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Vol.04,Issue.39,
September-2015,
Pages:8521-8528
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Soft-Switching Current-Fed Push–Pull Converter for 250-W AC

Module Applications
S. NITESH KUMAR1, DINESH KUMAR2
1
PG Scholar Dept of EEE, Azad College of Engineering & Technology, Ranga Reddy, Telangana, India,
E-mail: niteshkumar783@gmail.com.
2
Professor, Dept of EEE, Azad College of Engineering & Technology, Ranga Reddy, Telangana, India.

Abstract: In this paper, a soft-switching single-inductor push– pull converter is proposed. A push–pull converter is suitable for
low-voltage photovoltaic ac module systems, because the step-up ratio of the high-frequency transformer is high, and the number
of primary-side switches is relatively small. However, the conventional push–pull converter does not have high efficiency
because of high-switching losses due to hard switching and transformer losses (copper and iron losses) as a result of the high turn
ratio of the transformer. In the proposed converter, primary-side switches are turned ON at the zero-voltage switching condition
and turned OFF at the zero-current switching condition through parallel resonance between the secondary leakage inductance of
the transformer and a resonant capacitor. The proposed push–pull converter decreases the switching loss using soft switching of
the primary switches. In addition, the turn ratio of the transformer can be reduced by half using a voltage-doubler of secondary
side. The theoretical analysis of the proposed converter is verified by simulation and experimental results.

Keywords: Current-Fed Push–Pull Converter, Photovoltaic (PV) AC Module, Soft-Switching.

I. INTRODUCTION proposed soft-switching current-fed push–pull converter is

Due to the serious problems of environmental pollution presented in Section III. Simulation results are illustrated in
and fossil fuel exhaustion, photovoltaic (PV) energy has Section IV, and the experimental results are presented in
received great attention as a source of renewable energy. Section V. Conclusions are given in Section VI.
Many kinds of inverter circuits and corresponding control
methods for PV generation systems have been widely studied II. CONVENTIONAL PUSH–PULL CONVERTER
[1]–[4]. In the past, PV generation systems based on The push–pull converter is utilized in PV ac module
centralized inverters were mainly utilized, interfacing a large systems because of the advantages of fewer components,
number of PV modules to the grid. The PV modules are simplicity, and isolation between the PV modules and the ac
divided into series or parallel connections through string grid line [9]– [14].
diodes for high power generation. These systems have severe
limitations, such as the use of high voltage dc cables between TABLE I: Comparison Of The Conventional Push–Pull
the PV modules and the inverter, mismatch loss between PV Converter And The Proposed Push–Pull Converter
modules, losses in the string diodes, and nonflexible design
because of mass production. String-type inverters using PV
modules in series can be used to address these issues. There
are no losses associated with string diodes, and separate
maximum power point tracking (MPPT) can be applied to
each string [5]. These increase the overall efficiency
compared to the centralized inverter. However, ac-module-
type inverters integrated into each PV module have received
attention recently [6], [7]. This type removes the mismatch
between PV modules with individual MPPTs. Each output In the primary side of the transformer of the conventional
terminal of an individual ac module inverter is connected to push–pull converter, a voltage-fed source is used. But this is
the ac grid. Thus, only ac cable wiring is needed, which not suitable for ac module systems, which should have high
simplifies the installation. Extension of the system is easy step-up ratio due to the low input voltage and the high output
due to the modular structure, and plug-and-play devices make voltage. Therefore, the push–pull converter is used with a
installations easy [8]. This paper is organized as follows. The current source, which can decrease the turn ratio of the
characteristics of the conventional push–pull converter are transformer. Since the primary voltage of the transformer is
reviewed in Section II. Modeling and implementation of the

Copyright @ 2015 IJSETR. All rights reserved.

 S. NITESH KUMAR, DINESH KUMAR
larger than the source voltage input by a boost inductor, the voltage-doubler voltage (Vo1, Vo2 ) is half of the output
copper loss and leakage of transformer elements can be voltage Vo . The secondary-side voltage vT 3 of transformer
reduced. Moreover, the converter needs only a small is
decoupling capacitor of about 10–20 μFat the output of the
dc–dc converter. The dc link voltage and output current are (1)
controlled at the pulse width modulation (PWM) inverter of where vLk is the voltage of leakage inductance in the
the two-stage configuration. Thus, the voltage ripple of the secondary transformer and vCr is the voltage of resonant
capacitor can be slightly influenced by voltage ripple with the capacitor.
frequency of the ac grid. The current-fed converter is more
appropriate for renewable energy systems than the voltage-
fed converter. In the secondary side of the transformer, the
conventional push–pull converter is designed using center-
tap or full-bridge types. In the center-tap type, the voltage
stress across diodes is higher than the voltage stress across
diodes in the full-bridge type. Therefore, the center-tap type
is not suitable for a topology with a high secondary voltage
of the transformer. In the full bridge type, the voltage stress
of the diodes can be reduced because four diodes are used.
Thus, the full-bridge type is more appropriate for grid-
connected PV ac modules.

