1

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION

1.1 GENERAL
The transmission and distribution power systems have the natural trend to increase
the voltage rating which increase the efficiency, whereas microelectronics and digital
systems have the natural trend to decrease the voltage rating to reduce size, increase
the efficiency and the speed of digital systems. Such scenario represents interesting
challenges in buck-based power supply developments because of the extremely lowvoltage gain; the conventional buck converter sacrifice the switching frequency and
the system size because of the extremely low duty cycle or the transformer
requirement. A good example of this is the computers power supply where a
microprocessor needs to be fed with less than 3 V DC and the power supply is fed
with 110 V/220 V AC. On the other hand, for the boost converter supplies analogue
challenges are emerging. There are applications where high voltage and low current
are needed such as TVCRTs, lasers, X-ray systems, ion pumps and electrostatic
systems. Likewise, applications in renewable energy generation systems where the
low voltage of a photovoltaic (PV) panel or a fuel cell necessitates being boosted in
order to feed a grid connected inverter that can push the power into the grid. For
telecom standard equipment for providing internet services, the 48 V of the DC
battery plant has to be boosted to a 380-V intermediate DC bus. The high intensity
discharge (HID) lamps for automobile head lamps during their start-up require the
voltage increment from the batterys 12 V to more than 100 V at 35W
A transformer with a large voltage gain is undesirable because it enhances the
transformer non-idealities. To reduce the DCDC converters size, the use of high

switching frequency results in small inductors and capacitors with an equivalent

current and voltage ripple. This is the motivation to use several hundreds of
kilohertz. The natural switching delays in actual switches limit the switching
frequency when the duty ratio is too small; a solution to this is the employment of
transformers to reduce the voltage without using small duty ratios. However, the
transformers losses limit the switching frequency also; along with the development
of high-speed MOSFETs the switching frequency limitation becomes a transformers
issue.
1.2 AIM OF THIS PROJECT
The objective of the project is to design DCDC converter used as a DC link in
renewable energy systems. Renewable energy systems offer clean power and
independence from fossil fuel, since the product of the chemical reaction in fuel
cells is H2O when H2 is used as fuel; therefore, the fuel cells are
environmentally cleaner than traditional generators. Nowadays, the main energy
generation is based on concentrated high power plants; in the future, a diverse
and disperse generation will become a major energy source. According to these
scenarios, the increase in world energy demand will be supplied by renewable
energy technologies, which will provide 30% - 50% of world energy by 2050.
This scenario makes multilevel topologies ideal for renewable energy generation
systems. Some applications have been developed, the major ones related with
multilevel converters based renewable systems who use the renewable source in
the optimum operating point and the DC-Link voltage balance. Renewable
systems are often made by a dc-dc converter that can track the maximum power
operating point, and an inverter to deliver the active power into the utility. It is
known that for applications on active power transfer, such as motor drives, or
renewable applications, conventional multilevel topologies require either
isolated dc power sources, or a complicated voltage balancing circuit and control
to support and maintain each voltage level, and they are neither operable nor

complete for active power conversion because they depend on outside circuits
for voltage balancing. The challenge is to link the DC renewable energy source
with a DC-AC multilevel inverter. Such links should be balanced, and is
highly desirable to be self-balancing to avoid complex control strategy, It
also requires a high boost ratio, which is a challenge for transformer-less
DC-DC converters, although for utility connected renewable applications the
boost ratio can be larger than five.
1.3 LITERATURE SURVEY
Jih-Sheng Lai, Senior Member, IEEE, and Fang Zheng Peng, Member, IEEE
Multilevel Converters-A New Breed of Power Converters discusses Multilevel
voltage source converters are emerging as a new breed of power converter options
for high-power applications. The multilevel voltage source converters typically
synthesize the staircase voltage wave from several levels of dc capacitor voltages.
One of the major limitations of the multilevel converters is the voltage unbalance
between different levels. The techniques to balance the voltage between different
levels normally involve voltage clamping or capacitor charge control. There are
several ways of implementing voltage balance in multilevel converters. Without
considering the traditional magnetic coupled converters, this presents three recently
developed multilevel voltage source converters: 1) diode-clamp, 2) flyingcapacitors,
and 3) n cascaded-inverters with separate dc sources.
Hirofumi Akagi, Fellow, IEEE, Hideaki Fujita, Member, IEEE, Shinsuke Yonetani,
and Yosuke Kondo A 6.6-kV Transformerless STATCOM Based on , a Five-Level
Diode-Clamped PWM Converter System Design and Experimentation of a 200-V
10-kVA Laboratory Model discusses synchronous Compensator (STATCOM)
intended for installation on the 6.6-kV industrial and utility distribution systems. The
STATCOM consists of a five-level diode-clamped pulsewidth-modulation converter

