VOL. 10, NO.

8, MAY 2015 ISSN 1819-6608

ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences
©2006-2015 Asian Research Publishing Network (ARPN). All rights reserved.

www.arpnjournals.com

SOFT-SWITCHING CURRENT-FED PUSH-PULL CONVERTER

FOR PV APPLICATION
K. Abarna1, S. Divya1 and P. Raja Rajeswari2
1Power Elec. and Drives, Jeppiaar Engineering College Chennai, India
2Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Jeppiaar Engineering College, Chennai, India
E-Mail: kabarna28@gmail.com

ABSTRACT
In this paper, a soft switching single-inductor push-pull converter is discussed. A push-pull converter is suitable
for low voltage photovoltaic applications, because the step up ratio of high frequency transformer is high. Photovoltaic is
considered to be a popular source of renewable energy due to several advantages, specifically low operational cost, and
maintenance free and environmental friendly. In the conventional converter, primary switches are turned ON at the zero
voltage switching condition and turned off at zero current switching condition through parallel resonance between the
secondary leakage inductance of a transformer and resonant capacitor. The proposed push-pull converter also decreases the
switching loss using soft switching of the primary switching. The boost rectifier added reduces the turn’s ratio of the
transformer further when compared to the voltage doubler.

Keywords: current-fed push pull converter, soft switching, boost rectifier.

1. INTRODUCTION
The use of photovoltaic energy has been widely
increased due to its renewable energy concept and
environmental friendly. These PV energy generations uses
PV system modules which are connected in series and
parallel through string diodes for high power generations.
These systems have disadvantages such as the use of high
voltage dc cables between the PV modules and the inverter
losses in the string diodes. String type inverters using PV
modules in series can be used. These are no losses
associated with string diodes, and separate maximum
power point tracking (MPPT) can be applied to each
string. These increase the overall efficiency compared to
the centralized inverter.
Figure-1. Main circuit of the conventional Push-Pull
2. CONVENTIONAL PUSH-PULL CONVERTER Converter.
The Push-Pull converter is utilized in PV ac
module systems because of the fact that it has only few The conventional push-pull converter is
components and isolation between the PV modules and the composed of switching devices (S1, S2), a boost inductor
ac grid line. Using a voltage-fed source in the primary side (Lbst), a high frequency transformer. The primary-side
of the transformer in the circuit is not a good idea which voltage (vT 1, vT 2) of the transformer is the sum of the input
should have high step-up ratio due to low input voltage voltage vin and Lbst voltage vLbst.
and the high output voltage. Therefore, the push-pull
converter is used with a current source which can decrease 3. SOFT SWITCHING TECHNIQUE
the turn ratio of the transformer. The conventional converter uses soft switching
In the secondary side of the transformer, the technique so that the switching losses can be reduced and
conventional push-pull converter is designed using center- the lifetime of the switch is also improved. The switching
tap or full-bridge types. In the center-tap, the voltage stress losses can be reduced with the soft switching when the
across diodes is higher than the voltage stress across the primary switches are turned ON and OFF. That is the
diodes in full-bridge type. Therefore the center-tap type is primary side switches are turned ON at the zero voltage
not suitable for a topology with a high secondary voltage switching condition and turned OFF at the zero current
of the transformer. switching condition through parallel resonance between
leakage inductance and resonant capacitor.

A. ZCS for Switch S1

At first, the current flow through S1. The flow of
the resonant current at the resonant tank is reversed. iLk
decreases linearly.

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 VOL. 10, NO. 8, MAY 2015 ISSN 1819-6608
ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences
©2006-2015 Asian Research Publishing Network (ARPN). All rights reserved.

www.arpnjournals.com

Input voltage

Figure-4. Input voltage of conventional converter.

Figure-2. ZCS for S1.
Triggering pulses
B. ZCS for switch S2

Figure-5. Triggering pulses of conventional converter.

Figure-3. ZCS for switch S2. Output voltage

C. Parameters of simulation

Parameters Value Unit

Input voltage 20-40 V
MPP voltage 30.9 V
Output voltage 400 V
Output Power 250 W
Boost Inductor 127 µH Figure-6. Output voltage of the conventional converter.
Secondary side magnetic
950 µH Output power
inductance
Secondary leakage inductance 34 µH
Resonant capacitor 4.7 nF
Switching frequency 50-100 KHz
Transformer turn-ratio 5.5

Figure-7. Output power of conventional converter.

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 VOL. 10, NO. 8, MAY 2015 ISSN 1819-6608
ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences
©2006-2015 Asian Research Publishing Network (ARPN). All rights reserved.

