ANALYSIS OF INTERLEAVED BOOST

DC-DC CONVERTER TOPOLOGIES
A. Interleaved boost converter (IBC)
Interleaving, also called multi-phasing is a technique in which

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the converters are connected in parallel. In interleaved boost con-

verters, the number of phases has a significant impact on the current
ripple. Though ripple content reduces with increase in the number
of phases, the power circuit, on the other hand, becomes complex.
In this paper, a two-phase IBC (two converters in parallel) is chosen
for analysis. The interleaved boost converter has the advantages of
reduced input current ripple, voltage ripple and improved efficiency.
This is due to the fact that in a two-phase converter, there are two
output stages that are driven 180 degrees out of phase. By splitting
the current into two parallel paths, conduction (I2R) losses can be
reduced, leading to improved efficiency compared to a single-phase
converter [4]. Employing coupled inductors in this topology adds
to the advantage of the input current-ripple cancellation from mag-
netic coupling between the phases.
1) Uncoupled IBC
This converter has uncoupled inductors in the two phases of the
IBC. The circuit of this IBC is shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1. Uncoupled Interleaved Boost Converter

2) Coupled IBC
The coupled IBC can be either directly or inversely coupled.
The main difference between direct and inverse coupling is the
winding orientation between the primary and secondary sides of
the coupled inductor. The turns ratio of the coupled inductor can
also be changed according to the requirement. Fig. 2. shows the
circuit of IBC with coupled inductors.

Fig. 2. Coupled Interleaved Boost Converter

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3 DESIGN EQUATIONS
Design of converters plays a major role in reducing the output volt-
age ripple and input current ripple. As these converters include
energy storage components, which release their energy to the load
terminals, they must be chosen with proper attention. This section
involves the necessary design equations [5] for the above-mentioned
topologies.
A. Voltage gain
The output voltage of the boost converter is a function of the
duty ratio D, which is given by:
Vout
=1−D (1)
Vin
B. Selection of inductors
The equations for designing inductors for all the three types of
IBC are mentioned below.
1) Uncoupled inductor
Vin D
L= (2)
fs ∆I
Where Vin , D, fs and ∆I represent input voltage, duty ratio,
switching frequency and input current ripple respectively..
2) Directly coupled inductor
The value of equivalent inductance, Leq is given by:
Vin D
Leq = (3)
fs ∆I
The minimum value of self- inductance is given by:
D
1 + α 1−D
L= Leq (4)
1 + α − 2α2
The value of mutual inductance is given by:

Lm = αL (5)
Where represents the coupling coefficient.
3) Inversely coupled inductor

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The value of equivalent inductance remains the same as shown

in (4). The value of mutual inductance is

Lm = −αL (6)

C. Selection of capacitors
The value of capacitance which acts as a filter at the output end
can be realized by the following equation:
V0 D
C= (7)
fs ∆V

Equations (3) and (7) are used for the design of the conventional
boost converter.

4 SIMULATION PARAMETERS
Table I. provides the simulation parameters for Interleaved Boost
Converters.

TABLE I. SIMULATION PARAMETERS FOR INTERLEAVED

BOOST CONVERTERS

Figure 1 Subdivision of System Reliability

5 SIMULATION RESULTS
The simulation was carried in PSIM software with the parameters
as shown in Table I. The output voltage and the input current
waveforms of IBC are shown in Figs. 3&4 respectively.

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Fig.3. Output voltage waveform of Interleaved Boost Converter

Fig.4. Input current waveform of Interleaved Boost Converter

It can be seen that Interleaving of boost converters reduces rip-

ple significantly.
Fig.5. shows the input current ripple variation with duty ratios
for the discussed topologies.

Fig.5. Input current ripple comparison

Fig.6. represents the voltage ripple obtained for different duty

ratios.

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Fig.6. Output voltage ripple comparison

It is evident from Fig.5. and Fig.6. that directly coupled IBC
has reduced ripple among the converter configurations.

6 HIGH GAIN INTERLEAVED BOOST

CONVERTER WITH VOLTAGE DOU-
BLER
The converter in Fig.7. shows the conventional IBC configuration
incorporated with series voltage doublermodule.. Both the modules
are coupled magnetically. The voltage doubler modules, in series
connection, get charged by the secondary side of the coupled in-
ductor together in an interleaved fashion and the primary sides of
the coupled inductors charge the output capacitors [6]. This leads
to higher gain with reduced ripple. The turns ratio of the coupled
inductor can also be varied suitably so as to facilitate its operation
even in lower duty ratios. The no. of components used are less
when compared to the basic Cockroft- Walton voltage multiplier
circuit[7]. This type of connection reduces the stress across the
switches and also improves the overall efficiency.

