This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been

fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI
10.1109/TPEL.2013.2296053, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics

A MODIFIED SEPIC CONVERTER WITH HIGH STATIC GAIN FOR

RENEWABLE APPLICATIONS

Roger Gules, Member IEEE, Walter Meneghette dos Santos, Flavio Aparecido dos Reis, Eduardo Felix
Ribeiro Romaneli and Alceu André Badin, Member IEEE

Abstract
Two high static gain step-up DC-DC converters based An application where the proposed converters can be
on the modified SEPIC converter are presented in this applied is the photovoltaic energy generation in grid
paper. The proposed topologies present low switch connected systems using the AC module or microinverter
voltage and high efficiency for low input voltage and high structure [2]. The usual structure used for high power grid
output voltage applications. The configurations with connected photovoltaic generation is the centralized inverter
magnetic coupling and without magnetic coupling are where several PV modules are connected in series in order to
presented and analyzed. The magnetic coupling allows obtain the DC voltage level necessary for the inverter
the increase of the static gain maintaining a reduced operation and the energy transference to the grid with low
switch voltage. The theoretical analysis and experimental current harmonic distortion. However, a common problem in
results show that both structures are suitable for high this structure is the power losses due to the centralized
static gain applications as a renewable power sources maximum power point tracking (MPPT), mismatch losses
with low DC output voltage. Two experimental among the PV modules and generation reduction due to a
prototypes were developed with an input voltage equal to partial shading of the series connected PV modules [2]. Some
15 V and an output power equal to 100 W. The efficiency of these problems are minimized with the multi-string
at nominal power obtained with the prototype without structure where reduced strings are connected with DC-DC
magnetic coupling was equal to 91.9% with an output converters with the MPPT algorithm and the output of these
voltage of 150 V. The prototype with magnetic coupling DC-DC converters are connected to the inverter input.
operating with an output voltage equal to 300 V, presents However, in residential applications, most research is
an efficiency at nominal power equal to 92.2%. focused on the module integrated converters where the
energy generated by a single PV module is transferred to the
Index Terms: DC-DC power conversion, Voltage multiplier grid by a dedicated converter integrated with the PV module
and Solar power generation. [3]. Some of the main advantages of this PV generation
structure are the modularity, allowing an easy increase of the
installed power, the individual MPPT and reduction of the
I. INTRODUCTION partial shading and panel mismatching effects, thus
improving the energy harvesting capability. However, there
are some design challenges in AC module structure as the
The development of high static gain DC-DC converters is efficiency improvement, cost reduction and the reliable
an important research area due to the crescent demand of this operation throughout the module lifetime. An alternative for
technology for several applications supplied by low DC the AC module implementation is a two-stage topology as
output voltage power sources. Some examples are renewable presented in Fig. 1. The operation with high efficiency is a
energy sources as low power wind turbine, photovoltaic (PV) problem for the DC-DC converter due to the low input
modules and other applications as fuel-cells, embedded voltage, high input current, high output voltage and static
systems, portable electronic equipments, uninterruptable gain.
power supply and battery powered equipment [1]. Commercial monocrystalline and multicrystalline PV
Some requirements are normally necessary in these module presents normally a maximum output power (PMPP)
applications as reduced losses, high power density, low lower than 350W with maximum power point voltage (VMPP)
weight and volume. The high efficiency operation is range from 15V to 40 V [3]. Common specifications
particularly important, mainly for battery powered systems depending on the number of photovoltaic cells are
and high cost power sources. PMPP=100W with VMPP=15 V, PMPP=200W with VMPP=30 V
and PMPP=300W with VMPP=40 V. In this work the
Manuscript received xxx x5, 2013; revised xxxx , 2013; accepted xxx, specification of PMPP=100W with VMPP=15 V was
2013. Date of current version December xx,xxx. This work was supported in considered, but increasing the PV module power, the voltage
part by Fundação Araucária and Paraná State Government. Recommended also increases at the maximum power point. In this condition,
for publication by Associate Editor xxx.
R. Gules, W. M. Santos, F. A. Reis, E. F. R. Romaneli and A. A. Badin are DC-DC converter input current and the converter conduction
with the Federal University of Technology, Curitiba, PR 80230901,Brazil losses are maintained almost at the same level.
(e-mail: rgules@gmail.com; wmeneghette@gmail.com; When a high step-up ratio is necessary for the
flavioa.reis@hotmail.com; eduardo.romaneli@gmail.com; implementation of the first power stage, the usual solution is
handreh@gmail.com>).
Digital Object Identifier xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx the use of isolated DC-DC converters.

0885-8993 (c) 2013 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission. See
http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.
This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI
10.1109/TPEL.2013.2296053, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics

