Design of a Novel Hybrid Switched-Inductor/Switched-Capacitor DC-DC Step-Up Converter

In this paper, a new topology of a step-up DC converter is presented for renewable energy applications, yielding a high step-up conversion ratio and reduced voltage stress across the switches. The proposed converter uses a hybrid switched-inductor and switched-capacitor cell to achieve the high voltage gain. Additionally, the capacitors in the switched cell also perform the function of clamping the voltage across switches. The proposed converter utilizes only a single controlled switch and operates in only two modes of conduction. The steady-state analysis and operating principle of the proposed hybrid step-up converter are discussed in detail and various mathematical equations have been derived. The analysis shows numerous improvements over the traditional DC-DC converters. Simulation was carried out in MATLAB Simulink 2021b on a 55% duty cycle and simulation results are compared with theoretical analysis. From simulation results, it is clear the proposed converter exhibits better performance compared to conventional boost and other traditional step-up converters with the same design parameters. Finally, a 31.5-watt hardware prototype was constructed and tested in the laboratory to experimentally validate the theoretical and simulation results.