DC–DC converters with voltage boost capability are widely used in a large number of power conversion applications, from fraction-of-volt to tens of thousands of volts at power levels from milliwatts to megawatts. The literature has reported on various voltage-boosting techniques, in which fundamental energy storing elements (inductors and capacitors) and/or transformers in conjunction with switch(es) and diode(s) are utilized in the circuit. These techniques include switched capacitor (charge pump), voltage multiplier, switched inductor/voltage lift, magnetic coupling, and multistage/-level, and each has its own merits and demerits depending on application, in terms of cost, complexity, power density, reliability, and efficiency. To meet the growing demand for such applications, new power converter topologies that use the above voltage-boosting techniques, as well as some active and passive components, are continuously being proposed. The permutations and combinations of the various voltage-boosting techniques with additional components in a circuit allow for numerous new topologies and configurations, which are often confusing and difficult to follow. Therefore, to present a clear picture on the general law and framework of the development of next-generation step-up dc–dc converters, this paper aims to comprehensively review and classify various step-up dc–dc converters based on their characteristics and voltage-boosting techniques. In addition, the advantages and disadvantages of these voltage-boosting techniques and associated converters are discussed in detail. Finally, broad applications of dc–dc converters are presented and summarized with comparative study of different voltage-boosting techniques.

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Step-Up DC–DC Converters: A Comprehensive Review of Voltage-Boosting Techniques, Topologies, and Applications

The authors discuss high-voltage power conversion. Conventional series connection and three-level voltage source inverter techniques are reviewed and compared. A novel versatile multilevel commutation cell is introduced: it is shown that this topology is safer and more simple to control, and delivers purer output waveforms. The authors show how this technique can be applied to either choppers or voltage-source inverters and generalized to any number of switches.<<ETX>>

Multi-level conversion : high voltage choppers and voltage-source inverters

Photovoltaic (PV) energy has grown at an average annual rate of 60% in the last five years, surpassing one third of the cumulative wind energy installed capacity, and is quickly becoming an important part of the energy mix in some regions and power systems. This has been driven by a reduction in the cost of PV modules. This growth has also triggered the evolution of classic PV power converters from conventional singlephase grid-tied inverters to more complex topologies to increase efficiency, power extraction from the modules, and reliability without impacting the cost. This article presents an overview of the existing PV energy conversion systems, addressing the system configuration of different PV plants and the PV converter topologies that have found practical applications for grid-connected systems. In addition, the recent research and emerging PV converter technology are discussed, highlighting their possible advantages compared with the present technology. Solar PV energy conversion systems have had a huge growth from an accumulative total power equal to approximately 1.2 GW in 1992 to 136 GW in 2013 (36 GW during 2013) [1]. This phenomenon has been possible because of several factors all working together to push the PV energy to cope with one important position today (and potentially a fundamental position in the near future). Among these factors are the cost reduction and increase in efficiency of the PV modules, the search for alternative clean energy sources (not based on fossil fuels), increased environmental awareness, and favorable political regulations from local governments (establishing feed-in tariffs designed to accelerate investment in renewable energy technologies). It has become usual to see PV systems installed on the roofs of houses or PV farms next to the roads in the countryside. Grid-connected PV systems account for more than 99% of the PV installed capacity compared to

An Overview of Recent Research and Emerging PV Converter Technology

Photovoltaic (PV) energy has grown at an average annual rate of 60% in the last five years, surpassing one third of the cumulative wind energy installed capacity, and is quickly becoming an important part of the energy mix in some regions and power systems. This has been driven by a reduction in the cost of PV modules. This growth has also triggered the evolution of classic PV power converters from conventional single-phase grid-tied inverters to more complex topologies to increase efficiency, power extraction from the modules, and reliability without impacting the cost. This article presents an overview of the existing PV energy conversion systems, addressing the system configuration of different PV plants and the PV converter topologies that have found practical applications for grid-connected systems. In addition, the recent research and emerging PV converter technology are discussed, highlighting their possible advantages compared with the present technology.

