Study and Implementation of a Novel Bidirectional

DC-DC Converter with High Conversion Ratio

W. C. Liao T. J. Liang H. H. Liang H. K. Liao *L. S. Yang **K.C. Juang J. F. Chen

Green Energy Electronics Research Center
Department of Electrical Engineering, National Cheng-Kung University, Taiwan
No.1, University Road, Tainan City 701, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
tjliang@mail.ncku.edu.tw
*Department of Electrical Engineering, Far East University, Tainan, Taiwan
Email: yanglungsheng@yahoo.com.tw
**Information and Communications Research Laboratory, ITRI, Hsinchu, Taiwan
Email: KC_Juang@itri.org.tw

Abstract—A novel bidirectional DC-DC converter with high
conversion ratio is proposed in this paper. The proposed
converter uses the coupled-inductor to achieve high voltage
conversion ratio. In the boost mode, the proposed converter is
cascaded by boost converter and flyback converter with
voltage double to increase the voltage gain. The switch voltage
stress is reduced by a voltage clamping circuit, and the
leakage-inductor energy is recycled. In the buck mode, the
circuit consists of asymmetrical half-bridge flyback converter
and buck converter. The leakage-inductor energy is recycled
by a clamping circuit, and all of the switches achieve zero-
voltage-switching turn on. This paper first analyzes the
proposed converter operating principles and steady-state
circuit characteristics. Eventually, a prototype circuit with
conversion voltage 24 V/400 V and output power 500 W is
implemented to verify the feasibility of the proposed converter.
I. INTRODUCTION
Because of the environmental pollution and global
warming, renewable energy has become the research and the
development priorities for most of the industrial countries.
Bidirectional DC-DC converters can transfer the power
between two DC sources. So bidirectional DC-DC
converters is widely used for many green energy
applications, such as wind power systems [1], photovoltaic
systems [2], fuel cell and battery hybrid supplied power
systems [3]. Another application of bidirectional DC-DC
converters is uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs) [4].
UPSs are used for some very important loads such as
computers, telecommunications and medical equipments.
Batteries are commonly served as an energy storage device
for the UPS system. Bidirectional DC-DC converters play
an important part for back-up energy system. Fig. 1 shows
the diagram of hybrid supply system. The battery supplies
the energy to the DC bus via bidirectional DC-DC converter
when the load power is more than the rated power of main
power. When the load power is less than the rated power of
main power, the battery is charged by bidirectional DC-DC
converter.
Generally, the voltage difference between the battery
and DC bus is large. So bidirectional DC-DC converter with
steep voltage conversion ratio is required for the above
applications. Theoretically, high voltage conversion ratio is
able to be achieved by power converter in very high or very
low duty ratio. Actually, the efficiency of power converter is
reduced in very large or very small duty ratio due to the
effect of parasitic elements [5]. For the different
applications, bidirectional DC-DC converters may be
isolated type or non-isolated type. High voltage conversion
ratio in bidirectional DC-DC converters is able to be
achieved easily by adjusting turns ratio of the isolated
transformer. The bidirectional flyback DC-DC converter is a
simple and low-cost configuration [6], [7]. However, it has
some drawbacks about high voltage stress and low
efficiency due to the leakage-inductor. The bidirectional
flyback DC-DC converter is suitable in low power
applications for the above reasons. For higher power
applications, the bidirectional half-bridge/push-pull DC-DC
converter [8]-[10] and the Bidirectional full-bridge/push-
pull DC-DC converter [11]-[13] are suitable configurations.
But more components increase the cost and size of
converters. The non-isolated bidirectional DC-DC
converters achieve high voltage conversion ratio not easily.
A single-stage cascaded bidirectional DC-DC converter has
been proposed in [14]. The voltage conversion ratio of
cascaded converters is the square of convention converters,
but the power devices suffer from higher current stress and
the conduction losses is increased. Bidirectional DC-DC
converters with coupled-inductor can easily achieve high
voltage conversion ratio [15], [16]. Unfortunately, the
energy stored in the leakage-inductor induces high voltage
spike on power switches, high switching losses and devices
damage.