converter, operating as a flyback transformer, increasing the

static gain. However, due to the configuration of the power
circuit proposed, the usual problems presented by the single
switch isolated DC-DC converter are not presented by the
proposed structure with transformer. Only part of the power
Fig. 1. Two-stage AC module structure.
processed by the converter is transferred to the output
The transformer turns ratio allows to increase the through the coupling inductor and another part of the power
converter static gain. However, the isolated solution presents is transferred directly by the non isolated converter, reducing
the weight, volume and losses of the transformer. The
some problems as the efficiency reduction due to the power
leakage inductance is a problem for the single switch isolated
transformer losses and intrinsic parameters as the leakage
inductance [1]. The power transformer also presents an DC-DC converters resulting in switch overvoltage and the
important contribution in the converter weight and volume. energy stored in the leakage inductance must be dissipated in
The power converters used with renewable energy sources snubber or clamping circuits. However, the leakage
must present a high efficiency due to the high cost of the inductance is necessary in the proposed converter with
energy source, as photovoltaic module or fuel-cells. Also in transformer in order to obtain ZCS turn-on commutation and
embedded systems and portable equipments, the converter to reduce the diodes reverse recovery current, increasing the
converter efficiency. The energy stored in the leakage
power density is an important design parameter. Therefore,
the solutions that allow the elimination of the power inductance is transferred to the converter output through the
transformer can improve the efficiency and power density of diodes and capacitor of the circuit. The voltages in all
the power conversion system. However, the classical non- semiconductors are clamped by the intrinsic converter
operation without dissipative components.
isolated DC-DC converters present a limited step-up static
The theoretical and experimental analysis of the
gain (q=Vo/Vi). The boost converter is the classical non
isolated step-up DC-DC converter and normally can operate modified SEPIC DC-DC converter is developed in this paper
with an adequate static and dynamic performance with a for low DC input voltage and high output voltage
duty-cycle close to D=0.8 resulting in an output voltage applications. The topology using magnetic coupling with the
inclusion of an inductor auxiliary winding operating as a
around five times the input voltage. A static gain equal to
q=5 is a limited value for the applications considered in this flyback transformer is also presented and studied in this
work. Therefore, three static gain ranges are considered in paper in order to increase the static gain maintaining low
this paper. A DC-DC converter operating with a static gain switch voltage.
range until q=5 is considered a standard static-gain, a static
II. PROPOSED CONVERTER WITHOUT MAGNETIC
gain range higher than q=10 is considered a high static gain
COUPLING
solution and an operation with static gain higher than q=20 is
considered a very high static gain solution. A. Power Circuit without Magnetic Coupling
The main desired characteristics in the considered The power circuit of the classical SEPIC converter is
applications are a static gain equal or higher than ten times, presented in Fig. 2. The step-up and step-down static gain of
low switch voltage, low input current ripple, reduced weight the SEPIC converter is an interesting operation characteristic
and volume and high efficiency. for a wide input voltage range application. However, the
Many techniques were developed in order to increase the switch voltage is equal the sum of the input and output
static gain of the non-isolated structures for the voltages and the static gain is lower than the classical boost
implementation of high efficiency and high power density converter. The modification of the SEPIC converter is
solutions. A review of the main techniques proposed is accomplished adding only two components with the
presented in [1]. The most part of the proposed solutions of inclusion of the diode DM and the capacitor CM, as presented
non isolated high static gain DC-DC converter are based on in Fig. 3.
the boost topology with an additional technique associated.
The main techniques used are the switch capacitors and
voltage multiplier cells [4]-[6], switched inductors [7]-[8],
inductor magnetic coupling [9]-[15] and also combinations
of these techniques as the integration of the voltage
multiplier cell with the inductor magnetic coupling [16]-[19].
The base topology presented in this paper is a
Fig. 2. Classical SEPIC converter.
modification of the SEPIC DC-DC converter and the main
operation characteristics obtained with this modification
comply with the requirements necessary in the high static
gain applications. The basic structure without magnetic
coupling presents a static gain close to twice of the classical
boost converter and the switch voltage is close to half of the
value obtained with the classical boost converter in the
operation with high values of duty-cycle.
The proposed solution using magnetic coupling is obtained
including a secondary winding in an inductor of the Fig. 3. Modified SEPIC converter without magnetic coupling.

0885-8993 (c) 2013 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission. See
http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.
This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI
10.1109/TPEL.2013.2296053, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics

Many operational characteristics of the classical SEPIC equal to the VCM voltage. Therefore, the switch voltage will
converter are changed with the proposed modification, as the be lower than the converter output voltage.
elevation of the converter static gain. The capacitor CM is Vo 1 + D (1)
charged with the output voltage of the classical boost =
Vi 1 − D
converter. The polarity of the CS capacitor voltage is inverted
in the proposed converter and the expressions of the VCM 1 (2)
=
capacitors voltages and other operation characteristics are Vi 1− D
presented in the theoretical analysis. The voltage across the CS capacitor is calculated by (3).
The continuous conduction mode (CCM) of the modified VCS D
SEPIC converter presents two operation stages. All = (3)
capacitors are considered as a voltage source and the Vi 1− D
semiconductors are considered ideals for the theoretical
analysis. The static gain of the classical SEPIC, boost and
1) First Stage [t0 - t1] (Fig. 4) - At the instant t0, switch S is modified SEPIC converters are presented in Fig. 7. As it can
turned-off and the energy stored in the input inductor L1 is be observed in this figure, with a duty-cycle equal to
transferred to the output through the CS capacitor and output D=0.818, a static gain equal to 10 is obtained and the switch
diode Do and also is transferred to the CM capacitor through voltage is equal to 5.5 times the input voltage. Therefore, the
the diode DM. Therefore, the switch voltage is equal to the switch voltage is close to half of the output voltage.
CM capacitor voltage. The energy stored in the inductor L2 is The theoretical analysis, operation stages and waveforms
transferred to the output through the diode Do. of the modified SEPIC converter operating in discontinuous
2) Second Stage [t1 - t2] (Fig. 5) - At the instant t1, switch S is conduction mode (DCM) is not presented in this paper.
turned-on and the diodes DM and Do are blocked and the However, the static gain and the CM and CS capacitor
inductors L1 and L2 store energy. The input voltage is applied voltages operating in DCM are presented in equations (4), (5)
to the input inductor L1 and the voltage VCS-VCM is applied to and (6) respectively.
the inductor L2. The VCM voltage is higher than the VCS
voltage.
The main theoretical waveforms operating with hard-
switching commutation are presented in Fig. 6.