rated at 1 MVA and a voltagebalancing circuit rated at 6 kVA. Moreover, this

designs, constructs, and tests a 200-V 10-kVA STATCOM based on a five-level
converter with a carrier frequency of 3 kHz and a voltage-balancing circuit with a
switching frequency of 3 kHz.
Boris Axelrod, Yefim Berkovich, Member, IEEE, and Adrian Ioinovici, Fellow,
IEEE A Cascade Boost-Switched-Capacitor-Converter Two Level Inverter With
an Optimized Multilevel Output Waveform discusses Two structures, a switchedcapacitor (SC)-based boost converter and a two level inverter, are connected in
cascade. The dc multilevel voltage of the first stage becomes the input voltage of the
classical inverter, resulting in a staircase waveform for the inverter output voltage.
Such a multilevel waveform is close to a sinusoid; its harmonics content can be
reduced by multiplying the stage number of the SC converter. The output low-pass
filter, customary after a two-level inverter, becomes obsolete, resulting in a small
size of the system, as the SC circuit can be miniaturized. Both stages are operated at
a high switching frequency, resulting in a high frequency inverter output, as required
by some industrial applications. A Fourier analysis of the output waveform is
performed. The design is optimized with reference to the nominal duty-cycle for
obtaining the minimum total harmonic distortion
Jos Rodrguez, Senior Member, IEEE, Jih-Sheng Lai, Senior Member, IEEE, and
Fang Zheng Peng, Senior Member, IEEE, Multilevel Inverters: A Survey of
Topologies, Controls, and Applications discusses Multilevel inverter technology has
emerged recently as a very important alternative in the area of high-power mediumvoltage energy control. This paper presents the most important topologies like diodeclamped inverter (neutral-point clamped), capacitor-clamped (flying capacitor), and
cascaded multicell with separate dc sources. Emerging topologies like asymmetric
hybrid cells and soft-switched multilevel inverters are also discussed. This paper also
presents the most relevant control and modulation methods developed for this family

of converters: multilevel sinusoidal pulsewidth modulation, multilevel selective

harmonic elimination, and space-vector modulation. Special attention is dedicated to
the latest and more relevant applications of these converters such as laminators,
conveyor belts, and unified power-flow controllers. The need of an active front end
at the input side for those inverters supplying regenerative loads is also discussed,
and the circuit topology options are also presented
Oded Abutbul, Amir Gherlitz, Yefim Berkovich, Member, IEEE, and Adrian
Ioinovici, Senior Member, IEEE, Step-Up Switching-Mode Converter With High
Voltage Gain Using a Switched-Capacitor Circuit, discusses A new circuit is
proposed for a steep step-up of the line voltage. It integrates a switched-capacitor
(SC) circuit within a boost converter. An SC circuit can achieve any voltage ratio,
allowing for a boost of the input voltage to high values. It is unregulated to allow for
a very high efficiency. The boost stage has a regulation purpose. It can operate at a
relatively low duty cycle, thus avoiding diode-reverse recovery problems. The new
circuit is not a cascade interconnection of the two power stages; their operation is
integrated.
Fan Zhang, Fang Z. Pen and Zhaoming Qian, Study of the Multilevel Converters in
DC-DC Applications, discusses Multilevel converters have been demonstrated to
have many advantages such as low harmonic, low voltage stress, and high power
capability. However, most of the researches are focused on high power AC-DC and
DC-AC applications. This paper presents several multilevel DC-DC converters,
which can be used in automotive applications as well as in high power applications.
Based on the diode-clamp,flying-capacitor, and cascaded multilevel inverters, their
correlative DC-DC converters are derived. A 1 kW prototype of four-level flyingcapacitor DC-DC converter used in automotive systems was built as an example to
demonstrate the advantages.

Dragan MaksimoviC, Member, IEEE, and Slobodan Cuk , IEEE, Switching

Converters with Wide DC Conversion Range, discusses In dc-to-dc conversion
applications that require a large range of input andlor output voltages, conventional
PWM converter topologies must operate at extremely low duty ratios, which limits
the operation to lower switching frequencies because of the minimum ONtime
of the transistor switch. This is eliminated in a new class of singletransistor
PWM converters featuring voltage conversion ratios with
quadratic dependence on duty ratio. Practical circuit examples operating
at 0.5 MHz are described.
1.4 OUTLINE OF THE PROJECT
The multilevel boost converter system analyzed in this thesis consists of a DC
source, DC-DC converter, PWM controller. Hence the operations of the above
stated component their modeling equations and MATLAB model are deal that
chapter wise in this report.
Chapter 2 deals with the basic concepts of solar PV system
Chapter 3 deals with the DC DC converter
Chapter 4 deals with the basic concepts of multilevel converter
Chapter 5 describes the simulation results of the proposed control technique
Chapter 6 describes the conclusion and Future scope of the project