III. PROPOSED PUSH–PULL CONVERTER

A. Characteristics of the Proposed Converter
Table I shows the comparison of the conventional push–
pull converter and the proposed push–pull converter. The
Fig.2. Main circuit of the proposed push–pull converter.
conventional push–pull converter also has switching losses
due to hard switching. Transformer losses also occur due to
high step-up ratio to connect the low voltage of the PV
module to the high voltage of the ac grid line. The main
circuit of the conventional push–pull converter is presented
in Fig. 1. The main circuit of the proposed push–pull
converter is shown in Fig. 2. The circuit is composed of
primary switching devices (S1, S2 ), a boost inductor Lbst , a
voltage-doubler, and an LC resonant tank. The proposed
converter utilizes the soft switching technique using a
parallel LC resonance [15]–[17].

Fig. 3. Key waveforms of the proposed converter.

Fig.1. Main circuit of the conventional push–pull The primary-side voltage vT1 of transformer can be expressed
converter. as
The switching losses can be reduced with the soft switching
when the primary switches are turned ON and OFF. The
diodes (D1,D2 ) of the voltage-doubler become off-state at (2)
the zero current switching (ZCS) condition. The transformer where n is the transformer turn ratio. he voltage of Lbst is
losses are reduced, because the boost inductor and the presented by
voltage-doubler decrease the turn ratio of the transformer.
The primary-side voltage (vT 1, vT 2 ) of the transformer is
(3)
the sum of the input voltage vin and Lbst voltage vLbst. The
International Journal of Scientific Engineering and Technology Research
Volume.04, IssueNo.39, September-2015, Pages: 8521--8528
 Soft-Switching Current-Fed Push–Pull Converter for 250-W AC Module Applications
For soft switching and MPPT, both the duty ratio D and during one switching period. The converter operation is
switching frequency fsw should be controlled at the same repetitive in the switching cycle. One complete switching
time. cycle is divided into ten modes. The operation modes of the
proposed converter with current flows are shown in Fig. 4.
B. Operation of the Proposed Converter The current flows have five repetitive modes operating in the
Fig. 3 shows key waveforms of the proposed converter. opposite direction every switching period [7]–[9].
The interval t0−t10 describes the various stages of operation

Fig. 4. Operation modes of the proposed converter with current flow.

Mode 1 [t0 –t1]: Current flows through S1 . The flow of the

resonant current at the resonant tank is reversed. iLk decreases
linearly. The current of Lbst is (5)
The voltage of Cr is presented by

(4)
where Io is the current of Lbst in t0 time and I1 is the current
of Lbst in t1 time. The current of Lk can be expressed as (6)

International Journal of Scientific Engineering and Technology Research

Volume.04, IssueNo.39, September-2015, Pages: 8521-8528
 S. NITESH KUMAR, DINESH KUMAR
As a result, iS1 increases operating ZCS at turn-on and iS2 completely. At this time, power is transferred to the output
decreases shaping a resonant curve. The flux already formed through the diodes of the voltage-doubler. The current of Lbst
in the core of the transformer by S2 is offset by the reverse is
flux by the turned-on S1. Magnetic energy cannot be
transferred to the secondary side of the transformer. As the
leakage current is decreased, it outputs to D1 and becomes (15)
zero. The diode is turned OFF operating ZCS without reverse
where I4 is the current of Lbst in t4 time. The current of Lk can
recovery loss.
be expressed as
Mode 2 [t1 –t2 ]: iS1 increases and iS2 decreases shaping
resonant curves. The current of the resonant tank becomes
negative. This mode is finished when iS2 reaches zero. The (16)
current of Lbst is
where Ir4 is the current of Lk in t4 time.

(7) The voltage of Cr is presented by

where I2 is the current of Lbst in t2 time. The current of Lk can
be expressed as
(17)

(8) KL is given as follows:

where Ir2 is the current of Lk in t2 time. In (8), Zr is given by

(18)

(9) where LM is the magnetizing inductance in the secondary-

In (8), ωr is presented by side transformer. The voltage of Lk is presented by

(10) (19)
The voltage of Cr is as follows:
Mode 5 [t4 –t5 ]: After Cr is discharged completely, iLk flows
toD2 and transfers power to the voltage-doubler. iLbst
(11) decreases linearly and the induced secondary current of the
transformer decreases slowly. This mode is ended when S2 is
where Vr2 is the voltage of Cr in t2 time. turned ON. The equations of iLbst and iLk are as follows:

Mode 3 [t2 –t3]: The negative iS2 flows through the anti- The current of Lbst is
parallel diode of S2 . In thismode,S2 is turned OFF in the
zero-voltage switching (ZVS) condition. The current of the
resonant tank is decreased to the minimum and increased (20)
again. This mode is finished when the magnetic energy in
Lbst starts to decrease and is released as current. The current where I5 is the current of Lbst in t5 time.
of Lbst is
The current of Lk can be expressed as

(12)
(21)
where I3 is the current of Lbst in t3 time. The current of Lk can
be expressed as where Ir5 is the current of Lk in t5 time.