Fig. 4. First operation stage.

Fig. 5. Second operation stage.

The maximum voltage in all diodes and in the power

switch is equal to the CM capacitor voltage. The output
voltage is equal to the sum of the CS and CM capacitors
voltage. The average L1 inductor current is equal to the input
current and the average L2 inductor current is equal to the
output current.
The static gain of the proposed converter can be obtained
considering null the average inductors voltage at the steady-
state and it is presented in (1) considering the CCM
operation. The static gain of the proposed converter is higher
than the obtained with the classical boost. The CM capacitor
voltage is calculated by (2) that is the same output voltage of
the classical boost converter. The maximum switch voltage is Fig. 6. Main theoretical waveforms.

0885-8993 (c) 2013 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission. See
http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.
This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI
10.1109/TPEL.2013.2296053, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics

3) L1 and L2 inductance
The current ripple ( iL) of the inductors L1 and L2 are
calculated by the same equation. Considering L1 equal to L2
and an input current ripple equal to 5 A, the inductance value
is calculated by (10). The average current value of the L1
inductance is equal to the input current and the average
current value of the L2 inductance is equal to the output
current.
V ⋅ D 15 ⋅ 0.8182 (10)
L1 = L 2 = i = = 102 µH
∆i L ⋅ f 5 ⋅ 24 ⋅ 103
4) Capacitors CS and CM
The capacitors CS and CM present the same voltage
ripple. The capacitance can be calculated by the capacitor
Fig. 7. Converters static gain. charge variation, considering null the capacitor series
equivalent resistance. Normally, a small capacitance value is
obtained and a capacitor with low series equivalent resistance
Vo Vi ⋅ D 2 (4)
= 1+ can be used. Considering a capacitor voltage ripple ∆VC
Vi 2 ⋅ i o ⋅ L eq ⋅ f equal to 10% of the nominal voltage of the CM capacitor, the
capacitances are calculated by (11).
VCM Vi ⋅ D 2 (5)
= 1+
Vi 4 ⋅ i o ⋅ L eq ⋅ f Io 0.667 (11)
CS = CM = = = 3.37 µF
2 ∆Vc ⋅ f 8.25 ⋅ 24 ⋅ 10 3
VCS Vi ⋅ D (6)
= Where:
Vi 4 ⋅ i o ⋅ L eq ⋅ f
 Vi  10  15  (12)
Where: ∆VC =   ⋅ =  ⋅ 0.1 = 8.25
L ⋅L  1 − D  100  1 − 0. 8182 
L eq = 1 2 (7)
5) Semiconductor current effort
L1 + L 2
The average current of the diodes IDM and IDo are equal to
the output current Io.
B. Design Considerations of the Proposed Converter without
P 100 (13)
Magnetic Coupling I Do = I DM = I o = o = = 0.667A
The main equations to design the modified SEPIC Vo 150
converter without magnetic coupling shown in Fig. 3 The switch current is equal the sum of the currents of the
operating in CCM, are presented with an example inductance L1 and L2. The switch current is a trapezoidal
considering the following specifications: waveform as presented in Fig. 6. I1 is the switch current at
the beginning of the turn-on period (t1) calculated by (14)
Output Power: Po = 100 W
and I2 is the switch current at the end of the turn-on period
Input Voltage: Vi = 15 V
(t2) calculated by (15), considering a theoretical efficiency
Output Voltage: Vo=150V
Switching Frequency: f=24 kHz equal to η=92%.
The RMS switch current is calculated by (16).
1) Switch duty-cycle
Considering the static gain presented in (1), the nominal  P ∆  P ∆  (14)
converter duty-cycle is calculated by (8). I1 =  o − iL  +  o − iL 
V
 i ⋅ η 2   Vo 2 
V − V 150 − 15 (8)
D= o i = = 0.8182  100 5.1   100 5.1 
Vo − Vi 150 + 15 I1 =  − + −  = 2 .8 A
 15 ⋅ 0.92 2   15 2 
2) Switch and diodes voltages  P ∆  P ∆  (15)
The switch voltage (Vs) and the voltage across the diode I 2 =  o + iL  +  o + iL 
V
 i ⋅ η 2   Vo 2 
DM are equal to the voltage of the capacitor CM. The
theoretical output diode voltage (VDo) is equal to the output  100 5.1   100 5.1 
voltage minus the voltage across the capacitor CS and the I2 =  + + +  = 13.02 A
 15 ⋅ 0.92 2   15 2 
result is the same calculated by (9).
Vs = VDo = VDM =
Vi
=
15
1 − D 1 − 0.8182
= 82.5V (9) IS RMS =
1
3
(
⋅ I12 + I1 ⋅ I 2 + I 2 2 ⋅ D) (16)

However, due to the non idealities of the circuit as the IS RMS =

1
3
( )
⋅ 2.8 2 + 2.8 ⋅ 13.02 + 13.082 ⋅ 0.8182 = 7.63 A
reverse recovery current of the output diode and the intrinsic
circuit inductance and capacitance, the output diode voltage
can reach the output voltage value.