CHAPTER 2

DC TO DC CONVERTERS

2.1 Overview
The main purpose of a DC-DC converter is to supply a regulated DC output
voltage to a variable-load resistance from an unstable DC input voltage. DC-DC
converters are commonly used in applications requiring regulated DC power, such as
computers, medical instrumentation and communication devices. DC-DC converters
are also used to provide a stable variable DC voltage for DC motor speed control
applications. There are three types of DC-DC converters in use today, linear
converters, switched capacitor converters (also known as charge pumps), and
switched converters. Linear converters can only generate lower output voltage from
the higher input voltage. Their conversion efficiency is never greater than Vout/Vin.
In practice, most linear converters operate with typical conversion efficiencies of
only 30%. This is the major limitation which makes linear converters not suitable for
the task of this thesis. However they are commonly used in analog circuits to ensure
a constant (or nearly constant) power supply voltage. Switched capacitor converters
implement switches and capacitors to perform voltage conversion. Since they do not
use magnetic components like inductors the amount of EMI (Electro Magnetic
Interference) is low which makes these converters suitable for applications which are
sensitive to this phenomenon. Switched converters operate by passing energy in
discrete packets over a switch. Hence, the output voltage can be higher, lower or
inverted compared to the input voltage. They offer higher power efficiency than their
linear and switched capacitor counterparts. However, switched converters generate
significant amounts of electrical noise caused by the switching activity. Presence of
this phenomenon known as voltage ripple is their main drawback, fortunately this
problem can be solved as it will be shown later in this section.

The output voltage in switched DC-DC converters is generally controlled

using a switching technique, as illustrated by the basic switched DC-DC converter
shown in figure 2.1.

Figure 2.1: Basic switched DC-DC converter.

There are tree main topologies of switched DC-DC converters used today:

1. Buck or step-down converters are used to produce an output voltage between

ground and the input voltage.

2. Boost or step-up converters operate in the opposite manner compared to

the

step-down converters generating higher voltage at the output than at the input.

3. Buck-Boost converters are used in applications where the output voltage is

required to have levels both higher and lower than the input voltage.
The most widely used method for controlling the output voltage through the
switch (see figure 2) is pulse-width modulation (PWM). The pulse-width modulation
control technique maintains a constant switching frequency and varies the ratio of
the charge cycle (time when the switch is on) and the discharge cycle (time when the
switch is off) as the load varies. This technique affords high power efficiency. In
addition, because the switching frequency is fixed, the noise spectrum is relatively
narrow, allowing simple low-pass filter techniques to greatly reduce the peak-topeak voltage ripple at the output. This is a reason why, PWM is popular in
telecommunication applications where noise interference is of concern.
2.2 BUCK CONVERTERS

As mentioned earlier, step-down converters are used to convert an input

voltage to a lower level at the output. Basic principle of a buck topology is shown in
figure 2.2 . When the switch is in position one, the output voltage is equal to the
input voltage and when the switch is in position two, the output voltage is equal to
zero. The resulting average voltage level at the output is a function of the time when
the switch is in position one and two respectively. This function is called duty ratio
and it is defined by the expression D = Vo/Vin, where Vo donates the average output
voltage and Vin is the DC voltage generated by the power source.

Figure 2.2 Basic Buck topology.

The main problem of this basic circuit is the voltage ripple of the output
signal of the converter. For this reason a LC-filter is used to decrease the voltage
ripple. This modified circuit is shown in figure 2.3.

Figure 2.3 Buck converter

Since the average current through the load resistor R is approximately the
same as the average current of the inductor, the voltage Vo across the load resistor
contains less ripple. A diode is used when the switch is in position two. This allows
the capacitor to be charged in both switching positions. When the switch is in
position one the energy is transferred from the power source to the capacitor and

10

when the switch is in position two the capacitor is charged with the energy stored in
the inductor. This type of operation results in high power efficiency for buck
converters.
Mode 1:
In this mode when MOSFET M1 is switched on at t=0.The input current,
which rises, flows through filter inductor L, filter capacitor c, and load resistor R. In
this mode diagram shown in figure 2.4a.

Figure 2.4a mode 1 operation of Buck converter

Mode 2:
In this mode when MOSFET M1 is switched off at t=t1. The freewheeling
diode Dm conducts due to energy stored in inductor and the inductor current
continuous to flow through L, C, load and diode Dm. The inductor current falls until
transistor Q1 is switched on again in the next cycle. Is this mode diagram shown in
figure2.4b.

Figure 2.4b mode 2 operation of Buck converter

11

2.3 BOOST CONVERTERS

A boost converter topology is obtained by rearranging the components of a
buck converter according to figure 2.5.
During the time the switch is closed energy is transferred to the inductor
while the diode is preventing the capacitor to discharge through the switch. When
the switch opens current through the inductor continues to flow in the same direction
as during the previous cycle. This forward-biases the diode and both the input
voltage source and the inductor are transferring energy to the load. Hence, a voltage
boost occurs across the load, which causes the output voltage to be higher than the
input voltage. The capacitor must be large enough to keep the output voltage
approximately constant

Figure 2.5: Boost topology.

