INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ELECTRONICS, COMMUNICATION AND COMPUTATIONAL ENGINEERING - ICECCE 2014

A SINGLE SWITCH HIGH FREQUENCY RESONANT CONVERTER FOR PHOTOVOLTAIC POWER APPLICATIONS

M. Abel
Asst.professor, Department of EEE,
Vi Institute of Technology,
Chennai, India.
mabel6074@gmail.com

Dr.D. Kirubakaran
Professor& Head, Department of EEE,
St.Josephs Institute of Technology,
Chennai, India.
kirubad@gmail.com

Abstract
A novel single switch resonant boost converter with
zero-voltage switching (ZVS) and zero-current switching (ZCS)
characteristics are proposed in this paper. The Single switch
resonant approach decreases the current stress of the main
switching device, reduces the ripple of the input current and
output voltage. Moreover, by establishing the common softswitching, the single resonant converter can greatly reduce the
size and cost. The main advantage of this paper is, it uses a single
switch only. By using resonant converters efficiency can be
increased. The conventional hard switching PWM converter
produces stress on the devices and Electromagnetic interference
noise. The main switch of the proposed converter can achieve the
characteristics of ZVS and ZCS simultaneously to reduce the
switching loss and improve the efficiency with a wide range of
load. This topology works at less than 50% of the duty cycle. The
operating principle and design method of the proposed converter
are presented. Finally, the simulations results are analyzed using
Matlab/ Simulink software package. The feasibility, output
waveforms, efficiency and exactness of the proposed converter
are validated.
Keywords: Zero voltage switching (ZVS),
switching (ZCS), photovoltaic (PV).

Zero-current

I. INTRODUCTION
The use of power converters is important in solar
power generation to give constant power to BESS (Battery
Energy Storage system). Solar power is considered as a main
replacement for energy generation in many countries. Serious
greenhouse effects, environment pollution and limited fossil
fuels have forced most engineers to do research on renewable
energy sources [1]. The typical renewable energy sources
such as solar power, wind turbine and fuel cells have the
features of cleanliness, pollution free, abundance and free
from maintenance [2]. Currently, solar and wind are most
widely utilized renewable energies. Photovoltaic (PV) arrays
and wind turbine technologies have been undergoing a
dramatic development and now are the worlds fastest
growing energies. Therefore, to develop PV sources as a
substitute for fossil fuels has been important [3]. An effective
approach is to adapt a dual-input power supply system by PV
renewable energy sources with a DC/DC converter, which can
simplify power supply and reduces the cost. In order to reduce
switching and conducting losses of active switches and

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improve efficiency, a DC/DC converter with ZVS, ZCS and

synchronous rectification techniques are usually required.The
single switch boost converter can use the ZVS and ZCS to
reduce the switching losses for high frequency switching [4].
However, they are considered for the single topology.
Many soft-switching techniques are then introduced
to the boost converters. The boost converters with ZCS or
ZVS are proposed in [5] [8] and [12]. These topologies have
higher efficiency than the conventional boost converters
because the proposed circuit have decreased the switching
losses of the main switches with ZCS or ZVS. In [9], softswitching circuit for the boost converter is proposed.
However, its main switches are zero-current turn-on and zerovoltage turn-off and the converter works in the discontinuous
conduction mode (DCM). The maximum duty cycle of the
converter is also limited. Therefore, PWM power converters
can now operate at a much higher switching frequency,
reducing the size of passive components, reducing the overall
cost of the system. However, the converter switching loss also
increases proportionally to the frequency. The increase in
dv/dt and di/dt caused by the increased speed, increased stress
on the device and system electromagnetic interference (EMI)
noise. These effects set an upper limit on the frequencies at
which conventional hard-switching PWM converters can
operate.
In the last few decades, various researches have been
performed to improve the switch transition to overcome this
inherent problem of hard-switching PWM converters. By
solving these high voltage and current stress problems, energy
conversions using resonant converters are important in
ensuring both high performance and supporting energy
conservation applications in renewable energy generation
systems. This work proposes a novel single-switch resonant
power converter that has only a single ended structure and is
therefore unlike the traditional ZVS converter, which must
have an isolated circuit to trigger the active power switch [13].
The use of a novel single-switch resonant power converter in
the DC/DC energy conversion stage for a renewable energy
generation system provides many advantages, such as a less
number of components, low cost and high power density.
These characteristics, as well as the fact that the novel ZVS
resonant power converter has only a single active power
switch, cause the novel power converter to have a very simple

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INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ELECTRONICS, COMMUNICATION AND COMPUTATIONAL ENGINEERING - ICECCE 2014

structure, low switching losses, small volume and less weight.