0885-8993 (c) 2013 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission. See
http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.
This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI
10.1109/TPEL.2013.2296053, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics

The theoretical efficiency was estimated with a simplified

analysis, considering the parameters of the components used
in the prototypes shown in Table II- Prototypes Components,
presented in session IV- Experimental Results.
Considering the RMS switch current calculated by (16)
and also obtained through simulation and a RDSon MOSFET
resistance equal 17 mΩ (80ºC), the switch conduction loss is
equal to 1 W. Considering the MOSFET turn-on time equal
to 180 ns and the MOSFET turn-off time equal to 122 ns, the Fig. 9. Proposed converter - Modified SEPIC converter with magnetic
switch voltage equal to 83V and the switch current I1 and I2 coupling and output diode voltage clamping.
calculated by (14) and (15), the total switch commutation
losses is equal to 2W. Therefore the secondary voltage multiplier composed by
The average current in al diodes is equal to the output the diode DM2 and capacitor CS2 is also a non-dissipative
current calculated by (13) and considering a diode forward clamping circuit for the output diode. The circuit presented in
voltage equal to 1.5 V, the total diode conduction losses is Fig. 8 is the power circuit studied in this paper.
equal to 2 W. Considering a total loss equal to 2 W for the The solutions based on the classical boost converter with
input filter inductor L1 and equal to 1.5 W for the inductor magnetic coupling or the integration of the magnetic
L2, the estimated theoretical efficiency is close to 92%. coupling and the voltage multiplier cell can present very high
voltage gain and an excellent performance as presented in
[11]-[19]. However, as the magnetic coupling is
III. PROPOSED CONVERTER WITH MAGNETIC accomplished with the input inductor in the boost based
COUPLING solutions, the input current ripple is significantly increased
and depends on the inductor winding turns ratio. Increasing
A. Power Circuit with Magnetic Coupling the inductor turns ratio and the static gain, the input current
The modified SEPIC converter without magnetic ripple rises. The input current ripple increment is a non
coupling can operate with the double of the static gain of the desirable operation characteristic for some applications as the
classical boost converter for a high duty-cycle operation. fuel cell power source. As the magnetic coupling is not
However, a very high static gain is necessary in some accomplished with the input inductor in the proposed
applications. A practical limitation for the modified SEPIC topology, the input current ripple is low and is not changed
converter in order to maintain the converter performance is a by the magnetic coupling.
duty-cycle close to D=0.85, resulting in a maximum static There are also some proposed solutions based on the
gain equal to q=12.3. A simple solution to elevate the static integration of the SEPIC converter with boost and flyback
gain without increases the duty-cycle and the switch voltage DC-DC converters. An isolated active clamp SEPIC-flyback
is to include a secondary winding in the L2 inductor. The L2 converter is presented in [21] in order to obtain high
inductor operation is similar to a buck-boost inductor and a efficiency. However, the proposed topology presents
secondary winding can increases the output voltage by the pulsating input current and the active clamp technique
inductor windings turns ratio (n), operating as a flyback increases the converter complexity with an additional
transformer. Figure 8 shows this alternative circuit. controlled switch and command circuit.
However, this converter structure presents the problem of The integration of the boost converter with a SEPIC
overvoltage at the output diode Do due to the existence of the converter is also proposed in [22] and [23]. Some operation
coupling winding L2 leakage inductance. The energy stored characteristics of this converter are similar to the circuit with
in the leakage inductance, due to the reverse recovery current magnetic coupling proposed in this paper. The main
of the output diode, results in voltage ring and high reverse differences of the proposed converter with respect the
voltage at the diode Do. This overvoltage is not easily previous topology are the ZCS switch turn-on obtained with
controlled with classical snubbers or dissipative clamping. A a resonant operation stage, reducing the commutation losses
simple solution for this problem is the inclusion of a voltage even in the operation with light load and a higher static gain
multiplier at the secondary side as presented in Fig. 9. This considering the same transformer turns ratio, reducing the
voltage multiplier increases the converter static gain, the converter duty cycle and the switch voltage.
voltage across the output diode is reduced to a value lower The continuous conduction mode operation of the
than the output voltage and the energy stored in the leakage modified SEPIC converter with magnetic coupling and
inductance is transferred to the output. output diode clamping presents five operation stages. All
capacitors are considered as a voltage source and the
semiconductors are considered ideals for the theoretical
analysis.

1) First Stage [t0 - t1] (Fig. 10) – The power switch S is

conducting and the input inductor L1 stores energy. The
capacitor CS2 is charged by the secondary winding L2S and
diode DM2. The leakage inductance limits the current and the
Fig. 8. Modified SEPIC converter with magnetic coupling. energy transference occurs in a resonant way. The output

0885-8993 (c) 2013 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission. See
http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.
This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI
10.1109/TPEL.2013.2296053, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics

diode is blocked and the maximum diode voltage is equal to

(Vo-VCM). At the instant t1 the energy transference to the
capacitor CS2 is finished and the diode DM2 is blocked.
2) Second Stage [t1 - t2] ( Fig. 11) – From the instant t1,
when the diode DM2 is blocked, to the instant t2 when the
power switch is turned off, the inductors L1 and L2 store
energy and the currents linearly increase.
3) Third Stage [t2 - t3] (Fig. 12) - At the instant t2 the Fig. 13. Fourth operation stage.
power switch S is turned off. The energy stored in the L1
inductor is transferred to the CM capacitor. Also there is the
energy transference to the output thought the capacitors CS1,
CS2 inductor L2 and output diode Do.
4) Fourth Stage [t3 - t4] (Fig. 13) - At the instant t3, the
energy transference to the capacitor CM is finished and the
diode DM1 is blocked. The energy transference to the output
is maintained until the instant t4, when the power switch is Fig. 14. Fifth operation stage.
turned on.
5) Fifth Stage [t4 - t5] (Fig. 14) – When the power switch is
turned on at the instant t4, the current at the output diode Do
linearly decreases and the di/dt is limited by the transformer
leakage inductance, reducing the diode reverse recovery
current problems. When the output diode is blocked, the
converter returns to the first operation stage.
The main theoretical waveforms of the modified SEPIC
converter with magnetic coupling and with the voltage
multiplier at the secondary side are presented in Fig. 15. The
switch voltage and the voltage across all diodes are lower
than the output voltage. The power switch turn on occurs
with almost zero current reducing significantly the switching
losses. The current variation ratio (di/dt) presented by all
diodes is limited due to the presence of the coupling inductor
leakage inductance, reducing the negative effects of the
diode reverse recovery current.