Mode 1:
In this mode when MOSFET M1is switched on at t=0.The input current,
which rises, flows through inductor L and MOSFET M1. Is this mode diagram
shown in figure 2.5a

12

Figure 2.5a mode 1 operation of Boost converter

Mode 2:
In this mode when MOSFET M1 is switched off at t=t1.The current which was
flowing through the MOSFET would not flow through L, C, load and diode D m. The
inductor current falls until MOSFET M1 is turned on again in the next cycle. Is this
mode diagram shown in figure 2.5b

Figure 2.5b mode 2 operation of Boost converter

2.4 BUCK-BOOST CONVERTERS
Certain applications require voltage levels to be both higher and lower than
the source voltage. A solution to this is a buck-boost converter. A simple buck-boost
converter is shown in figure 3.6.

13

Figure 2.6 Buck-Boost topology.

The basic operation of a buck-boost converter is the following. When the
switch is closed energy from the source is transferred to the inductor and the diode is
reversed-biased, thus, it is off. At the same time the capacitor is discharged into the
output load RL and the output voltage is falling.
Next, the switch is open and the inductor maintains the current direction. This
forward-biases the diode. During this period the inductor is transferring energy to the
capacitor. In other words, the capacitor is being charged as the inductor is being
discharged, and the output voltage is rising. Previous discussion implies, that by
adjusting the on time of the switch compared to the time of one switching period, the
output voltage Vo can be set to either lower or higher levels than the input voltage
Vs. If the ratio of the on time of the switch and the switching period approaches zero
than the output voltage also approaches zero. If the ratio approaches one, than the
output voltage level theoretically has no upper limit.
2.5 MODIFIED BUCK BOOST CONVERTER:
A buck boost regulator provides an output voltage which may be less than or
greater than the input voltage- hence the name buck-boost; the output voltage
polarity is opposite to that of the input voltage. This regulator is also known as an
inverting regulator. The circuit arrangement of a buck-boost regulator is shown in the
Figure 2.7. The circuit operation can be divided into two modes as follows

14

Figure 2.7 Buck boost converter

It is the main part in the project. This converter is made of a buck topology in
cascade with a boost topology. It can provide both a step-down and a step-up the
input voltage. A step-up or step-down action will depend upon the duty cycle given
to the semiconductor switch. Step-up action is possible only when the duty cycle is
greater than 0.5 and Step-down action is possible only when the duty cycle is less
than 0.5.

CHAPTER 3
BASIC CONCEPTS OF MULTILEVEL CONVERTER
3.1 INTRODUCTION
Power electronics are finding increasing market space in industrial applications due
to their imminent advantages in adjustable speed motor drives (ASD), unity power
factor rectifications (PFC), active power filtering (APF), static var compensation
(STATCOM), as well as unified power flow control (UPFC). Presently, most of their
applications are in the low to medium power range from 5 kilowatts (kW) to 250kW
at the low voltage line of 208-480 volts (V), since high speed semiconductors such
as insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT), MCT, and the like are readily available
for these power and voltage levels. It is still a challenge to connect basic power
converters, built from these types of semiconductor switches, directly to the

15

medium-voltage grids (e.g., 2.3, 3.3, 4.16, 6.9kV and the like). Solutions that allow
connection to high power grids, such as silicon-carbide (SIC) switches, are still
unproven and will take some time before introduction into commercial applications.
Instead, research and development has focused on multilevel converters, which have
emerged as a new breed of power converter options for high power applications.
Currently, the diode-clamped multilevel converter and cascaded H-bridge are the two
most frequently used multilevel converter topologies. The diode-clamped multilevel
converter, also called the neutral point clamped (NPC) converter, prevailed in the
1980's and found its applications in power factor correction, reactive power
compensation, adjustable speed motor drives, and unified power flow control.
However, only a limited number of levels are achievable, due to the unbalanced
voltage issues in the capacitors and also due to voltage clamping requirements,
circuit layout, stray inductances, electromagnetic interferences (EMI) and packaging
constraints. The cascaded H-bridge has drawn considerable interest since the mid1990s, and has been used for ASD and reactive power compensation. The modular
structure provides advantages in power scalability and maintenance and fault
tolerance can be achieved by bypassing the fault modules. Unfortunately, this
technology requires a large number of single- phase modules accompanied by a
transformer with a large number of isolated secondary windings, resulting in high
manufacturing costs. Moreover, due to its single-phase nature, each converter
module processes pulsating power, resulting in a high energy storage requirement,
especially in low speed, constant torque applications. Thus, it is desirable to provide
low cost converters suitable for high power applications. The fundamental concept
of high power application is to engage a device with a low or medium current but a
high voltage and on the contrary with a medium voltage but a high current. These
two concepts introduce devices to be connected to high potential grids as high power
applications. To connect a power electronic device to a high voltage, series switches
are employed to share the voltage.

