Analysis and Design of a Novel High-Gain Full-Bridge Converter for Renewable Energy Systems

Converters with high voltage gains have increased in popularity in recent years because of the need for such converters in renewable energy systems. In such applications, low input DC voltages from solar or fuel cells need to be converted to much greater DC voltages. A novel DC-DC converter with galvanic isolation, high voltage gain, and an integrated passive snubber network is introduced in the paper. In the paper, the operation of the converter is discussed in detail and its steady-state characteristics are analyzed. The results of the analysis are used to develop a design procedure for the converter that will be demonstrated with an example. The viability of the proposed converter is confirmed with experimental results obtained from a prototype converter.