A GaN-based flying-capacitor multilevel boost converter for high step-up conversion

Compact high step-up DC/DC conversion to provide high DC voltage has numerous applications. A conventional boost converter has many limitations with regard to achieving high voltage gain with high power density and efficiency. The flying-capacitor multilevel (FCML) converter topology has many inherent advantages to overcome many of the limitations of the conventional boost converter. In this work, a GaN-based 7-level flying capacitor multilevel boost converter prototype has been implemented and achieved 100 V to 914 V conversion at 750 W output power with 92.7% peak efficiency, and 200 V to 966 V conversion at 900 W output power with 93.7% peak efficiency within the tested load range.