16

CASCADED MULTILEVEL CONVERTERS

Single phase Cascade multilevel convener

Figure shows a schematic of a single-phase cascade converter in which two cells of

traditional two-level power converters with separated DC sources are series
connected. The output waveform is synthesized by adding of each converter output
voltage. Assuming the DC bus voltage of each converter is E. Based on switch
combinations, five output voltage levels can be synthesized (0, E, 2E). In
traditional cascade converter, the dc bus voltage of each module has the same value,
and switching frequency and voltage blocking capability of all switches are the
same. Obviously by using proper control method applied to this topology, the
stepped output waveform can be approximated to a sinusoidal waveform. Here,
many algorithms can be employed, such as optimized stepped waveform method,
Sub-harmonic elimination PWM method
In general, the output voltage of a given multilevel converter can be calculated from

Where Vo is the output of the multilevel converter, n is the number of the output
levels; S is the switching state that ranges from 0 to (n-1). E is the minimum voltage
level the multilevel converter can produce. For example, when S= 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, then
from five output levels can be synthesized respectively.

17

Single phase Cascade multilevel convener

DIODE CLAMPED MULTILEVEL CONVERTERS
At fig. , the scheme of a diode clamped multilevel inverter is shown. On the DC-side
of the inverter, n different partial voltages are defined by n sources n U ,...,U 1 . One
inverter half-leg is realized with n elements connected in series, n T ,T ,...,T 1 2 ,
which have each their own anti parallel diode n D ,D ,...,D 1 2 . For the lower halfleg. With such an inverter scheme, the leg voltage which is defined between the
output point and the negative bar of the DC link, can take b N different values

18

This N b -number defines the usual number of possible levels. The number (n) of
series connected elements per half leg, which corresponds also to the number of
partial-voltages at the DC-side, can be odd or even. With such an inverter leg, onephase or three-phase inverters can be realized. The line-to-line voltage of a bridge
connection realized with the described inverter leg can take a number of p N
different values, where

19

CAPACITOR CLAMPED MULTILEVEL CONVERTERS

Figure shows a scheme of a single phase Capacitor clamped multilevel converter.

Assuming the DC bus voltage of the converter is 2E, it can be easily found that there
are five levels in the output waveform, according to (1), obtains:

Where E is the minimum voltage level, S=0, 1, 2, 3, 4. For S select 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, five

different values of the output voltage can be achieved, i.e. (0, E, 2E) accordingly.

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3.2 CIRCUIT OPERATION OF MULTILEVEL CONVERTER

CHAPTER 4

21

SYSTEM ANALYSIS

4.1 Existing System & Drawbacks

Converter
1) Buck
2) Boost &
3) Buck boost
Boost converter
Transformer based
Advantages:
Large voltage gain
Disadvantages:
Bulky in size
Low switching frequency
Duty ratio is too small

Transformer less
For the boost-type converters, there are several topologies for
implementing a high efficiency transformer-less converter with high boost
ratios, all of them with relatively high complexity, compared with the
conventional single switch converter
DCDC high-voltage converter with a buck converter followed by a push
pull voltage multiplier. It may be extended to high voltage applications with

22

low-voltage devices by adding capacitors and diodes, without modifying the

power stage.
Disadvantages
1) Requires two stages including three switches and a complex control
system;
2) The input current is discontinuous
The cascade boost, also named quadratic boost converter (QBC). It may be
extended to attain a higher boost ratio using only one switch. The input
current is continuous. However, the switch is rated to the total output voltage,
which avoids the use of high voltage.
Disadvantages
1) It requires several inductors, which is the bulkiest part and it is hard to
encapsulate.

4.2 Proposed System

For multilevel inverters based renewable applications, it is highly desirable to design
a DC-DC converter to overcome such challenges, and connect a N-level multilevel
inverter to the utility with a high boost ratio, self-balanced voltage, and

23

unidirectional current. The DC-DC converters proposed in this project overcome

such difficulties. This project proposes a new DC-DC converter, named Multilevel
Boost Converter (MBC), based on one inductor, one switch, 2N-1 diodes and 2N-1
capacitor for N levels. It is a boost converter PWM controlled and able to maintain
the same voltage in all N output levels and able to control the input current. This
converter is based on the multilevel converters principle and it is proposed to be used
as DC-link in applications where several voltage levels are needed with
selfbalancing and unidirectional current flow, such as photovoltaic (PV) or fuel cell
generation systems with multilevel inverters. Used to feed a multilevel inverter, the
proposed topologies achieve a self-balanced voltage.

4.2.1 Economical Feasibility

The multilevel configuration makes it possible to utilize low voltage solid state
switches, which have extremely low on-resistance and are low cost, because of large
production volume for switching power supplies used in communications and
computer industries. These low cost-size switches proportionate the possibility of
integrating inverters in a small space and make renewable systems inverters compact
and cheap.

24

CHAPTER 5
PWM CONTROLLER
5.1 INTRODUTION
However, there is a great need for applying partial power in other devices, such as
electric stoves, lamp dimmers, and robotic servos. Basically, a PWM variable-power
scheme switches the power quickly between fully on and fully offe.g. several
times a minute in an electric stove, 120 Hz in a lamp dimmer, and well into the tens
or hundreds of kHz in a computer power supply (which has a regulated output). In
any event, the switching rate is much faster than what would affect the load, which is
to say the device that uses the power. In practice, applying full power for part of the
time does not cause any problems; PWM is very practical.
The term duty cycle describes the proportion of on time to the regular interval or
period of time; a low duty cycle corresponds to low power, because the power is off
for most of the time. Duty cycle is expressed in percent, 100% being fully on.
PWM works well with digital controls, which, because of their on/off nature, can
easily set the needed duty cycle. Using this PWM, the IGBT can be switched ON &
OFF, and accordingly the capacitors are utilized. The PWM is generated using
Microcontroller.