The voltage of Cr is presented by

(13)

where Ir3 is the current of Lk in t3 time. (22)

The voltage of Cr is presented by In modes 6–10, the converter operates oppositely.

(14) Due to the voltage–second balance condition of Lbst, the

voltage transfer ratio Gv is proportional to the turn ratio. Fig.
where Vr3 is the voltage of Cr in t3 time. 5 shows the voltage–second balance condition of Lbst . Gv is
calculated as follows:
Mode 4 [t3 –t4]: As S2 is turned OFF, magnetic flux in the
core is formed. Cr is charged by the current of the
transformer. This mode is over when Cr is charged (23)
International Journal of Scientific Engineering and Technology Research
Volume.04, IssueNo.39, September-2015, Pages: 8521--8528
 Soft-Switching Current-Fed Push–Pull Converter for 250-W AC Module Applications
The voltage transfer ratio is proportional to the
transformer turn ratio and the switching period Tsw . To
maintain the output voltage Vo as the input voltage vin
changes, the switching frequency fsw should be varied. Fig. 6
presents Gv according to the transformer turn ratio n. The
resonant frequency fres is assumed to be 400 kHz. When the
transformer turn ratio is 5.5, Gv is sufficient to boost the
maximum power point voltage vmpp of 30.9 V to the output
voltage Vo of 400 V. Fig. 7 shows the voltage transfer ratio
Gv according to resonant frequency fres . At this step, the turn
ratio n is assumed to be 5.5. Gv becomes higher with lower
fres, but the losses with large leakage inductance are
increased. With high fres sufficient Gv cannot be secured. So,
400 kHz is the suitable value for fres [12], [13].

Fig.7. Voltage transfer ratio according to the resonant

frequency fres .

Fig.8. Control method for the duty ratio and switching

Fig. 5. Voltage–second balance condition of Lbst .
Fig.6. Voltage transfer ratio according to the turn ratio n.
International Journal of Scientific Engineering and Technology Research
Volume.04, IssueNo.39, September-2015, Pages: 8521-8528
frequency.
C. Switching Implementation
Fig. 8 shows a control method for the duty ratio and
switching frequency according to the variation of PV power.
For soft switching over the entire range of solar radiation,
Perturbation and Oscillation MPPT and a PI controller are
utilized. The resonant frequency is designed according to the
voltage gain Gv and transformer turn ratio n in Figs. 7 and 8.
In general, the switching frequency fsw is decided in 10–20%
of resonant frequency fres by the rule of thumb when the
resonant push–pull converter using variable frequency is
designed. The reference magnitude is determined from the
switching period Tsw and resonance period Tres. The on-time
Ton of the switch is the sum of half of Tsw and a quarter of
Tres. After half of Tsw has elapsed, since S1 is turned ON, S2
is turned ON. After a quarter of Tres has passed, since S2 is
turned ON, S1 should be turned OFF for soft switching [10],
[11]. The on-time Ton of the primary switches is given by the
following equation:
 S. NITESH KUMAR, DINESH KUMAR

(24)
TABLE II: Parameters of the Simulation and Experiment

TABLE III: PV Simulator Parameters According to the

Irradiation

Fig. 9. Control block diagram of the dc–dc converter and

dc–ac inverter using a microcontroller.

By dividing (24) into Tsw, D can be calculated as follows:

(25)
Fig.9 presents a control block diagram of the dc–dc
converter and dc–ac inverter implemented using a
microcontroller (DSP TMS320F28035). In ac modules based
on dc-link, the dc–dc converter should perform MPPT [18]–
[22]. The dc-link voltage and the grid current are controlled
by the dc–ac inverter. To output the maximum power, the
sensed vpv and ipv are controlled by MPPT. The output of the
MPPT is the PV reference switching period The output
is gained by a PI controller, and the output of the PI
controller is calculated to Ton by the reference calculator. The
calculated reference is compared with the outputs of carrier
calculator through dc–dc converter PWM signal generator.
Thus, the main switches S1 and S2 are switched using these
PWMS1, PWMS2. Also, the secondary-side dc–ac inverter is
controlled by microcontroller (DSP TMS320F28035). The
phase angle θ of grid voltage vgrid is calculated by phase-
locked loop using the sensed vgrid. The PWM reference of
dc–ac inverter is calculated by PI controller using the sin θ
and The PWM reference is compared with the
carrier. The DC–AC inverter signal generator compares the
PWM reference with carrier. The switches S3−S6 of the dc–ac
inverter are controlled by PWM signals gained through dc–ac Fig.10. (a) Carriers and a reference for PWM. (b)
inverter signal generator. Waveforms of primary switch S1. (c) Waveforms of
primary switch S2 .
International Journal of Scientific Engineering and Technology Research
Volume.04, IssueNo.39, September-2015, Pages: 8521--8528
 Soft-Switching Current-Fed Push–Pull Converter for 250-W AC Module Applications
V. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
In order to control the proposed push–pull converter, a
TMS320F28035 microcontroller is used (Texas Instruments).
The input voltage of the PV simulator is about 20–40 V.

Fig.11. (a) Boost inductor current iLbst . (b) Resonant

capacitor voltage vCr . Fig.13. Current and voltage waveforms of switch S1
according to ZVS and ZCS.

For The initial charge of the dc link capacitor, a soft starting

method is used. Lk is adjusted according to winding length of
the transformer. By regulating the space between the
primary- and secondary side wires, the secondary leakage
inductance is adjusted, and the degree of coupling is changed.
Because of the large primary current, a rectangular
compacted Litz wire is used. Fig. 13 shows experimental
waveforms of the main switch S1. When the gate signal GS1 is
applied to S1, the S1 is turned ON with ZCS and turned OFF
with ZVS. The resonant capacitor voltage vCr and boost
inductor current iLbst are shown in Fig. 14. The magnitude of
the vCr and the ripple of iLbst are confirmed. Fig. 15 shows the
efficiency of the proposed converter. The maximum
efficiency is 96.6% according to the load conditions.

Fig.12. (a) Waveforms of tracking the MPP. (b) PWM

according to MPPT. (c) Start flag of MPPT.

IV. SIMULATION RESULTS

The proposed soft-switching push–pull converter is
verified by a simulation and an experiment. The parameters
of the simulation and experiment are shown in Table II. The
simulation is performed using PSIM 9.0. Table III shows the
SC current, MPP current, OC voltage, and MPP voltage
values in response to the output from an LPC250SM solar Fig.14. Waveforms of resonant capacitor voltage and
cell module. The experiment was conducted with an Agilent boost inductor current.
E4350B Solar array simulator, the details of which are shown
in Table III. Fig. 10(a) shows the carriers and the reference
for PWM. Fig.10(b) shows the waveforms ofGS1, iS1 , and vS1
of S1. The waveforms of GS2, iS2 , and vS2 of S2 are shown in
Fig. 10(c). The turn-on and turn-off under ZCS and ZVS
conditions are, respectively, confirmed from the waveforms
of primary switches S1 and S2. The switches are turned OFF
when the current flows through the anti-parallel diode. iLbst
has a 200-mA ripple current, and vCr swings from −Vo /2 to
Vo /2, as shown in Fig. 11. Fig. 12(a) shows the tracking
operation for the maximum power point. The carriers and the
reference varied by MPPT are shown in Fig. 12(b). Higher
fsw is needed to track the maximum power point. The start
Fig. 15. Efficiency of the proposed converter.
flag of MPPT is presented in Fig. 12(c).
International Journal of Scientific Engineering and Technology Research
Volume.04, IssueNo.39, September-2015, Pages: 8521-8528
 S. NITESH KUMAR, DINESH KUMAR
VI. CONCLUSION
In this paper, the soft-switching single-inductor push–pull
converter for PV ac module applications is proposed. Soft
switching was confirmed at each part, and MPPT is
performed for extracting the maximum power from the PV
module. Switches of the primary side operate in the ZVS
condition at turn-off and in the ZCS condition at turn-on. The
proposed converter maintains a Vo of 400 V to provide ac
220 Vrms for dc–ac inverters. The maximum efficiency is
96.6%. These results were confirmed by simulation and
verified by a 250-W experimental setup.
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Author’s Profile:
Mr. S. Nitesh Kumar he is pursuing
M.Tech (Power Electronics) at AZAD
COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING &
TECHNOLOGY. Completed her B.Tech
(EEE) from Geetanjali Institute of
Technology & Sciences, Hyderabad, Telangana State, India.
Mr.Dinesh Kumar presently he is working
as Professor, Head of the Department of
EEE, in Azad College of Engineering &
Technology, Ranga Reddy. He has
completed his M.tech from JNTUH. He has
total experience of 5years.