Fig. 10. First operation stage.

Fig. 11. Second operation stage. Fig. 15. Main theoretical waveforms of the modified SEPIC converter with
magnetic coupling and voltage multiplier at the secondary side.

The static gain of the modified SEPIC converter with

magnetic coupling and voltage multiplier is calculated by
(17). The static gain can be increased by the windings turns
ratio (n) without increasing the switch voltage.
Vo 1 (17)
= ⋅ (1 + n )
Fig. 12. Third operation stage. Vi 1 − D

0885-8993 (c) 2013 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission. See
http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.
This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI
10.1109/TPEL.2013.2296053, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics

Where the inductor windings turns ratio (n) is calculated V 15 (19)

by: D = 1 − i ⋅ (1 + n ) = 1 − ⋅ (1 + 2.6) = 0.819
Vo 300
N L 2s (18)
n=
N L2 p The nominal operation point is approximately the same of
Considering a duty-cycle equal to 0.8, a static gain equal the topology without magnetic coupling but with a winding
to q= 10 is obtained for n=1, q=15 for n=2 and q=20 for n=3 turns ratio equal to n=2.6, the static gain is equal to
and the switch voltage is equal to five times the input voltage Vo/Vi=20.
for all cases.
The static gain variation as a function of the duty-cycle is 2) Switch and diodes voltages
presented in Fig.16. The switch voltage (Vs) and the voltage across the diode
DM1 are equal the voltage of the capacitor CM.
Vi 15 (20)
Vs = VDM1 = ⋅ Vi = = 82.9 V
1− D 1 − 0.819
The diode DM2 voltage (VDM2) and the output diode
voltage (VDo) are equal and are calculated by (21).

n ⋅ Vi 2.6 ⋅ 15
VDo = VDM 2 = Vo − VCM = = = 215.5V (21)
1 − D 1 − 0.819

3) L1 and L2p-L2s inductance

The current ripple ( iL) of the inductors L1 and L2p are
calculated by the same equation (10) of the topology without
magnetic coupling. As the input voltage and the converter
duty-cycle of the converters with and without magnetic
coupling are the same, the inductance values for the magnetic
coupling converter are the same presented in (10)
Fig. 16. Static gain variation as a function of the duty-cycle and transformer
L1 = L 2 p = 102 µH. However, the L2 inductor presents a
turns ratio. secondary winding L2S for the magnetic coupling converter.
Considering the windings turns ratio equal to n=2.6, the L2S
The third operation stage, presented in Fig. 12, inductance is equal to:
determinates the maximum switch voltage. Therefore, the
L2 S = n 2 ⋅ L2 P = 2.6 2 ⋅ 102 ⋅ 10 −6 = 689.52 µH (22)
maximum switch voltage is equal to the capacitor CM voltage
calculated by (2) and it is the lowest curve presented in Fig.
16. During the fourth operation stage presented in Fig. 13, 4) Leakage inductance Lr
the switch voltage presents a small reduction from calculated The leakage inductance is an intrinsic parameter of the
by (2), as presented in Fig. 15 at the interval (t3-t4). The transformer composed by the coupling inductor L2p-L2S. This
voltage across the leakage inductance must be reduced from inductance is not represented in the circuit of the proposed
the voltage calculated by (2) during the fourth operation converter presented in Fig. 9 or in the operation stages
stage and this voltage reduction is proportional to the relation presented from Fig. 10 to Fig. 14, but this inductance can be
between the leakage inductance of the coupling inductor L2p- considered in series with the L2P inductor or referred to the
L2S and the input inductance L1. secondary side in series with the L2S inductor. This
inductance is very important for the reduction of the reverse
B. Design Considerations of the Proposed Converter with recovery current of the output diode and also in order to
Magnetic Coupling obtain ZCS switch turn-on commutation. Therefore, a
The main equations to design the modified SEPIC minimum value is necessary in order to achieve these
converter with magnetic coupling presented in Fig. 9 are operation characteristics. If the transformer leakage
shown with an example, considering the following inductance value is very low, some constructive technique of
specifications: the transformer can be used in order to reduce inductor’s
Output Power: Po = 100 W coupling coefficient, increasing the leakage inductance or an
Input Voltage: Vi = 15 V external small inductance can be added in series with the
Output Voltage: Vo=300V primary or secondary transformer winding, increasing the
Switching Frequency: f=24 kHz equivalent inductance. But in most of cases, the intrinsic
leakage inductance of the transformer is adequate for the
1) Switch duty-cycle
converter operation with reduced commutation losses.
Considering a static gain equal to 20 and an inductor
Using a conventional ultra-fast diode as output diode (Do)
winding turns ratio equal to n=2.6, the nominal converter
and considering null the leakage inductance, when the switch
duty-cycle obtained from equation (17) is equal to:
S is turned-on at the instant t4 of Fig. 15, that is the fifth
operation stage presented in Fig. 14, the output diode di/dt