25

CHAPTER 6

26

SYSTEM SPECIFICATION

6.1 Hardware Requirements

8- bit microcontroller - to generate the PWM signal
Solid State switch - IGBT-12N60A4D
Fast recovery diodes - BY229X-800
Inductor - 1.33 mH,
capacitors 100 mF250 V (aluminium electrolytic)
Capacitor 2 mF250 V (polyester)

6.2 Software Requirements

Simulation Matlab
Microcontroller programming & compiling Codevision AVR
AVR Osp

27

Hardware Description
1) 8- bit microcontroller Atmega8
MICROCONTROLLER ATmega8:
The ATmega8 is a low-power CMOS 8-bit microcontroller based on
the AVR RISC architecture. By executing powerful instructions in a single clock
cycle, the ATmega8 achieves throughputs approaching 1 MIPS per MHz, allowing
the system designer to optimize power consumption versus processing speed.
The AVR core combines a rich instruction set with 32 general-purpose
working registers. All the 32 registers are directly connected to the Arithmetic Logic
Unit (ALU), allowing two independent registers to be accessed in one single
instruction executed in one clock cycle. The resulting architecture is more code
efficient while achieving throughputs upto ten times faster than conventional CISC
microcontrollers.

28

PIN DIAGRAM:

Features:
High-performance, low-power avr, 8-bit microcontroller
Advanced risc architecture
Nonvolatile program and data memories
Two 8-bit timer/counters with separate prescaler, one compare mode
Byte-oriented two-wire serial interface
Programmable serial usart
Master/slave spi serial interface
Programmable watchdog timer with separate on-chip oscillator
On-chip analog comparator
Power-on reset and programmable brown-out detection
Internal calibrated rc oscillator
External and internal interrupt sources
I/O and packages

29

23 programmable i/o lines

28-lead pdip, 32-lead tqfp, and 32-pad mlf
Operating voltages
2.7 - 5.5v (atmega8l)

4.5 - 5.5v (atmega8)

Speed grades
0 - 8 mhz (atmega8l)
0 - 16 mhz (atmega8)

DESCRIPTION:
The atmega8 is a low-power cmos 8-bit microcontroller based on the
avr risc architecture. By executing powerful instructions in a single clock cycle, the
atmega8 achieves throughputs approaching 1 mips per mhz, allowing the system
designer to optimize power consumption versus processing speed. The avr core
combines a rich instruction set with 32 general-purpose working registers. All the 32
registers are directly connected to the arithmetic logic unit (alu), allowing two
independent registers to be accessed in one single instruction executed in one clock
cycle. The resulting architecture is more code efficient while achieving throughputs
upto ten times faster than conventional cisc microcontrollers.

The device is manufactured using atmels high-density non-volatile memory

technology. The flash program memory can be reprogrammed in-system through an
spi serial interface, by a conventional non-volatile memory programmer, or by an onchip boot program running on the avr core. The boot program can use any interface

30

to download the application program in the application flash memory. Software in

the boot flash section will continue to run while the application flash section is
updated, providing true read-while-write operation. By combining an 8-bit risc cpu
with in-system self-programmable flash on a monolithic chip, the atmel atmega8 is a
powerful microcontroller that provides a highly flexible and cost-effective solution
to many embedded control applications. The atmega8 avr is supported with a full
suite of program and system development tools, including c compilers, macro
assemblers, program debugger/simulators, in-circuit emulators, and evaluation kits.

IGBT:
600V, SMPS Series N-Channel IGBT with Anti-Parallel Hyperfast Diode
The HGTG12N60A4D, HGTP12N60A4D and HGT1S12N60A4DS are MOS gated
high voltage switching devices combining the best features of MOSFETs and bipolar
transistors. These devices have the high input impedance of a MOSFET and the low
on-state conduction loss of a bipolar transistor. The much lower on-state voltage
drop varies only moderately between 25oC and 150oC. The IGBT used is the
development type TA49335. The diode used in anti-parallel is the development type
TA49371. This IGBT is ideal for many high voltage switching
applications operating at high frequencies where low conduction losses are essential.
This device has been optimized for high frequency switch mode power supplies.
Features
>100kHz Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390V, 12A

31

200kHz Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390V, 9A

600V Switching SOA Capability
Typical Fall Time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70ns at TJ = 125oC
Low Conduction Loss

Symbol

Packaging

32

Fast recovery diodes - BY229X-800

Features
Low forward volt drop
Fast switching
Soft recovery characteristic

33

High thermal cycling performance

Isolated mounting tab
Symbol

General Description
Glass-passivated double diffused rectifier diodes featuring low forward voltage drop,
fast reverse recovery and soft recovery characteristic. The devices are intended for
use in TV receivers, monitors and switched mode power supplies.

