Efficiency Analysis and Comparative Study of Hard
and Soft Switching DC-DC Converters in a Wind
Farm
Aditya Jayam Prabhakar, Joshua David Bollinger, Hong Tao Ma, Mehdi Ferdowsi, and Keith Corzine
Power Electronics and Motor Drives Laboratory
Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO 65409
Email: ajkdb@mst.edu, jdbwc6@mst.edu, thmwt6@mst.edu, ferdowsi@mst.edu, corzinek@mst.edu
Abstract—This paper focuses on efficiency analysis and
comparative study of hard- and soft-switching dc-dc boost
converters in wind farms. The efficiency of an ac or a dc-based
wind farm is dependent on the efficiency of its key components
such as dc-dc converters. The demand for dc-dc converters
depends on how voltage fluctuations are adjusted. This paper
analyzes the efficiency of the switching method used in dc-dc
converters. The switching and conduction losses of all the
components of the dc-dc converters are modeled and the
efficiency is calculated accurately. The power rating vs.
efficiency of the dc-dc converters is also considered. The
efficiency of the converter in soft switching mode is greater than
in hard switching mode. The efficient operation of the converter
at a given power rating is shown graphically.
Index Terms—Boost converter; Hard switching; Soft
switching; Wind farm; Zero voltage switching
I. INTRODUCTION
In recent years, more focus has been placed on renewable
energy sources as there is a steady increase in power demand
and the depleting conventional energy sources are not able to
meet this demand effectively. The ongoing research in the
area of wind power is also focused on improving the
efficiency of the generating equipment. Wind turbines are
doubly fed induction generators, directly driven synchronous
generators, or converter based. In the latter which is the
focus of this paper, a dc-dc converter connects the dc wind
farm collector bus to the grid. By modulating the duty cycle
of the dc-dc converter, the variable output at the collector bus
is controlled before being connected to the grid. In a direct
drive wind synchronous generator, the generator is
completely decoupled from the grid by the converters.
Low cost, highly reliable, and efficient converters are now
available for wind turbine applications with the recent
advancements in power electronics. The quality of operation
of wind plants and improved efficiency can be obtained by
using advanced power converters. Any wind farm in
particular has a number of wind turbines (WTs), a local wind
turbine grid, collecting point, transmission system, and
finally the wind farm interface to the point of common
connection (PCC). Dc-dc wind farms are considered here and
there are three different layouts (vis-à-vis ac-ac, ac-dc, and
dc-dc) that are investigated as presented in [1].
The application of dc-dc converters in a wind farm is
increasing with the advancements in power electronic
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converters. Converters are regulated to provide a constant
output voltage even when the input varies continuously over
a known range. Hard or soft switching techniques are
employed in these converters. Large offshore dc wind farms
provide efficient utilization of wind power. The distance from
the wind farm to the PCC is long and hence high voltage DC
(HVDC) transmission is an attractive alternative to ac
transmission systems. There are generally three different
ways to realize a dc-dc converter, namely full bridge
converter, single active bridge converter and series parallel
resonant converter. The advantages and disadvantages of
these three converter topologies are compared in [2]. The use
of soft switching techniques has demonstrated certain
advantages such as 100% power device utilization, enhanced
robustness, allows for high switching frequencies and gives
higher efficiencies [3].
The efficiency of a dc-dc converter is very important
because it is the interface between the grid and the generating
system and thus has a direct effect on the overall efficiency of
the system. For larger wind farm connections there are two
dc-dc conversion steps to increase the dc voltage from the
wind turbines to the transmission voltage level. The
considered wind farm discussed in this paper is a small dc-dc
layout used in offshore wind farm interconnections. The
voltage level of offshore wind parks is 60-110 kV and for the
onshore wind parks is 10-60 kV. As the future wind parks
would be of much higher rating, the required dc-dc
converters should be much larger than the existing dc-dc
converters. The paper will investigate different techniques
namely, soft switching and hard switching techniques in
order to find the most suitable topology. The paper also
evaluates both techniques with respect to efficiency and
dynamic behavior. Different techniques are simulated and the
efficiency of the dc-dc converters is evaluated with respect to
the power ratings of the machine.
The dc-dc converters used in wind power applications are
much different from conventional ones as the input voltage
varies over a wide range with varying wind speed. The total
power at the collector bus equals the difference between the
total power produced by the wind turbines and the total
power losses. The total efficiency of the wind farm connected
to the grid system is the product of the individual efficiencies
of the components connected in between the production unit
and the grid. Hence, the efficiency of each component in the
system plays a very important role and this paper focuses on
the total losses (conduction and switching losses) in a dc-dc

boost converter. Finally, the point of efficient operation of the TABLE I
BOOST CONVERTER PARAMETERS
boost converter is determined graphically.
Vin=126V~154V dc dc input voltage range

