2013 International Conference on Power, Energy and Control (ICPEC)
Non-Isolated High Gain Boost Converter for
Photovoltaic Applications
Girish Ganesan R.
M.TechStudent,Department of EEE,
VIT University, Chennai Campus,
Chennai, India. 600127.
girish.ganesan90@gmail.com
AbstractThe output voltage from renewable energy sources like
photovoltaic cell or array will be at low level.Thismust be stepped
up by an order of around 20 for practical applications or grid
connection. Series connection of arrays is not a viable solution.
Hence, high gain DC-DC converters are essential. The proposed
DC-DC converter topology is a multilevel boost converterwhich
combines the simple boost converter and switched capacitor
function to provide high voltage gain. The proposed topology uses
only one switch, one inductor, (2N-1) diodes and (2N-1)
capacitors for obtaining an output which is N times the
conventional boost converter. In this topology, each device blocks
only one voltage level.Hence, low voltage devices may be used.
The main advantages of this topology are continuous input
current, large conversion ratio without extreme duty cycle or
transformer, which allows for high switching frequency. This
circuit can be built in a modular way. The proposed converter is
simulated and the output waveforms are plotted. The
experimental setup will be taken up as future work. Further, it is
proposed to be used in conjunction with multilevel inverters to
facilitate grid connection.
Keywords- Boost converter; multilevel;photovoltaic;non-
isolated.
I. INTRODUCTION
Renewable energy sources like solar and wind based
systems are continuing to emerge as clean and viable
alternative to conventional coal based electric energy
generation. In case of a solar power system (SPS), the low
voltage obtained from the photovoltaic (PV) cell or array,
needs to be stepped up significantly in order to be used
practically either as a standalone application or as grid
connected system.Interleaved and cascaded boost converters
were conventionally used to obtain the required high voltage
gain [1]-[2].However, the inherent problems of high ripple
current and relatively higher losses prove to be an obstacle to
obtain high efficiency and high gain. In [3]-[6], transformers or
coupled inductorswith suitable turns ratio (isolated topologies)
were used to achieve the required voltage gain.As the
transformer losses are a function of switching frequency,the
maximum operating frequency is limited.This results in
increasedconvertersize besides making the converter bulky and
expensive.Further, the voltage stress across the device
increases due to high current flowing through the boost
inductor.
978-1-4673-6030-2/13/$31.00 2013 IEEE
Dr.M.Prabhakar
Associate Professor, Department of EEE,
VIT University, Chennai Campus,
Chennai, India. 600127.
prabhakar.m@vit.ac.in
Compact transformerlessconverters that can be connected
to the utility grid are required for efficient renewable energy
conversion. Coupled inductor was used in combination with
switched capacitors in [7]. Though this topology provided the
required gain, many components were used. In addition, the
design of coupled inductor is complex. In [8], coupled inductor
was used in conjunction with a voltage multiplier cell.Two
switches were used to obtain a voltage gain of about 10. The
switch stress was also high. Switched inductor and switched
capacitor based topologies were used to reduce the switch
stress in [9]. The concept of multi-level based DC-DC power
conversion proves to be a suitable non-isolated alternative
solution to obtain the required high voltage gain and high
power level[10]-[12]. The use of multi-level conversion (MLC)
requires only low voltage devices as each device blocks only
one voltage level. Further, multiple sources can also be
connected to the converter, making the converter an attractive
topology for renewable energy conversion.
In this paper, a DC-DC multi-level boost converter (MBC)
that combines the boost converter and the switched capacitor
function to provide the required output voltage at the desired
power level is proposed. The proposed topology uses only one
switch and one inductor in combination with 2N-1 diodes and
capacitors for obtaining N levels. The number of levels can be
increased by adding capacitors and diodes suitably,
therebymaking it convenient for modular implementation. The
main advantages of proposed topology are (i) transformer-less
high conversion ratio; (ii) single switch based design;(iii)
continuous input current and modularity. The detailed
operating principle along with the design details and simulation
results are presented in the subsequent sections.
II. CIRCUIT DESCRIPTION
A. Power Circuit
The power circuit diagram is depicted in Fig1. It is a
conventional boost converter (C1, D1) but employs the
switched capacitor function to achieve higher output voltage.