Additionally, since the commutations in the active power
switch of the resonant power converter are performed at zero
voltage, the switching losses are very low resulting in very
high efficiency.
II. PV MODEL
PV array consists of solar cells, where each cell is
basically a p-n junction. The equivalent circuit of a solar cell
is shown in Fig. 1.
PV array modeling can be implemented from the
mathematical model in (1), which is derived from a cells
equivalent circuit where all cells are identical

I = N I

N I exp q(kTA)

proposed novel single-switch resonant converter for

renewable energy generation applications. It comprises a
source side inductor Lm, a Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field
Effect Transistor (MOSFET) that operates as a power switch
S, a shunt capacitor Cr, a resonant Ls, an energy-blocking
diode D and a filter capacitor Co. The capacitor Co and the load
resistance R together forms a first-order low-pass output filter,
which reduces the ripple voltage below a specified level. The
MOSFET is favored device because its body diode can be
used as an anti-parallel diode DE for bidirectional power
switch.

1 (1)

WhereV0 and I0 represent the PV array output voltage and

current respectively. Rs and Rsh are the solar cell series and
shunt resistances. q is the electron charge (1.6 1019 C); A
is dimensionless junction material factor, k is Boltzmann
constant ,T is the temperature (in Kelvin), Np and Ns are the
number of cells connected in parallel and series respectively.

Fig.2 proposed novel single-switch resonant power converter

Fig. 1 Equivalent circuit of a PV cell

Therefore, either direct or indirect coupling can be used to

operate the PV array at its optimum power point. In direct
coupling, the PV array is directly connected to the load and
periodic fine-tuning is required [10]. In the other method,
indirect coupling, automatically tracking of the optimum
operating point is facilitated by connecting a power converter
between the PV array generator and the load.
III. ANALYSIS OF THE PROPOSED CONVERTER
Fig.2 shows the proposed circuit. It applies the
common soft-switching technique. Fig. 2 is explained with six
operating modes, depending on the duty cycle of the main
switch. One topology is less than 50% duty cycle and another
one more than 50% duty cycle. Here less than 50% duty cycle
topology operating principle is described in this section.
This work develops a novel current-fed resonant
converter with ZVS and ZCS operations of both the active
power switch and the energy blocking diode for energy
conversion. Figure 2 shows a basic circuit diagram of the

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Fig. 3 Steady-state operating waveforms

Fig.3 plots the key current and voltage waveforms

that explain the operation of the converter. The steady-state
operations of the novel single-switch resonant power

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converter can be divided into six modes in accordance with

the conducting active power switch in one high frequency
cycle.
Mode I: (between t0 and t1)
Fig.4 shows the equivalent circuit of mode I. The
active power switch S remains OFF, before t0. The resonant
tank current iLs is positive and greater than DC input current
iLm. So the inductor current Ls makes the energy blocking D
forward bias. The switch has to be turned ON only at zero
voltage. If this condition is not satisfied the energy stored in
the capacitor C will be dissipated in the active power switch
S. The diode DE is connected in antiparallel to switch S which
is made to conduct in this mode and its conduction is due to
difference between currents iLmiLs which is negative to
prevent the dissipation of energy. The negative current is
made to flow through the antiparallel diode D. The turn ON
signal is applied to the gate of the active power switch S when
the capacitor voltage decreases to Zero. Thus active power
switch turns on under ZCS and ZVS condition. Since iLs is
positive the energy blocking diode D is forward biased and
turns ON. The antiparallel diode DE is reversed biased by a
positive current iLm-iLs at the end of this mode.