Grid-Connected Photovoltaic Systems: An Overview of Recent Research and Emerging PV Converter Technology

Impedance networks cover the entire of electric power conversion from dc (converter, rectifier), ac (inverter), to phase and frequency conversion (ac-ac) in a wide range of applications. Various converter topologies have been reported in the literature to overcome the limitations and problems of the traditional voltage source, current source as well as various classical buck-boost, unidirectional, and bidirectional converter topologies. Proper implementation of the impedance-source network with appropriate switching configurations and topologies reduces the number of power conversion stages in the system power chain, which may improve the reliability and performance of the power system. The first part of this paper provides a comprehensive review of the various impedance-source-networks-based power converters and discusses the main topologies from an application point of view. This review paper is the first of its kind with the aim of providing a “one-stop” information source and a selection guide on impedance-source networks for power conversion for researchers, designers, and application engineers. A comprehensive review of various modeling, control, and modulation techniques for the impedance-source converters/inverters will be presented in Part II.

Impedance-Source Networks for Electric Power Conversion Part I: A Topological Review

New Step-Up DC/DC Converter for Fuel Cell Powered Distributed Generation Systems: Some Design Guidelines

This paper presents a new step-up DC/DC converter topology with high-frequency isolation intended for residential fuel cell power systems In contrast to traditional voltage source converters, the proposed topology utilizes the impedance network represented by a combination of two inductors and two capacitors on the input side of the DC/DC converter Due to the specific feature of boosting input voltage by introducing a shoot-through operation mode, the new converter provides a more reliable, simpler and cheaper solution than offered by those recently available for residential fuel cell power systems The paper describes the design methodology, analyzes the experimental results and discusses the optimization possibilities of the proposed topology

New step-up DC/DC converter with high-frequency isolation

This study proposes four novel pulse width modulation (PWM) shoot-through control methods for impedance source (IS) galvanically isolated DC-DC converters. These methods are derived from a PWM control method with shifted shoot-through introduced by the authors in 2012. In contrast to the baseline solution, where the shoot-through states are generated by the simultaneous conduction of all transistors in the inverter bridge, our new approach is based on the shoot-through generation by one inverter leg. The idea is to increase the number of soft-switched transients and, therefore, decrease the dynamic losses of the front-end inverter. All the proposed approaches are experimentally verified through an insulated-gate bipolar transistor-based IS DC-DC converter. Conclusions are drawn in accordance with the results of the switching loss analysis.

Four Novel PWM Shoot-Through Control Methods for Impedance Source DC-DC Converters

Ultracapacitors can store and also give out large energy pulses. That makes them perfectly suitable as short term energy storage devices in electrical vehicles. The usage of ultracapacitors prevents over sizing of the battery pack due to peak power demands. This paper introduces the basic concept of how ultracapacitors could be used in Tramways. The main purpose of the paper is to introduce one possible control-strategy of ultracapacitors energy exchange. With the energy exchange is meant the movement of energy form the ultracapacitors into distribution network and vice versa. Three different regulators, proportional (P), integration (I), and the combination of both (PI) are tested and compared to each other. Practical results are analyzed and compared with the simulation results.

Control of Ultracapacitors Energy Exchange

This paper is devoted to the quasi-Z-source (qZS) converter family. Recently, the qZS-converters have attracted high attention because of their specific properties of voltage boost and buck functions with a single switching stage, which could be especially advantageous in renewable energy applications. As main representatives of the qZS-converter family, the traditional quasi-Z-source inverter as well as two novel extended boost quasi-Z-source inverters are discussed. Steady state analysis of three main topologies operating in the continuous conduction mode is presented. Input voltage boost properties of converters are compared for an ideal case. Mathematical models of converters considering losses in components are derived. Practical boost properties of converters are compared to idealized ones and the impact of losses on the voltage boost properties of each topology is justified. Finally, the impact of losses in the components on the boost conversion efficiency is analyzed.

Indrek Roasto

Papers

New Step-Up DC/DC Converter for Fuel Cell Powered Distributed Generation Systems: Some Design Guidelines

New step-up DC/DC converter with high-frequency isolation

Four Novel PWM Shoot-Through Control Methods for Impedance Source DC-DC Converters

Control of Ultracapacitors Energy Exchange

Impact of component losses on the voltage boost properties and efficiency of the qZS-converter family