Dual switch ultra-high gain DC–DC converter with low voltage stress

Abstract

DC microgrids have gained prominence by successfully incorporating renewable energy sources like photovoltaics, fuel cells, etc. through power electronic interfaces. To incorporate renewable energy sources to the DC microgrid, the utilization of DC–DC converters becomes necessary. This requirement arises from the lower voltage levels associated with these energy sources. This paper introduces a new dual switch, ultra-high gain, non-isolated dc–dc converter with low voltage stress. A modified switched inductor(SI) cell is combined with a switched capacitor(SC) cell to obtain a significant gain in voltage for this proposed converter. A second switch is incorporated in lieu of the diode of the SI cell to reduce the voltage stress on the active switches to less than 25% of the output voltage. The reduced voltage stress further contributes to enhancing efficiency while lowering the rating and cost of the components. The experimental findings from a prototype converter rated at 380[V] and 200[W] corroborate the credibility of the proposed methodology. The results also show that the converter has a full-load efficiency of 95.53% and uses its components better.