Software Description
Matlab:
Matlab is an interactive system for doing numerical computations.

34

A numerical analyst called Cleve Moler wrote the first version of Matlab in
the 1970s. It has since evolved into a successful commercial software
package.
Matlab relieves you of a lot of the mundane tasks associated with solving
problems numerically. This allows you to spend more time
thinking, and encourages you to experiment.
Matlab makes use of highly respected algorithms and hence you can be
con_dent about your results.
Powerful operations can be performed using just one or two commands.
You can build up your own set of functions for a particular application.
Excellent graphics facilities are available, and the pictures can be inserted into
Word documents.
.
Codevision AVR
CodeVisionAVR is a C cross-compiler, Integrated Development Environment and
Automatic Program Generator designed for the Atmel AVR family of
microcontrollers. The program is a native 32bit application that runs under the
Windows 95, 98, NT 4, 2000 and XP operating systems. The C cross-compiler
implements nearly all the elements of the ANSI C language, as allowed by the AVR
architecture, with some features added to take advantage of specificity of the AVR

35

architecture and the embedded system needs. The compiled COFF object files can be
C source level debugged, with variable watching, using the Atmel AVR Studio
debugger. The Integrated Development Environment (IDE) has built-in AVR Chip
In-System Programmer software that enables the automatical transfer of the program
to the microcontroller chip after successful compilation/assembly. The In-System
Programmer software is designed to work in conjunction with the Atmel STK500,
Kanda Systems STK200+/300, Dontronics DT006, Vogel Elektronik VTEC-ISP,
Futurlec JRAVR and MicroTronics' ATCPU/Mega2000 development boards.
For debugging embedded systems, which employ serial communication, the IDE has
a built-in
Terminal. Besides the standard C libraries, the CodeVisionAVR C compiler has
dedicated libraries for:
Alphanumeric LCD modules
Philips I2C bus
National Semiconductor LM75 Temperature Sensor
Philips PCF8563, PCF8583, Dallas Semiconductor DS1302 and DS1307 Real
Time Clocks
Dallas Semiconductor 1 Wire protocol
Dallas Semiconductor DS1820/DS18S20 Temperature Sensors
Dallas Semiconductor DS1621 Thermometer/Thermostat
Dallas Semiconductor DS2430 and DS2433 EEPROMs
SPI
Power management
Delays
Gray code conversion.

36

CodeVisionAVR also contains the CodeWizardAVR Automatic Program Generator,

that allows you to
write, in a matter of minutes, all the code needed for implementing the following
functions:
External memory access setup
Chip reset source identification
Input/Output Port initialization
External Interrupts initialization
Timers/Counters initialization
Watchdog Timer initialization
UART initialization and interrupt driven buffered serial communication
Analog Comparator initialization
ADC initialization
SPI Interface initialization
I2C Bus, LM75 Temperature Sensor, DS1621 Thermometer/Thermostat and
PCF8563, PCF8583,
DS1302, DS1307 Real Time Clocks initialization
1 Wire Bus and DS1820/DS18S20 Temperature Sensors initialization
LCD module initialization.
AVR Osp:
The AVR Open Source Programmer (AVROSP) is an AVR programmer application
equivalent to the AVRProg tool included in AVR Studio. It is a command-line tool,
using the same syntax as the other command-line tools in AVR Studio. The open
source code and its modular design make it easy to port the application to other
platforms and to add support for other programmer types and communication
channels. Currently, AVROSP supports the programmers described in AVR109 and

37

AVR910 through the standard PC serial port. The application note describes how to
add more support.AVROSP reads and writes Intel HEX files, and can use an existing
AVR Studio installation to get required device parameters.

CHAPTER 7
SIMULATION RESULTS
7.1 GENERAL
MATLAB is an interactive system for numerical computation. Numerical
Analyst cleve moler wrote the initial Fortan version of MATLAB in the late 1970s as
a teaching aid. It became popular for both teaching and research and evolved into a
commercial software package written in C. For many years now, MATLAB has been
widely used in universities and industries. MATLAB has several advantages over
more traditional means of numerical computing.
1. It allows quick and easy coding in very high level language
2. Data structure require minimal attention; in particular, arrays need not be
declared before first use
3. An interactive interface allows rapid experimentation and easy debugging.

38

4. High quality graphics and visualization facilities are available

5. MATLAB M-files are completely portable across a wide range of
platforms.
6. Toolboxes can be added to extend the system, for example , specialized
signal processing facilities and a symbolic manipulation capability.
Furthermore, MATLAB is a modern programming language and problem
solving environment: it has sophisticated data structures, contains built-in editing
and debugging tools, and supports object oriented programming. These factors make
MATLAB an excellent language for teaching and a powerful tool for research
problem solving. Being interpreted, MATLAB inevitably suffers some loss of
efficiency compared with compiled languages, but built-in performance acceleration
techniques reduce the in efficiencies and users have the possibility of linking to
compiled FORTAN or C code using MEX files.