The circuit shows a 5-level multi-level boost converter which is
obtained by adding capacitors and diodes to the main circuit
(D2-D9, C2-C9).
277
 2013 International Conference on Power, Energy and Control (ICPEC)
Figure 1. Power Circuit Diagram
B. Modes of Operation
The operation of the circuit can be divided into two modes-
one when switch M1 is turned ON and another when M1 is
turned OFF. The events that take place during the two modes
are described as follows:
In Mode 1, Switch M1 turned ON and the inductor L1
charges from the voltage source Vdc. If the voltage across C2
is less than the voltage across C1, then C2 clamps the voltage
across C2 through the diode D2. Simultaneously, if the voltage
across C2+C4 is smaller than the voltage across C1 +C3, C1
and C3 clamp the voltage across C2 and C4 through D4. In a
similar way, C1, C3, C7 and C9 clamp the voltage across C2,
C4, C6 and C8. Fig.2 (a-e) describes the operation when the
switch is turned ON.
In Mode 2, Switch M1 is turned OFF and the voltage across
the inductor forward biases D1 and switches all the diodes.
During the switch-off state, the inductor current charges C1
through D1. When D1 is forward biased, the voltage in the
inductor, voltage across C2 and Vdc clamp the voltage across
C1 and C3 through D3. Similarly, the voltage in L1, Vdc and
the voltage across C2 and C4 clamp the voltage across C1, C3
and C5 through the diode D5. Finally the voltage across C1,
C3, C5, C7 and C7 are clamped by the voltage across C2, C4,
C6, C8, the inductor and Vdc.Fig.3 (a-e) describes the
operation when the switch is turned OFF. As seen from the
power circuit diagram and operating modes, the diodes D1,D3,
D5 and D7 operate complementary to D2,D4,D6 and D8.
III. DESIGN DETAILS
The design of the passive elements present in the power
converter can be obtained from the conventional boost
converter. From basic principles, the voltage gain of the
conventional single level boost converter is given by,
1
Voltage Gain M 1
1
For N level MBC, the voltage gain is expressed as
N
M 2
1 D
The design specifications are input voltage = 12V, output
voltage = 230V, output power = 200W and switching
frequency = 50 kHz. To determine the required number of
levels that would give a voltage gain of 20, equation (2) is
plotted as shown in Figure 4. From the voltage gain plot, it is
found that conventional boost converters (N=1) are not suitable
for high voltage gain applications. In addition, boost converters
with lower levels (N=2, 3) need to be operated at very high
duty ratios; sometimes greater than 0.85 to achieve the required
voltage gain. This is practically not possible. Hence, the
number of levels is increased.
It is proposed to operate at a duty cycle of 0.75 with 5 levels in
order to provide sufficient turn off time for the power device
and avoid excessive voltage stress.Based on the duty cycle and
output power, the critical value of the inductance Lcrit is
calculated using the expression
D 1D R
Lcrit 3
2f
The critical value of inductance is calculated and found to be
540H. For convenience, 700H inductance and 100F
capacitors are used.
IV. SIMULATION RESULTS
The proposed converter with the designed values is simulated
in PSpice.Fig.5 shows the gate pulse, output current, output
voltage and output power waveforms. It is observed that for a
duty cycle of 0.75, the required output voltage is obtained at
the required output power. Further, the voltage distribution
across the capacitors C1-C9 shows that the converter performs
satisfactorily. The voltage distribution across the
capacitorsisshown in Fig.6. Fig.7 shows the gate pulse and
inductor current waveforms. The linear increase and decrease
of inductor current during presence and absence of gate pulse
can be clearly observed. Further, the ripple current magnitude
is also within specified limits. This confirms the design aspects
of the converter. Fig.8 shows the switch voltage and current
stress. It is observed that the voltage stress across the device is
50V which is permitted for 12V input and 230V output.
278
 2013 International Conference on Power, Energy and Control (ICPEC)

Figure 2.Operating circuit(s) when the switch is ON.

Figure 3.Operating circuit(s) when the switch is OFF.

279
 2013 International Conference on Power, En
Figure 4. Voltage Gain Plot
Figure5. Gate Pulse, Output Current and Output Volt age Waveforms.
Figure6. Capacitor Voltage Distributioon.