Fig. 5 Equivalent circuit for Mode II

Mode III: (between t2 and t3)

Fig.6 shows the equivalent circuit of mode III. The
active power switch S remains in ON state and choke inductor
current ILm increases continuously and flows through the
switch S. The inductor current iLs decreases till it reaches zero
and going into negative state is prevented by energy blocking
diode D and it is reverse biased. The diode D is still reverse
biased since ILs is negative. An important fact is that the DC
source is never connected directly to the load in this novel
single switch converter. The energy stored in choke inductor
Lm during the turn ON process of active power switch is
transferred to the output load when it is turned off. At the time
when the power switch is turned OFF, this mode becomes
end.

Fig.6 Equivalent circuit for Mode III

Mode IV: (between t3 and t4)

Fig. 4 Equivalent circuit for Mode I

Mode II: (between t1 and t2)

Fig.5 shows the equivalent circuit of mode II. The
switch S turned ON in this mode. In the choke inductor Lm,
the current iLm increases continuously with the applied line
voltage. A natural commutation occurs by the antiparallel
diode DE to the active power switch S due to current iL-iLs. As
a result the capacitor voltage VC is clamped at zero. Hence the
switch is turned ON at zero voltage. The resonant current iLs
passes through the energy blocking diode D and it is
conducting. When the inductor current iLs decreases to zero
and diode D is reverse biased, mode III begins.

Fig.7 shows the equivalent circuit of mode IV. At the

instant of t3 active power switch S is turned OFF. Capacitor
current ic becomes iLm and capacitor voltage Vc which is
proportional to iLm rises linearly from zero to finite positive
value. This is required for ZVS operation. Capacitor C is
charged by ic and the energy is transferred from the dc input
source to capacitor. In this mode output capacitor Co supplies
power to load resistor R. When the energy blocking diode D
becomes forward biased (Vc> Vo) and this mode ends.

Fig. 7 Equivalent circuit for Mode IV

Mode V: (between t4 and t5)

Fig.8 shows the equivalent circuit of mode V. In this
mode the active power switch S remains in OFF state. The
energy blocking diode D is turned ON and at the same time
inductor current iLs is positive, which results in a resonant
stage between inductance Ls and capacitor C. During this
interval capacitor voltage Vc continuously increases upto its

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peak value and capacitor current Ic is maintained positive. At

t5 capacitor current ic resonates to zero and this mode ends.

Fig. 8 Equivalent circuit for Mode V

Mode VI: (between t5 and t5)

Fig.9 shows the equivalent circuit of mode VI. This
cycle begins at t5 when capacitor voltage Vc resonates from
negative values to zero. The inductor LS and energy blocking
diode D is still conducting. So the output power continues to
flow through C and R. The active power switch S is turned
ON to eliminate switching losses and mode I begins.

Fig. 9 Equivalent circuit for Mode VI

IV.OPERATING CHARACTERISTICS
The single switch resonant boost converter specially
designed to ensure ZCS and ZVS operation under wide load
range. During the turn ON and turn OFF processes, the power
device has to withstand high voltage and current
simultaneously, resulting in high switching losses and stress.
Dissipative passive snubbers are usually added to the power
circuits, so that the dv/dt and di/dt of the power devices could
be reduced. The switching loss and stress are diverted to the
passive snubber circuits. However, the switching loss is
proportional to the switching frequency, thus limiting the
maximum switching frequency of the power converters.
Typical converter switching frequency was limited to a few
tens of kilo-Hertz (typically 20 kHz to 50 kHz). The stray
inductive and capacitive components in the power circuits and
power devices still cause considerable transient effects, which
in turn give rise to electromagnetic interference (EMI)
problems. The transient ringing effects are major causes of
EMI.
The reduction of switching loss and the continual
improvement of power switches allow the switching
frequency of the resonant converters to reach hundreds of
kilo-Hertz (typically 100 kHz to 500 kHz). Consequently,
magnetic sizes can be reduced, the power density of the
converters increased the resonant current and voltage resonant
converters have high peak values leading to higher conduction