0885-8993 (c) 2013 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission. See
http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.
This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI
10.1109/TPEL.2013.2296053, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics

will be very high and the diode reverse recovery current will IV. EXPERIMENTAL RESULT
occurs increasing the commutation losses. With the inclusion
of a leakage inductance, the voltage applied across the The experimental results were obtained with the
leakage inductance referred to the primary side at the switch implementation of the prototype presented in Fig. 17. The
turn-on is approximately equal to (20) and the limitation of circuits presented in Fig. 3 and in Fig. 9 were implemented
the di/dt in the output diode by the leakage inductance is following the parameters presented in Table I. The
calculated by (23). components used in the prototypes are shown in Table II.
di Vi (23)
=
dt (1 − D ) ⋅ Lr ⋅ n
Therefore, considering a maximum di/dt equal to 25 A/µs
[5], the minimum value of the leakage inductance is
calculated by (24).
Vi 15 (24)
Lr = = = 1.27 µH
(1 − D ) ⋅ di ⋅ n (1 − 0.819) ⋅ 25 ⋅ 10 6 ⋅ 2.6
dt

The half resonance period (Tres) at first operation stage,

where occurs the energy transference to the capacitor CS2
through the diode DM2 as presented in Fig. 10 and
represented by the interval (t0-t1) in Fig. 15, is calculated by
(25). As the leakage inductance Lr and the capacitors CS1 and
CS2 present relative low values, the half resonant period is
only a part of the switching period (T).
 C ⋅C  (25)
Tres = π ⋅ Lr ⋅  S1 S 2 

 C S1 + C S 2 

4) Capacitors CS and CM
The voltage ripple of the capacitor CS2 is calculated by
the same equation (8) of the converter without magnetic
coupling. The capacitors CS1 and CM present the same
voltage ripple and are calculated by the equation (12)
multiplied by the inductor windings turns ratio (n), as
presented in equation (26), considering a capacitor voltage
ripple ∆VC equal to 15% of the nominal voltage of the CM
capacitor .
Io ⋅ n 0.333 ⋅ 2.6 (26)
C S1 = C M = = = 2.9 µF
∆Vc ⋅ f 12.4 ⋅ 24 ⋅ 10 3
Where:
V (27)
 V  15  15  15 (27)
∆VC =  i  ⋅ = ⋅ = 12.4V
 1 − D  100  1 − 0. 819  100

5) Semiconductor current effort

The average current of all diodes are approximately equal
to the output current.
P 100 (28)
I Do = I DM1 = I DM 2 = I o = o = = 0.333A
Vo 300
The switch current waveform is presented in Fig. 15. The
RMS switch current can be calculated approximately by the Fig. 17. Prototype of the modified SEPIC with magnetic coupling.
same equation presented for the proposed converter without
magnetic coupling (16), neglecting the additional resonant All experimental results were obtained with a digital
current contribution presented in the period (t0-t1) of Fig. 15. oscilloscope TPS2024 (200MHZ-2GS/s) and a current
amplifier TCPA300 (100MHz) with a current probe TCP312
(30A – 100MHz) from Tektronix.
The experimental results obtained with the modified
SEPIC converter without magnetic coupling are presented

0885-8993 (c) 2013 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission. See
http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.
This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI
10.1109/TPEL.2013.2296053, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics

from Fig. 18 to Fig. 22 operating with a resistive load equal The current and voltage of the output diode is presented in
to 100 W. Figure 18 shows the input current, the switch Fig. 21. A diode reverse recovery current can be observed in
voltage and current and the output voltage. The output this figure and the output diode voltage is clamped at the
voltage is equal to 150 V and the switch voltage is close to output voltage value.
the theoretical value 83 V. The detail of the hard-switching
commutation is presented in Fig. 19.
Figure 20 shows the L1 and L2 inductor current. The
average value of the L1 current is equal to the input current
and the average value of L2 inductor is equal to the output
current.

Fig.21. Output diode Do voltage (CH1) and current (CH4) of the modified
SEPIC converter without magnetic coupling (5 A/div, 50 V/div, 5 µs/div).

Fig.18. Input current (CH4), output voltage (CH3), switch current (CH2) and
voltage (CH1) of the modified SEPIC converter without magnetic coupling
(10 A/div, 50 V/div,10 µs/div).

Fig.22. Reverse recovery current of the output diode Do (CH4) and output
diode Voltage (CH1) of the modified SEPIC converter without magnetic
coupling (2 A/div, 50 V/div, 100 ns/div).

The detail of the output diode reverse recovery current is

shown in Fig. 22.
The diode reverse recovery current can increase the
commutation loss and the EMI generation as occurs in all
Fig. 19. Switch current (CH2) and voltage (CH1) of the modified SEPIC hard switching converters operating in CCM.
converter without magnetic coupling (10 A/div, 50 V/div, 2.5 µs/div). The results obtained with the proposed converter with
magnetic coupling and voltage multiplier are presented from
Fig. 23 to Fig. 26 operating with a resistive load equal to 100
W. Figure 23 shows the input current, the switch voltage and
current and the output voltage of the modified SEPIC
converter with magnetic coupling presented in Fig. 9. The
output voltage is equal to 300 V and the switch voltage is
close to the theoretical value (83 V).
The experimental results are similar to the theoretical
waveforms presented in Fig. 15.
The detail of the switch commutation is presented in Fig.
24. The turn on commutation loss is reduced due to the
presence of the transformer leakage inductance.
The L1 and L2 inductor current are presented in Fig. 25.