II. BOOST CONVERTER Vdc=360V dc dc output voltage

This paper analyzes two switching techniques, namely
hard switching and soft switching techniques. Both
techniques are evaluated to determine the power losses and
efficiency of operation of the converter and then propose the
best switching technique. An equivalent circuit of the boost
converter is shown in Fig. 1.
L technique employed is the “Zero Voltage Switching” (ZVS).
s D
C transformer as a resonant circuit. Switching the transistor ON
Vin
Fig. 1. Boost Converter
Boost Converter Component Selection:
The value of the duty ratio is calculated using (1).
V
V = in
dc 1− D
The values for the capacitance and inductance used for the
simulations are calculated using (2) and (3).
D(1 − D)2 R
Lmin =
2 fs
D The efficiency of the dc-dc converter is calculated by
C>
ΔV
Rf s ( o )
Vo
The converter used for calculations must be able to supply
a dc output voltage Vdc=360 V and the input voltage
Vin=140V±10% (assumed 10% voltage variation with the
variable outputs produced by the WT’s due to varying wind
patterns). In Table I a summary of data specifications for this
boost converter is presented.
The output voltage is to be maintained within an acceptable
range if the output of the boost converter has to be connected
to a dc grid or to a dc-ac converter and then to the grid, and
hence there has to be some method to control the duty cycle.
The boost converter considered in the paper is assumed to be
operating in continuous mode. Hard switching and soft
switching are the two basic methods to control the duty cycle
of any switching component. The hard switching method uses
a fixed duty cycle operation and hence the output is
influenced with the variations in the input.
In the actual switching period in the case of hard
switching, there is a finite period during which the switch
conducts as the voltage drops to zero as the current begins to
flow. There exists a voltage across the switch and current
flows during the switch turn OFF (or ON) cycle, hence there
is a power loss (which is dissipated within the device) during
this period, known as the Switching Loss.
Po=1.5kW to 15kW output power range
fs=75kHz switching frequency
On the other hand, soft switching reduces the power lost
during switching interval and also eliminates much of the
electromagnetic noise. The most common soft switching
This method uses the parasitic output capacitance of the
power transistors and the leakage inductance of the power
Vdc or OFF occurs only when the voltage differential become
zero while the current flows through the switch. This
effectively eliminates the switching power losses in the
switch due to the smooth resonant transition. The soft
switching achieves greater efficiency and also higher
immunity to the effects of other equipment operating in the
near vicinity.
(1)
III. HARD SWITCHING BOOST CONVERTER
The Matlab/Simulink diagram of the hard switching boost
converter is as shown in Fig. 2. Duty ratio (D) is assumed to
be fixed to be 61.11% in this case. This value of D is fixed
(2) for a particular value of the input voltage level and the output
calculations are based on this duty cycle ratio.
(3) finding the total losses and hence determining the output
power. Conduction losses and switching losses are the losses
considered for loss calculations. These losses are determined
using the simulations, for various power ratings. Table II
shows the values of the leakage resistances for the inductor,
capacitor and the diode. The internal resistance of the switch
is considered to be 0.063 Ω. Conduction losses or I2R losses
and the switching losses are calculated to determine the total
losses. The switching losses are calculated using (4) [5].
1
Pswitching _ losses = *Vdc * I * f s * (tr * t f ) (4)
2
TABLE II
HARD SWITCHING BOOST CONVERTER PARAMETERS
Diode Inductor Capacitor
L C
Vdc resistance resistance
10µH 105µF 0.7 V 380 µΩ 0.0001 Ω
The inductor and capacitor are considered to be non-ideal,
having small internal resistances. The values of these
resistances are presented in Table II.
The switching frequency (fs) considered is 75 kHz and the
rise time and fall time are considered to be 0.6µs (much
higher than the practical case to allow for a safe margin).

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 Fig. 2. MATLAB/Simulink model of a hard switching boost converter

