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A very simple geometric structure whose branches can be filled by inductors, capacitors, diodes, short-circuits, or open-circuits is proposed. It serves for generating large dc gain-purposed switching cells by making different choices of the type of component on each branch. The switching cells are integrated in basic converters. It is shown that almost all the high dc gain nonisolated converters based on switched-capacitor-inductor cells proposed in the last years, regardless of their complexity, can be derived through this method. From the same geometric structure, new high dc gain boosting converters can be derived in a systematic manner. The available and the new converters in each class as defined by the number of reactive components are compared in terms of their performance: dc gain, semiconductor elements count, voltage and current stress on transistors and diodes, character of the input current, easiness of the transistor driving, and easiness of the control as determined by common/uncommon line-load ground, power stage efficiency. This comparison allows us to choose the optimal solution for each specific application in conjunction with the green sources of energy, multisource microgrids, electric vehicles, data and communications systems, and so on. The geometric structure is generalized in different ways, allowing for the development of ultrahigh dc gain converters. One of the proposed generalized ultrahigh dc gain converters is fully analyzed and built in the laboratory, with the experimental results verifying the theoretical analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A very simple, low component count snubber is used in order to get ZCS for all the switches of a three-level voltage step-down converter. ZCS allows for the implementation of the switches with insulated-gate bipolar transistor which are able to withstand large input voltages at large power. The snubber is placed in the secondary-side, before the rectifier. The transformer leakage inductance is used in the ZCS-purposed resonant process, eliminating thus the need for an additional resonant inductor. All the resonant circuit energy is recuperated to the load. No voltage stresses appear on the switches, and the current stress is limited in a tradeoff components design. The proposed solution allows for a boost of the effective duty cycle. As a result, the proposed converter operates with a high efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Power conversion from an input voltage of several kilovolts to a low load voltage is of great significance in various applications, but poses serious challenges. In this paper, a new converter, which is able to realize such a large step-down conversion in a single step, is proposed by introducing a novel concept of dc–dc multiphase conversion and n-phase interleaving rectification. The proposed structure is formed by n switch pairs in the primary side, an n-phase isolation transformer with the primary windings connected to dc blocking capacitors, and an n-phase current multiplier in the output side. The switching patterns applied to the switch pairs have a phase difference of 360^\circ \mathord\left/ \vphantom 360^\circ n \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace n, and the output inductor currents are interleaved correspondingly, making necessary a smaller output filter. For a V_i input voltage and I_o load current, the converter features V_i/n voltage stress on the primary-side switches, and I_o/n current stress on the secondary-side inductors and diodes. Thus, the magnetic size of the inductors is considerable reduced. The primary-side switches are commutated with zero-voltage-switching (ZVS). Therefore, rather than using insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) or MOSFETs with higher voltage ratings, the most available, notable performing 500/600 V MOSFETs can be used in the proposed converter with several kilovolts supply voltage, allowing for a higher operation frequency and lower conduction losses. Compared with an input-series–output-parallel (ISOP) connection of full-bridge (FB) isolated converters, for the same voltage stress on the switches, the proposed converter requires half of the number of transistors and inherently balances the input voltage among the switch pairs. The switching mechanism of a typical switch pair in the kth interval T_s/n of a switching cycle is analyzed. A dc analysis was carried out to determine the dc conversion ratio and the ZVS conditions in an analytical form. It allows for a tradeoff design of the converter, such that to minimize the duty-cycle loss and maximize the ZVS load range. A 1500/48-V, 2-kW prototype with four switch pairs was designed, implemented, and evaluated. The experimental results prove the soft switching of the switches, the low voltage stress across the primary-side switches, and the low current flowing through the rectifier's diodes and inductors. The efficiency measured at nominal power rating was 90.75%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]