Figure7. Gate Pulse and Inductor Current W
Waveform.
Figure8. Switch Voltage and Current S
Stress.
nergy and Control (ICPEC)
SION
CONCLUS
The proposed converter has beeen designed and simulated
for a photovoltaic application. The converter employs 5
stages in conjunction with the co onventional boost converter
which is operated at a duty cycle of
o 0.75.A voltage gain of 20
was obtained without using both h a transformer or causing
excessive device voltage and currrent stresses. The converter
was designed to supply a load at 230V at 200W. The output
waveforms obtained from the simulation confirm the
performance of the proposed converter. Experimental
verification of the converter is und
derway.
REFERENC
CES
[1] Wuhua Li, Yi Zhao, Yan Deng and Xiangning He, Interleaved
Converter with Voltage Multiplier Cell for High step-up and High
efficiency Conversion, IEEE Transs. Power Electron., Vol. 25, No. 9,
September 2010.
[2] Shih-Ming Chen, Tsorng-Juu Lian ng, Lung-Sheng Yang, Jiann-Fuh
Chen, A Cascaded High Step-Up p DC-DC Converter With Single
Switch for Microsource Application ns, IEEE Trans. Power Electron.,
Vol.26, No.4, April 2011.
[3] Yi-Ping Hsieh, Jiann-Fuh Chen, Tsorng-Juu Liang, Lung-Sheng
Yang, Novel High Step-Up DC C-DC Converter With Coupled-
Inductor and Switched-Capacitor Techniques, IEEE Trans. Ind.
Electron. Vol. 59, No. 2, February 2012.
[4] Shih-Ming Chen, Tsorng-Juu Lian ng, Lung-Sheng Yang, Jiann-Fuh
Chen, A Safety Enhanced, High Step-Up DC-DC Converter for AC
Photovoltaic Module Application, IEEEI Trans. Power Electron. Vol
27, No.4 April 2012.
[5] S.K. Changchien, T.J Liang, J.F. Ch hen, L.S. Yang, Step-up DC-DC
converter by coupled inductor and voltage-lift
v technique , IET Power
Electron.2010 Vol. 3, Iss. 3, pp. 369-378.
[6] Ti-Ping Hsieh, Hiann-Fuh Chen, Tsorng-Juu Liang, Lung-Sheng
Yang. Novel High Step-Up DC C-DC Converter With Coupled-
Inductor and Switched-Capacitor Techniques, IEEE Trans. Ind.
Electron., Vol. 59, No.2, February 2012.
[7] Yi-Ping Hsieh, Jiann-Fuh Chen, Tsorng-Juu Liang, Lung-Sheng
Yang, Novel High step up DC-DC Converter with Coupled-Inductor
and Switched-Capacitor Techniqu ues for a Sustainable Energy
System, IEEE Trans. Power Electtron. Vol. 26, No. 12, December
2011.
[8] Lung-Sheng Yang, Tsorng-Juu Liang, Hau-Cheng Lee, Jiann-Fuh
Chen, Novel High Step-up DC C-DC Converter With Coupled-
Inductor and Voltage Doubler Circcuits, IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron.
Vol.58 No.9 September 2011.
[9] Boris Axlerod, Yefim Berkovich h, Adrian Ioinovici, Switched-
Capacitor/Switched-Inductor Structures for Getting Transformerless
Hybrid DC-DC PWM Converters, IEEE Trans. Circuits Systs.-I,
Regular Papers, Vol. 55, No.2 March h 2008.
[10] Julio C. Rosas-Caro, Juan M. Ram mrez, Pedro Martn Garca-Vite,
Novel DC-DC Multilevel Boost Converter,
C Proc. Power Electron.
Specialists Conference, PESC 2008,, pages 2146-2151.
[11] Miaosen Shen, Fang Zheng Peng, Leon L M. Tolbert, Multilevel DC-
DC Power Conversion System With W Multiple DC Source, IEEE
Trans. Power Electron. Vol.23, No1. January 2008.
[12] J.C. Rosas-Caro, J.M. Ramirez, F.Z Z. Peng, A.Valderrabano, A DC-
DC multilevel boost converter, IE ET Power Electron. 2010 Vol. 3,
Iss.1, pp 129-137.
280