A PWM Controlled Active Boost Quadrupler Resonant Converter for High Step-Up Application

A high step-up constant frequency resonant converter with PWM controlled active boost quadrupler rectifier (ABQR) is proposed in this paper. The proposed converter operates at the resonant frequency throughout the whole operation region to achieve the highest efficiency. Under low input voltage conditions, the quadrupler based active boost rectifier will operate with the proposed PWM modulation scheme to step up the voltage. With the proposed ABQR, the output switches serve both for synchronous rectification and voltage boost function. It enables a higher voltage boost ratio than series resonant converter. Moreover, the voltage stress on secondary power devices are reduced to half of the high output voltage and the transformer turns ratio can be lower. A 300-W hardware prototype with gallium-nitride devices is built to verify the performance of the proposed converter and modulation method. It can achieve a peak efficiency of 98.9% and a California Energy Commission weighted efficiency of 98.7% under nominal input voltage condition.