Wide Voltage Gain Range Bidirectional DC-DC Converter with Reduced Switches Count and Buck-Boost Characteristic in Both Power Flow Directions

Several applications require bidirectional power converters with high-voltage gain. While several topologies have been proposed, none of them exhibit Buck-Boost characteristics in both forward and reverse power transfer. Most proposals behave as a Boost converter in forward direction and as a Buck converter in the reverse direction. Therefore, this paper proposes a novel DC-DC bidirectional power converter that exhibits Buck-Boost characteristics in both power flow directions while providing very high wide voltage gain range. The proposed converter has, in addition, the ability to maintain continuous currents in the input and output. The theoretical analysis of the converter under bidirectional power flow conditions will be presented and examined, along with the design of its components. The validation of the characteristics and behavior of the proposed bidirectional power converter were tested in several laboratory experiments. The experimental results obtained from both power flow directions show agreement with the theoretical considerations.