A Generalized Method for Comprehension of Switched-Capacitor High Step-Up Converters Including Coupled Inductors and Voltage Multiplier Cells

High step-up converters are crucial in many power electronic interfaces, including for renewable energy sources. As the result of topological variation of high step-up converters, many topologies share similar characteristics. In order to have a clear understanding of an optimized design that makes the best use of components to achieve high gain, it is necessary to devise a generalized comprehension method for high step-up converters. This article presents a novel generalized method for analyzing single-switch step-up converters that can include switched capacitor (SC) cells, a coupled inductor (CI), andor voltage multiplier cells (VMCs). The proposed method is neither dependent on the position of the CI nor the structure of the VMC, and is not tied to a specific topology. Thus, the proposed generalized method uniquely reveals the unifying theory underlying high step-up converters with any variation of SCCIVMC. In order to verify the theoretical analysis, many examples from the literature are investigated. Then, using design tips from the generalized method, a new high step-up converter is designed. A 150-W prototype of the converter shows 97.5 peak efficiency. The proposed converter also compares favorably to other topologies in both a power loss breakdown analysis and a component stress factor analysis.