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Fig. 7. Circuit Diagram of High Gain Interleaved Boost Converter

with

Coupled Inductors

7 DESIGN EQUATIONS
A. Selection of Inductors
The design equations of the self-inductance of the coupled induc-
tor are same as in (4). To maintain the operation of the converter
in the continuous conduction mode, self-inductance values are in-
creased by 1.2 and 1.5 times of the computed value. The design
equation for mutual inductance is same as shown in (5).
B. Selection of Voltage Doubler Capacitors
The design value of the capacitors used in doubler can be real-
ized by calculating the current flowing through it.
1 ∆iL
If,high = (iL(avg) + ) (8)
4 2

1 ∆iL
If,low = (iL(avg) − ) (9)
4 2
(If,high + If,low ).(1 − D)
C= (10)
2fs ∆Vc
C. Selection of Output Capacitors
The design equation for the output capacitors remains the same
as (7).

8 SIMULATION PARAMETERS
Table II. gives the simulation parameters for the high gain IBC
with voltage doubler module.

TABLE II. SIMULATION PARAMETERS FOR IBC WITH

VOLTAGE DOUBLER

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Figure 1 Subdivision of System Reliability

The converter was simulated with the above mentioned param-
eters and the output voltage obtained is shown in Fig.8.

Fig. 8. Output voltage waveform of High Gain Interleaved Boost

Converter with coupled inductors

9 PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS
The performance parameters taken for analysis and comparison of
the directly coupled and voltage doubler IBC are : input current
ripple, output voltage ripple, voltage gain , and efficiency.The ripple
in general which is due to low frequency component is computed
using (11).
The voltage gain is given by (12).
M ax.value − M in.V alue
Ripple(%) = ∗ 100 (11)
Avg.V alue
The efficiency of a converter can be realised from (13).
outputvoltage
V oltagegain = (12)
inputvoltage
The losses can be given as the sum of conduction loss, switching
loss of the MOSFET switches and the diode losses [8].
outputpower
Ef f iciency = (13)
outputpower + Losses

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The conduction loss of the switch can be realized using (15).

Pc = D ∗ RDS(on) ∗ Id2 (14)

Where Id is the RMS value of the drain current, RDS (on) is

the on-state drain resistance of the MOSFET and D is the duty
ratio.
The switching losses of the MOSFET are obtained by utilizing
the thermal module of PSIM software. Various quantities required
for computation were taken from the datasheet of IRF460N.
The diode losses can be realized by using (16) to (18).
2
Pdiodeloss = Idrain ∗ RDS(on) (15)

√
di , D p
IDrain = √ ∗ (D ∗ (Imax − ∆i )2 ) (16)
3
2 ∗ Iout + ∆i (1 − D)
Imax = (17)
2(1 − D)

10 COMPARISON OF PERFORMANCE
PARAMETERS
Fig.9. shows the comparison between current ripple of the directly
coupled IBC and IBC with voltage- doubler for different duty ratios.

Fig.9. Input current ripple comparison

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Fig.10. shows the variation of voltage ripple of the directly

coupled IBC and IBC with voltage Doubler.

Fig.10. Output Voltage ripple comparison

Fig.11. shows the gain comparison between Directly coupled

IBC and IBC with voltage doubler for different duty ratios.

Fig. 11. Gain comparison

From the Figs. 9to 11, it is observed that IBC with voltage
doubler provides better performance with higher gain than the con-
ventional two-phase IBC.
Table III. gives the comparison of the considered various per-
formance parameters for the

TABLE III. COMPARISON OF PERFORMANCE

PARAMETERS

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It can be seen from Table III that IBC with voltage doubler has
reduced voltage and current ripple, along with improved gain and
efficiency when compared with conventional IBC.

11 CONCLUSION
This article had presented the various configurations of interleaved
boost converters. The components were designed, simulated and
evaluated in terms of several performance metrics. Based on this
analysis, direct coupling was found to have better characteristics
and thus, it was employed in the high gain interleaved boost con-
verter with voltage doubler module. The IBC topology with voltage
doubler circuit resulted in higher gain, reduced input current ripple,
reduced output voltage ripple and improved efficiency compared to
the boost, uncoupled and coupled IBC. Hence, the proposed con-
verter can be used as a front end converter for grid connected PV
applications[9] [10].

12 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We would like to thank our project guide, Dr. R. Seyezhai for
her immense support and motivation. We are also grateful to the
management of SSN College of Engineering for funding our project.

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