OVERALL SIMULATION MODEL

Circuit Diagram:

39

Simulation results:

40

1) Vout
2) Voltage across capacitor 1
3) Voltage across capacitor 2
4) PWM

Calculation
Vc = Vin((1)/ 1- D)
= 50( 1/ 1 0.5 )
= 50 * 2
= 100
No of output capacitors

=4

41

= 4 * 100
= 400 V

42

CHAPTER 8
CONCLUSION AND FUTURE SCOPE
8.1 CONCLUSION
This paper proposes a DCDC converter topology. The DCDC MBC is based on
only one driven switch, one inductor, 7 diodes and 7 capacitors for an 4x MBC. It is
proposed to be used as DC link in applications where several controlled voltage
levels are needed with selfbalancing and unidirectional current flow, such as PV or
fuel cell generation systems with multilevel inverters.
The main advantages of this topology are:
A continuous input current.
A big conversion ratio without extreme duty cycle.
Transformer-less.
Allow high switching frequency.
It can be built in a modular way and more levels can be added without
changing the main circuit.
It provides several self-balanced voltage levels and only one driven switch, which
make it ideal for feeding a diode clamped multilevel inverter. The proposed circuit is
based on the multilevel converters principle, where each device blocks only one
voltage level achieving high-voltage converters with low-voltage devices.

43

8.2 FUTURE SCOPE

Future work will be done in the use of the MBC for balancing the DC link in the
diode clamped multilevel inverter, especially for distributed generation applications
based on multilevel converters.
REFERENCES
1) Rodriguez, J.; Jih-Sheng Lai; Fang Zheng Peng; Multilevel inverters: a survey of
topologies, controls, and applications Industrial Electronics, IEEE Transactions on
Volume 49, Issue 4, Aug. 2002 Page(s):724738.
2)Fan Zhang; Peng, F.Z.; Zhaoming Qian; Study of the multilevel converters in
DC-DC applications Power Electronics Specialists
Conference, 2004. PESC 04. 2004 IEEE 35th Annual Volume 2, 20-25 June 2004
Page(s):1702 - 1706 Vol.2
3) Fang Zheng Peng; A generalized multilevel inverter topology with self voltage
balancing Industry Applications, IEEE Transactions on Volume 37, Issue 2, MarchApril 2001 Page(s):611 - 618
4) Tolbert, L.M.; Peng, F.Z.; Multilevel converters as a utility interface for
renewable energy systems Power Engineering Society Summer Meeting, 2000.
IEEE Volume 2, 16-20 July 2000 Page(s):1271-1274 vol. 2 .
5) Ozpineci, B.; Tolbert, L.M.; Su, G.-J.; Du, Z.; Optimum fuel cell utilization with
multilevel DC-DC converters Applied Power Electronics Conference and
Exposition, 2004. APEC '04. Nineteenth Annual IEEE Volume 3, 2004 Page(s):1572
- 1576 Vol.3.

44

6) Fang Zheng Peng; Fan Zhang; Zhaoming Qian; A magnetic-less DCDC

converter for dual-voltage automotive systems Industry
Applications, IEEE Transactions on Volume 39, Issue 2, March-April 2003
Page(s):511 518.
7) Walker, G.R.; Sernia, P.C.; Cascaded DC-DC converter connection of
photovoltaic modules Power Electronics, IEEE Transactions on Volume 19, Issue 4,
July 2004 Page(s):1130 1139.
8) MIDDLEBROOK R.D.: Transformerless DC-to-DC converters with large
conversion ratios, IEEE Trans. Power Electron., 1988
9) MAKSIMOVIC D., CUK S.: Switching converters with wide DC conversion
range, IEEE Trans. Power Electron., 1991
10) AXELROD B., BERKOVICH Y., IOINOVICI A.: Switched-capacitor/
switched-inductor structures for getting transformerless hybrid DCDC PWM
converters, IEEE Trans. Circuits Syst. I, 2008, 55,
11) DONGYAN Z., PIETKIEWICZ A., CUK S.: A three-switch highvoltage
converter, IEEE Trans. Power Electron., 1999
12) ABUTBUL O., GHERLITZ A., BERKOVICH Y., IOINOVICI A.: Step-up
switching-mode converter with high voltage gain using a switched-capacitor circuit,
IEEE Trans.
13) YONETANI S., KONDO Y., AKAGI H., FUJITA H.: A 6.6-kV transformerless
STATCOM based on a five-level diodeclamped PWM converter: system design and
experimentation of a 200-V 10-kVA laboratory model,

45

IEEE Trans. Ind. Appl

14) RODRIGUEZ J., LAI J.-S., PENG F.Z.: Multilevel inverters: a survey of
topologies, controls, and applications, IEEE Trans. Ind. Electron.,
15) LAI J.-S., PENG F.Z.: Multilevel converters a new breed of power
converters, IEEE Trans. Ind. Appl., 1996

46

Full fledged circuit diagram