Comparison and Analysis of High Voltage Gain DC-DC Converter Topologies for High Power Density / High Efficiency in Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle

This paper compares and analyzes three DC–DC converter topologies with high-voltage gain for fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) to achieve high power density and efficiency. Reducing the number of FC stacks decreases the voltage range to minimize the volume of the fuel cell (FC) stack; as such, the use of a step-up DC–DC converter is essential in FCEV. However, the operating characteristics vary according to the type of step-up DC–DC converter topologies with high voltage gain, so efficiency and volume analyses are required for optimal converter design. When considering the high-power operation of the converter, an interleaved structure should be applied to address the issues of increased converter system volume and efficiency degradation. Therefore, in this paper, an interleaved structure is applied to three representative converters capable of achieving a high voltage gain. The most favorable topology for achieving high power density and high efficiency in FCEVs is selected through comparison and analysis.