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loss and higher V and I ratings requirements for the power

devices. Also, many resonant converters require frequency
modulation (FM) for output regulation. Variable switching
frequency operation makes the filter design and control more
complicated. The operating characteristics of this novel
single-switch resonant power converter, it is generally
assumed that when the low-pass filter or load circuit is a
voltage sink type, the output capacitance in parallel with the
load resistor is assumed to be very large so its voltage is
approximately constant. Therefore, the output circuit viewed
from the output terminals of the rectifier can be replaced by a
constant voltage sink.
In idealized steady-state voltage and current
waveforms of the proposed novel single-switch resonant
power converter for a switching frequency fs and a resonant
frequency fo. Notably, operating below resonance is preferred
because the active power switch turns on at zero current and
zero voltage; thus, the freewheeling diode does not need to
have very fast reverse-recovery characteristics.
To realize ZVS operation of the active power switch,
the turn ON signal of the active power switch S should be
applied while its body diode is conducting. In discontinuous
interval operating cycle of the switching frequency exceeds
one complete cycle of the resonant frequency, and so in this
mode of operation fs<fo. During the in which the source
inductor current is positive, the power is fed to the load
through the energy-blocking diode D. When the energyblocking diode D is turned on, the resonant circuit resonate at
under-damped frequency.
V.DESIGN AND SIMULATION RESULTS
The renewable energy generation system as primary source
to the proposed single-switch resonant power converter. The
solar panel output designed as a small scale range. Here
proposed single-switch resonant power converter was
connected to solar energy generation system that consisted of
a DC source with an output voltage of 15V. The conduction
losses of the novel single-switch resonant power converter are
proportional to the forward voltage of the energy-blocking
diode. To realize ZVS operation of the active power switch
and ZCS operation of the energy-blocking diode of this novel
converter, the switching frequency must be less value of
resonant frequency. The developed novel single switch
resonant power converter is applied to a 12 ohm load resistor.
Fig.10 shows the simulation circuit of the proposed
converter. The following simulation results were analyzed
under specific design parameter of resonant boost converter
at constant pulse width modulation scheme.

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Fig. 10 Simulation circuit of proposed converter

Fig.11 shows the waveforms of the current and

voltage of MOSFET. The fig.12 shows the waveforms of the
Gate signal and voltage waveforms of MOSFET, where VGS
represents the trigger signal, and VDS represents the voltage
across the active switch S.

Fig. 13Voltage and current waveforms of inductor Lm

Fig.14 shows the voltage waveform VC and the

current waveform IC of the resonant capacitor, respectively.
Fig.15 plots the voltage waveforms of the resonant inductor
VLs and the current waveform of the resonant inductor ILs.

Fig.14 Voltage and current waveforms of resonant capacitor

Fig.11 current and voltage waveforms of MOSFET

Fig.12 Gate signal and voltage waveforms of MOSFET

Fig.13 displays the voltage and current waveforms

of the source side choke inductor Lm at the input terminal.
This inductance value is set for large value to maintain
constant current for continuous operation.

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Fig. 15 Voltage and current waveforms of inductor Ls

Fig.16 plots the voltage waveforms of the

antiparallel diode voltage and current respectively. Fig. 17
shows the input voltage and input current waveforms of
energy blocking diode.

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REFERENCES

Fig.16 Voltage and Current waveforms of antiparallel diode

Fig. 17 Voltage and Current waveforms of energy blocking diode

Simulation was performed under the following

conditions. Constant switching frequency fs=72 kHz, resonant
frequency fo =95kHz, duty cycle k=0.337, output voltage Vo=
17.5V, and output power Po= 30.4W. To reduce input current
ripple and maintain stability of the output voltage, the lowpass filters at the input and output terminals which use a choke
inductor and an electrolytic capacitor are set to Lm= 10H and
Co= 200F respectively. The low-pass filter is designed to be
small, light and low-cost. Under the aforementioned operating
conditions, the two parameters of the novel single-switch
resonant power converter are calculated as follows C=0.16F
and Ls=17H. The simulation results were measured at input
voltage Vin=15 V and input current Iin=2.12 A.
VI. CONCLUSION
A novel boost converter designed with both zero
voltage Switching and zero-current-switching functions. The
simulation results thus obtained using MATLAB/Simulink is
proposed in this paper. The duty cycle of this topology can be
more or less than 50%. The resonant inductor Lr , resonant
capacitor Cr to become resonate at under resonance frequency
way to reach ZVS and ZCS of the main switches .Here
voltage stress and current stress across the switch reduced.
The efficiency of 97.8% with output power of 32W and input
voltage of 15V are obtained.

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