High-efficiency supercapacitor charger using an improved two-switch forward converter

Abstract

This paper proposes a high-efficiency supercapacitor charger. Conventional two-switch forward converter can be used for charging supercapacitors. However, the efficiency of conventional converters is low because of their switching losses. This study presents a high-efficiency two-switch forward converter for supercapacitor chargers. The proposed converter improves power efficiency by 4 %, from 89 % to 93 %. The proposed converter has the advantages of reduced switch voltage stresses and minimized circulating current when compared to other converter topologies. The performance of the proposed converter is evaluated by experimental results using a 300 W prototype circuit for a 54-V, 35-F supercapacitor bank.