Cost-effective clamping capacitor boost converter with high voltage gain.

In renewable energy generation systems, the DC–DC converter with high voltage gain is indispensable, which is used to convert the low output voltage of photovoltaic (PV) cells and fuel cells to the high DC bus voltage. In this study, a cost-effective clamping capacitor boost (CCB) converter with high voltage gain is proposed. In the basis of the conventional boost converter, a clamping capacitor cell with two capacitors and two diodes is embedded. Then, the voltage gain of the proposed CCB converter can be doubled compared with the conventional boost converter. Further, unlike the switched capacitor high voltage gain converter, there is no large current spikes on the capacitors in the proposed CCB converter, which can reduce the current stresses and the costs of capacitors a lot. The operation principles and characteristics of the proposed CCB converter are analysed in detail and verified by simulation. Finally, a 450 W prototype is implemented to validate the performances and advantages of the proposed CCB converter. The proposed CCB converter provides a cost-effective choice for high voltage gain converters in the renewable energy generation system with PV cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]