An Improved Soft Switching DC-DC Converter for Low Power PV Applications

This paper presents the analysis of a soft switching boost converter for PV applications. The designed converter maintains Zero Voltage Switching (ZVS) turn on and turn off of the main switch and Zero Current Switching (ZCS) turn on and ZVS turn off of the auxiliary switch. Detailed operation, analysis and simulation results for the design have been presented. Switching and conduction losses across the switches and the diodes have also been calculated and analyzed. Some light has been thrown on the design of inductor for the practical implementation of the same. The Perturbation and Observation (P &O) method has been used in order to track the Maximum Power Point (MPP) from the PV panel. This soft switching technique can be used in telecom services where there is a necessity of high voltage with low DC power. The systems are modeled and simulated in PSIM 64 bit version 9.0 environment.