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4. PROPOSED PUSH-PULL CONVERTER During mode 2 S1 and S2 are ON. During this
The conventional push-pull converter has turns mode all diodes are in reverse biased.
ratio of the transformer to be 5.5. Inorder to reduce this
turns ratio further the voltage doubler circuit is replaced by Mode-3:
a boost rectifier. Therefore by using a Boost rectifier a
high output voltage is obtained for the same turns ratio of
the transformer or reduced transformer turns ratio is
obtained.

During mode 3 S1 is ON condition. S2 is off

condition. The current flow of the resonant current at the
resonant tank is reversed. iLk decreases linearly. During
this mode diodes are reverse biased.

Mode-4:

Figure-8. Main circuit of proposed push pull converter.

A. Modes of operation

Mode-1:

During mode 4 S1 is ON condition. S2 is off

condition. During this mode D0 is in forward biased. C0 is
charging condition and the energy is transferred to the
load.

Mode-5:

During mode 1 S1 and S2 are ON. The current

flow of the resonant current at the resonant tank is
reversed. iLk decreases linearly. During this mode D3 and
D4 are in forward biased. C1, C2 are charging condition. Co
supplies the energy to the load.

Mode-2:

During mode 5 S1 and S2 are ON. The current

flow of the resonant current at the resonant tank is
forward. iLk increses linearly. During this mode D3 and D4
are in forward biased. Co supplies the energy to the load.

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 VOL. 10, NO. 8, MAY 2015 ISSN 1819-6608
ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences
©2006-2015 Asian Research Publishing Network (ARPN). All rights reserved.

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Mode-6: Input voltage

Figure-9. Input voltage of the proposed converter.

During mode 6 S1 and S2 are ON. During this
mode all diodes are in reverse biased. Cr is charging. Output voltage

Mode-7:

Figure-10. Output voltage of the proposed converter.

Thus the output voltage obtained here is in is the

During mode 7 S2 is ON condition. S1 is off level of 500V which is higher than the voltage obtained in
condition. The current flow of the resonant current at the the conventional push pull converter.
resonant tank is forward. iLk increases linearly and all
diodes are reverse biased. Output power

Mode-8:

Figure-11. Output power of proposed converter.

The above results are simulated for the R load.

The following results which are simulated for the
proposed system are for the motor load .
During mode 8 S2 is ON condition. S1 is off
condition. During this mode D0 is in forward biased. C0 is
Input voltage
charging condition and the energy is transferred to the
load.

B. Simulation results
MATLAB has been used for simulating and the
waveform is sketched for the proposed system.

Figure-12. Input voltage of proposed converter.

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 VOL. 10, NO. 8, MAY 2015 ISSN 1819-6608
ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences
©2006-2015 Asian Research Publishing Network (ARPN). All rights reserved.

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Current through inductor (Lbst) Output voltage

Figure-13. Current through Inductor (Lbst) of proposed

converter.
Figure-16. Output voltage of a proposed converter with
Output voltage R-load Closed loop system.

The above results are simulated for the closed

Loop system of a R-Load.

Figure-14. Output voltage of proposed converter.

The above results are sketched for the open loop

system. The following results are simulated for the closed
loop system. The closed loop system is advantageous over
the open loop system in accuracy. It is otherwise called as
the Automatic control system as they are not disturbed by
any non-linearities. As the closed loop system is composed
of a feedback mechanism, they clear the errors between Figure-17. Circuit of the proposed converter driving a
the input and output signals and so they remain unaffected motor load of a closed loop system.
for the external noise sources.
The above circuit shows the circuit of a Push-
Input voltage Pull converter driving a Motor load of a closed loop
system. The simulation results are as follows.

Input voltage

Figure-15. Input voltage of a proposed converter with

R-load Closed loop system.

Figure-18. Input voltage of a proposed converter with

motor load closed loop system.

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 VOL. 10, NO. 8, MAY 2015 ISSN 1819-6608
ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences
©2006-2015 Asian Research Publishing Network (ARPN). All rights reserved.

www.arpnjournals.com

Output voltage value. In future various converters shall be used to analyse

the performance.

REFERENCES

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[9] R. Gonzalez, J. Lopez, P. Sanchis, and L. Marroyo,

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5. CONCLUSIONS
type single-phase utility interactive inverter with
Thus in this paper, the soft switching technique
power pulsation decoupling on the DC input for an
has been used inorder to reduce the switching losses. The
AC photovoltaic module system,” IEEE Trans. Power
boost rectifier added on the secondary side of the
Electron., vol. 21, no. 5, pp. 1264-1272, September
transformer reduces the transformer ratio to a greater
2006.

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