An Interleaved High Step-Up DC-DC Converter Based on Integration of Coupled Inductor and Built-in-Transformer with Switched-Capacitor Cells for Renewable Energy Applications

Abstract

This paper proposes an interleaved high step-up DC-DC converter with the coupled inductor (CI) and built-in transformer (BIT) for renewable energy applications. Two double-winding (2W) CIs and one triple-winding (3W) BIT are integrated with the switched-capacitor (SC) voltage multiplier cells (VMCs) to achieve high-voltage gains without extreme duty cycles. The CIs and BIT turns-ratios provide two other degrees of freedom - in addition to the duty cycle - to adjust the voltage gain that leads to increased design flexibility. The diodes turn off naturally under the zero-current switching (ZCS) conditions because their current falling rates are controlled by the leakage inductances of the CIs and BIT; therefore, the diodes' reverse-recovery problems are alleviated. Moreover, employing passive diode-capacitor clamp circuits, the voltage stresses of the switches are limited to a low value far less than the output voltage. Additionally, the leakage inductances energies are recycled and transferred to the output to further extend the voltage gain. Furthermore, due to the interleaved structure, the input current ripple and current stresses of the components are reduced. The proposed converter is analyzed in detail and then compared with similar converters that employed CIs and/or BIT along with passive/active clamp circuits for the MOSFETs. Finally, to verify the feasibility of the proposed converter, the experimental results of a 200 W prototype with output voltage of 400 V and voltage gain of 25 are presented.