Fig. 4. Switching losses versus efficiency for a hard-switched converter

Input voltage versus total losses for a hard switched converter

4500
P1
4000 P2
P3

Total losses in a hard switched converter

P4
3500 P5

3000

2500

2000

1500

1000

500

0
Fig. 3. Output power versus efficiency for a hard-switched converter 126 133 140
Input voltage (Volts)
147 154

Fig. 3 shows the variation between the efficiency and the Fig. 5. Input voltage versus total losses for a hard-switched converter
output power for different input voltages. It is observed that
for a particular level of input voltage, there is a fixed point
corresponding to the maximum efficiency for the dc-dc
converter. This point moves as the value of the input voltage
increases. This shows that if the converter is operated either
below or above the rated voltage and rated output power the
overall efficiency of the converter decreases.
Fig. 4 shows the graph between the switching losses and
efficiency for different input voltages. The wave shapes
obtained for the variation of efficiency with respect to both
the output power and switching losses are similar. The
efficient operation of the dc-dc converter is in the region of
maximum efficiency where the switching losses are found to
be minimal. Fig. 5 is a bar graph showing the total losses
versus input voltages for different loads. The total losses are
less for voltages at and above the rated voltage and the losses Fig. 6. 3-D plot showing the output power, switching losses vs. efficiency
increase two fold for voltages below the rated value. The first
bar corresponding to 120V is for a power level of 21 kW
which increases with the increasing input voltage. The actual The hard switching model is simulated in
ratings of the converter are calculated at 140 V which MATLAB/Simulink as shown. The total conduction losses
correspond to 25 kW, 16 kW, 13 kW, 9 kW and 8 kW are proportional to the switch resistance and inversely
respectively. The converter size varies in order to maintain proportional to the power rating of the system. The total
current constant in the simulations. switching losses are directly proportional to the switch
Fig. 6 shows a 3D plot for the output power, switching capacitance and directly proportional to the power rating of
losses and the efficiency. It is observed that the efficiency of the system.
the converter is the highest at its rated input voltage value.

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 IV. SOFT SWITCHING BOOST CONVERTER
There are basically two types of soft switching techniques,
namely, Zero Voltage Switching (ZVS) and Zero Current
Switching (ZCS). Soft switching can mitigate some part of
switching loss and reduce the generation of EMI. In ZVS the
switch turn-on transition occurs at time when the voltage is
equal to zero. Diodes may also operate with zero voltage
switching. ZVS is mostly preferred in modern converters and
the ZVS technique is chosen herein. A circuit diagram of a
boost converter using ZVS topology is shown in Fig. 7.

Fig. 9. Output power versus efficiency for a soft-switched converter

Input voltage versus switching losses for a soft switched converter

250
P1
P2
P3
200 P4
P5

Switching losses (Watts)

150
Fig. 7. Circuit diagram of a boost converter using ZVS topology

100

50

0
133 140 147
Input voltage (Volts)

Fig. 10. Input voltage versus switching losses for a soft switched converter

Fig. 8. MATLAB/Simulink of a soft switching boost converter

Input voltage versus total losses in a soft switched converter
3000
P1
Fig. 8 shows the MATLAB/Simulink diagram of the soft P2

switching boost converter. The same simulation parameters

P3
2500
P4

(as mentioned in Table II) are used for analysis of both hard P5

and soft switching converters. The loss calculations are done 2000
Total losses (Watts)

in the same way as performed in the case of hard switching.

The switching losses, total losses and efficiency calculations 1500

are performed.
Fig. 9 shows a graph between the output power and 1000

efficiency. It can be observed that the efficiency of high

power rated machines are high and that the efficiency has a 500

negative slope. The operation of the dc-dc converter either at

or above the rated voltage gives higher efficiencies than if it 0
133 140
Input voltage (Volts)
147

were operated below its rated voltage level. Fig.10 shows the
bar graph between input voltage and switching losses in a
soft switched converter. It is observed from the bar chart that
switching losses are relatively constant for a particular output
power. For low power output machines the switching losses
are relatively low and switching loss in the ZVS mode are
very low when compared to that in the hard switching mode.
Fig. 11 shows the bar graph between input voltage and
total losses. The total losses are lower for low rated machines
which increase with the power rating. The losses are
relatively constant for varied range of voltages for low rated
converters but do increase with rating and voltage levels.
Fig. 11. Input voltage versus total losses in a soft-switched converter
V. COMPARISON OF TWO TECHNIQUES
The efficiency of the dc-dc boost converter using soft
switching is higher than the converter using hard switching.
Fig. 12 shows the graph between input voltage and efficiency
of a converter under hard switching and soft switching
conditions. The efficiency of the dc-dc converter improves
when soft switching technique is employed and this has been
substantiated by the simulation results. Switching losses are

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drastically reduced in the case of ZVS soft switching as
shown in Fig. 13. Fig. 13 shows the variation of switching
losses with respect to input voltage. The switching loss for
both hard switching and soft switching mode are shown in
the graph. It is clearly observed that the efficiency of a dc-dc
converter is improved in the case of soft switching dc-dc
converter.
Fig. 12. Input voltage versus efficiency comparisons
Fig. 13. Input voltage versus switching loss comparisons
VI. CONCLUSIONS
With the present dc-dc converter topology for the directly
driven wind turbine, the conduction loss and switching loss
are comparable and hence the efficiency of the system falls.
With the simulation results, it can be concluded that soft
switch application in variable wind turbine, both conduction
loss and switching loss are significantly reduced. The voltage
stress on a switch in the case of soft switching is less when
compared to the stress in case of hard switching. Thus, our
basic objective of showing efficiency improvement in case of
soft switching mode for a dc-dc converter is presented in the
paper.
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