Fig.20. L1 (CH4) and L2 (CH2) inductor current of the Modified SEPIC

converter without magnetic coupling (10 A/div, 10 µs/div).

0885-8993 (c) 2013 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission. See
http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.
This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI
10.1109/TPEL.2013.2296053, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics

Fig.26. Output diode Do voltage (CH1) and current (CH2) of the Modified
Fig.23. Input current (CH4), output voltage (CH3), switch current (CH2) and
SEPIC converter with magnetic coupling (2 A/div, 50 V/div, 2.5 µs/div).
switch voltage (CH1) of the Modified SEPIC converter with magnetic
coupling and voltage multiplier (10 A/div, 50 V/div,10 µs/div).
The operation of the converter with magnetic coupling
with output power lower than the nominal value are
presented in Fig. 27 and Fig. 28.
Figure 27 presents the operation with input voltage equal
to 15 V and output power equal to 50 W. The ZCS turn-on
commutation is not dependent of the load and is maintained
in continuous conduction mode at light load.
The operation with an input voltage equal to 24 V and
output power equal to 50 W is presented in Fig.28. The
converter operates in discontinuous conduction mode with
these specifications.
The efficiency curves of the proposed converters
measured with the digital power meter (Yokogawa WT230)
are presented in Fig. 29. The modified SEPIC converter
Fig. 24. Switch current (CH2) and switch voltage (CH1) of the Modified without magnetic coupling (black line) presents efficiency
SEPIC converter with magnetic coupling and voltage multiplier equal to 91.9% at the nominal power and the modified
(2 A/div, 50 V/div, 1 µs/div). SEPIC converter with magnetic coupling and voltage
multiplier (gray line) presents efficiency equal to 92.2% at
the nominal output power.

Fig. 25. L1 (CH3) and L2 (CH4) inductor current of the Modified SEPIC
converter with magnetic coupling (5 A/div, 10 µs/div).

The current and voltage waveform of the output diode is

shown in Fig. 26. The diode reverse recovery current is Fig.27. Input current (CH3), output voltage (CH2), switch current (CH4)
and switch voltage (CH1) of the Modified SEPIC converter with magnetic
reduced by the presence of the leakage inductance. The coupling and voltage multiplier operating with Vi=15 V and Po=50 W (5
output diode voltage ring is eliminated and the EMI A/div, 50 V/div, 5 µs/div).
generation is reduced due to the presence of the clamp circuit .
in the secondary side composed by DM2 and CS2. The output
diode voltage is close to 215 V as calculated by (21).

0885-8993 (c) 2013 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission. See
http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.
This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI
10.1109/TPEL.2013.2296053, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics

91.9% operating with input voltage equal to 15 V, output

voltage equal 150 V and output power equal 100 W.
The efficiency of proposed converter with magnetic
coupling is equal to 92.2% operating with input voltage equal
to 15 V, output voltage equal 300 V and output power equal
100 W. The commutation losses of the proposed converter
with magnetic coupling are reduced due to the presence of
the transformer leakage inductance and the secondary
voltage multiplier that operates as a non dissipative clamping
circuit to the output diode voltage.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Fig.28. Input current (CH3), output voltage (CH2), switch current (CH4) and The authors would like to thank the Fundação Araucária and
switch voltage (CH1) of the Modified SEPIC converter with magnetic Paraná State Government for financial support.
coupling and voltage multiplier operating with Vi=24 V and Po=50 W
(5 A/div, 50 V/div, 5 µs/div).
REFERENCES

[1] C. W. Li, X. He, “Review of Non-Isolated High Step-Up

DC/DC Converters in Photovoltaic Grid-Connected
Applications”, IEEE Transactions on Industrial
Electronics, vol. 58, no. 4, pp.1239-1250, April 2011.
[2] C. S. B. Kjaer, J. K. Pedersen and F. Blaabjerg, “A
Review of Single-Phase Grid-Connected Inverters for
Photovoltaic Modules”, IEEE Transactions on Industry
Applications, vol. 41, no. 5, pp. 1292-1306, September
2005.
[3] D. Meneses, F. Blaabjerg, O. Garcia and J. A. Cobos,
Fig. 29. Efficiency curve of the proposed converters as a function of the
“Review and Comparison of Step-Up Transformerless
output power. Topologies for Photovoltaic AC-Module Application”,
IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, vol. 28, no. 6,
The presence of the transformer leakage inductance pp. 2649- 2663, June 2013.
reduces the turn-on commutation loss and reduces the [4] D. Zhou, A. Pietkiewicz and S. Cuk, “A Three-Switch
negative effects of the diode reverse recovery current, High-Voltage Converter”, IEEE Transactions on Power
increasing the efficiency of the prototype with magnetic Electronics, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 177-183, January 1999.
coupling. The proposed converter without magnetic coupling [5] M. Prudente, L. L. Pfitscher, G. Emmendoerfer, E. F.
operates with hard-switching and presents the negative Romaneli and R. Gules, “Voltage Multiplier Cells
effects of the diode reverse recovery current. However, the Applied to Non-Isolated DC–DC Converters”, IEEE
efficiency obtained with both topologies is adequate for Transactions on Power Electronics, vol. 23, no 2, pp.
many applications with a high static gain. 871-887, March 2008.
The experimental curve of the efficiency shows that the [6] E. H. Ismail, M. A. Al-Saffar, A. J. Sabzali and A. A.
high efficiency of the converter is maintained at light load Fardoun, “A Family of Single-Switch PWM Converters
and the conduction losses are predominant reducing the With High Step-Up Conversion Ratio”, IEEE
efficiency with the increment of the output power. The Transactions on Circuits and Systems - I: Regular
operation with high efficiency at light load is important in a Papers, vol. 55, no. 4, pp. 1159-1171, May 2008.
photovoltaic application for example, because the most part [7] B. Axelrod, Y. Berkovich and A. Ioinovici, “Switched-
of the time, the power generated will be lower than the Capacitor/Switched-Inductor Structures for Getting
maximum PV module power. Transformerless Hybrid DC–DC PWM Converters”,
IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems - I: Regular
Papers, vol. 55, no. 2, pp. 687-696, March 2008.
V. CONCLUSION [8] L.-S. Yang, T.-J. Liang and J.-F. Chen, “Transformerless
DC–DC Converters With High Step-Up Voltage Gain”,
Two new topologies of non isolated high static gain IEEE Transaction on Industrial Electronics, vol. 56, no.
converters are presented in this paper. The first topology 8, pp. 3144-3152, August 2009.
without magnetic coupling can operate with a static gain [9] Q. Zhao and F. C. Lee, “High-efficiency, high step-up
higher than 10 with a reduced switch voltage. The structure DC–DC converters,” IEEE Transaction on Power
with magnetic coupling can operate with static gain higher Electronics, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 65–73, Jan. 2003.
than 20 maintaining low the switch voltage. The efficiency of [10] G. Henn, R. Silva, P. Praça, L. Barreto D. Oliveira,
proposed converter without magnetic coupling is equal to “Interleaved Boost Converter with High Voltage Gain”,

