Single Switch non-Isolated DC-DC Converter with High Gain and Efficiency and Low Input Current Ripple for Photovoltaic Applications

Nowadays, using distributed energy resources (DERs) such as solar energy have gained a high degree of importance for supplying customers. For grid-connected applications, it is necessary to step up the varying output voltage of the solar array which is done by a DC-DC converter. The essential criterions for evaluating the effectiveness of a converter are voltage gain, efficiency, circuit simplicity, total cost, input current ripple and voltage/current stress on power elements. In this paper a single switch non-isolated (transformer less) DC-DC converter with high voltage gain, high efficiency and low input current ripple is proposed. To verify the performance of the proposed DC-DC converter, a prototype circuit is fabricated and the essential performance indexes such as voltage gain and efficiency are measured and compared with the similar converters. Results show the improvement in gain and efficiency which validate the theoretical studies.