0885-8993 (c) 2013 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission. See
http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.
This article has been accepted for publication in a future issue of this journal, but has not been fully edited. Content may change prior to final publication. Citation information: DOI
10.1109/TPEL.2013.2296053, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics

IEEE Transaction on Power Electronics, vol. 25, no. 11, Electronics, vol. 20, no. 5, pp. 1025- 1035, September
pp. 2753–2761, Nov. 2010. 2005.
[11] R. J. Wai, R. Y. Duan, “High-efficiency Power [18] F. L. Tofoli, D. S. Oliveira Jr., R. P. Torrico-Bascope
Conversion for Low Power Fuel Cell Generation and Y. J. A. Alcazar, “Novel Non isolated High-Voltage
System”, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, vol. Gain DC–DC Converters Based on 3SSC and VMC”,
20, no.5, pp. 847-856, September 2005. IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, vol. 27, no. 9,
[12] W. Li and X. He, “An Interleaved Winding-Coupled pp. 3897- 3907, September 2012.
Boost Converter With Passive Lossless Clamp Circuits”, [19] W. Li, Y. Zhao, Y. Deng and X. He, “Interleaved
IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, vol. 22, no. 4, Converter With Voltage Multiplier Cell for High Step-
pp. 1499- 1507, July 2007. Up and High-Efficiency Conversion”, IEEE Transactions
[13] W. Li and X. He, “A Family of Interleaved DC–DC on Power Electronics, vol. 25, no. 9, pp. 2397- 2408,
Converters Deduced From a Basic Cell With Winding- September 2010.
Cross-Coupled Inductors (WCCIs) for High Step-Up or [20] A. A. Fardoun, E. H. Ismail, “Ultra Step-Up DC–DC
Step-Down Conversions”, IEEE Transactions on Power Converter With Reduced Switch Stress”, IEEE
Electronics, vol. 23, no. 4, pp. 1791-1801, July 2008. Transactions on Industry Applications, vol. 46, no. 5, pp.
[14] H.-W. Seong, H.-S. Kim, K.-B. Park, G.-W. Moon and 2025-2034, September 2010.
M.-J. Youn, “High Step-Up DC-DC Converters Using [21] S. Kim, D.-K. Choi, S.-J. Jang, T.-W. Lee, and C.-Y.
Zero-Voltage Switching Boost Integration Technique Won, "The Active Clamp SEPIC- Flyback Converter",
and Light-Load Frequency Modulation Control”, IEEE IEEE 36th Power Electronics Specialists Conference,
Transactions on Power Electronics, vol. 27, no. 3, pp. 2005 (PESC '05), pp. 1209-1212, June 2005.
1383- 1400, March 2012. [22] K. Park, G. Moon, and M.-J. Youn, "Nonisolated High
[15] T.J. Liang and K.C. Tseng, “Analysis of Integrated Step-Up Boost Converter Integrated With SEPIC
Boost-Fyback Step-Up Converter”, IEE Proc.-Electr. Converter", IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics,
Power Appl., vol. 152, no. 2, March 2005. vol. 25, no. 9, pp. 2266-2275, Sept. 2010.
[16] R.-J. Wai, C.-Y. Lin, R.-Y. Duan and Y.-R. Chang, [23] K. Park, H.-W. Seong, H.-S. Kim, G.-W. Moon, and M.-
“High-Efficiency DC-DC Converter With High Voltage J. Youn, "Integrated Boost-SEPIC Converter for High
Gain and Reduced Switch Stress”, IEEE Transaction on Step-Up Applications", IEEE Power Electronics
Industrial Electronics, vol. 54, no. 1, pp. 354- 364, Specialists Conference 2008 (PESC 2008), pp. 944-950,
February 2007. June 2008.
[17] R.-J. Wai and R.-Y Duan, “High Step-Up Converter
With Coupled-Inductor”, IEEE Transactions on Power

0885-8993 (c) 2013 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission. See
http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.