978-1-4577-0541-0/11/$26.00 ©2011 IEEE 134


Figure 1. Hybrid supply system.
II. PROPOSED CONVERTER
Fig. 2 shows the circuit configuration of the proposed
converter. It is used to bidirectional transfer the energy
between the DC source VL in the low-voltage side and the
DC source VH in the high-voltage side. When the proposed
converter is operated in the boost mode, the circuit
characteristic is cascaded by boost converter and flyback
converter with voltage double. When it is operated in the
buck mode, the circuit characteristic is derived from
asymmetrical half-bridge flyback converter [17], [18] and
buck converter.
Figure 2. The proposed converter.
In the following steady-state characteristics analysis of
the proposed converter, some conditions are assumed as:
• All the circuit components are ideal.
• The capacitors CL, Cc, CH1 and CH2 are large enough,
so the voltages across the above capacitors are
considered as constant.
• The magnetizing-inductor Lm is large enough, so the
converter is operated in continuous condition mode
(CCM).
III. OPERPERATING MODES OF THE PROPOSED
CONVERTER
A. Operation in Boost Mode
In the boost mode, the power flow from the low-voltage
side to the high-voltage side. The switch S1 is the main
power switch. S2, S3 and S4 serve as diodes DS2, DS3 and DS4.
135
The typical waveforms of the proposed converter in the
boost mode are shown in Fig. 3.
Figure 3. Typical waveforms in boost mode.
The operating principles during one switching cycle are
described as follows:
Mode I: [to ~ t1]
In this mode, switch S1 and diode DS4 are turned on. The
equivalent circuit is shown in Fig. 4(a). The magnetizing-
inductor Lm is charged by the voltage source VL. The
voltage across the primary winding equals VL. The
magnetizing-current iLm is increased linearly. The secondary
current iDS4 is discharged by the capacitor CH2 due to the
leakage-inductor Lk. This mode ends when the current iDS4
is reduced to zero and diode DS4 is turned off.
Mode II: [t1 ~ t2]
In this mode, switch S1 and diode DS3 are turned on. The
equivalent circuit is shown in Fig. 4(b). The magnetizing-
inductor Lm is charged by the voltage source VL. The
magnetizing-current iLm is increased linearly. In addition,
the voltage source VL transfers energy to the capacitor Cc by
the secondary winding NS and diode DS3. The capacitor Cc
is charged to the voltage of (NS/NP)VL. This mode ends
when switch S1 is turned off.
Mode III: [t2 ~ t3]
In this mode, diodes DS2 and DS3 are turned on. The
equivalent circuit is shown in Fig. 4(c). The energy of
magnetizing-inductor Lm is released to the capacitor CH1.
The voltage on switch S1 is clamped to the voltage VCH1.
The magnetizing-current iLm is decreased linearly. The
secondary current iDS3 is discharged by the capacitor Cc due
to the leakage-inductor Lk. This mode ends when the current
iDS3 is equal to zero and diode DS3 is turned off.
Mode IV: [t3 ~ t4]
In this mode, diodes DS2 and DS4 are turned on. The
equivalent circuit is shown in Fig. 4(d). The energy of
magnetizing-inductor Lm is released to the capacitor CH1. In
addition, the magnetizing energy is transferred to CH1 via
coupled-inductor, capacitor Cc and diode DS4. The
magnetizing-current iLm is decreased linearly. This mode
ends when the current iDS2 reaches zero and diode DS2 is (d) Mode IV
turned off.
VCc iDS4
S4
Mode V: [t4 ~ t5] DS4
Cc iDS3
In this mode, diode DS4 is turned on. The equivalent NS CH2 VCH2
circuit is shown in Fig. 4(e). The energy of magnetizing- S3 DS3
inductor Lm is released to the capacitor CH1 via coupled-
Lk
inductor, capacitor Cc and diode DS4. The magnetizing- NP
S2
iDS2 VH
current iLm is decreased linearly. This mode ends when iS1 DS2
switch S1 is turned on, and the next switching cycle begins.
VL CH1 VCH1
Lm
iLm
S1 DS1

(e) Mode V
Figure 4. Equivalent circuit in boost mode.

The average magnetizing-inductor voltage VLm over one

switching cycle must be zero in steady-state. Since the
leakage-inductor Lk is much smaller than the magnetizing-
inductor Lm, the time intervals t0~t1 and t2~t3 are able to be
omitted. The main interval of storing energy for Lm is Mode
I, and the voltage across Lm equals VL. The main intervals
(a) Mode I of releasing energy for Lm are Mode IV and Mode V, and
the voltage across Lm is -(VCH2-VCc)/n. According to the
voltage-second balance of the magnetizing-inductor Lm, the
voltages across the capacitors Cc, CH1 and CH2 are given by
NS
VCc =nVL , n= . (1)
NP

1
VCH 1 = VL , and (2)
1− D
n
VCH 2 = VL . (3)
(b) Mode II 1− D
The output voltage VH is obtained by adding the
capacitor voltages VCH1 and VCH2. From (2) and (3), the
voltage gain is given by
VH n +1
= . (4)
VL 1 − D
From (4) high voltage gain can be achieved by increasing
turns ratio of coupled-inductor. Fig. 5 shows the voltage gain
versus duty ratio of the proposed converter and the other
coupled-inductor-based converters under a fixed turns ratio
of coupled inductor, n = 5. The proposed converter achieves
(c) Mode III
higher voltage gain than others.

136
 VH In this mode, switch S3 and diode DS1 are turned on. The
VL
equivalent circuit is shown in Fig. 7(e). The magnetizing-
inductor Lm releases energy to the capacitor CL and the load.
The magnetizing-current iLm is decreased linearly. The
secondary leakage energy is recycled to the capacitor Cc.
This mode ends when the current iS3 is reaches zero and
switch S3 achieves ZVS at t5.
Mode VI : [t5 ~ t6]
In this mode, switch S3 and diode DS1 are turned on. The
equivalent circuit is shown in Fig. 7(f). The magnetizing-
inductor Lm releases energy to the capacitor CL and the load.
In addition, the capacitor Cc is discharged by the load via
coupled-inductor. This mode ends when switch S3 is turned
Figure 5. Voltage gain versus duty ratio in boost mode.
off, and the next switching cycle begins.
B. Operation in Buck Mode
In the buck mode, the power flow from the high-voltage
side to the low-voltage side. The switches S1 and S4 are the
main power switches. The switch S3 is the clamping switch
and the switch S1 serves as diode DS1. The typical
waveforms of the proposed converter in the buck mode are
shown in Fig. 6. The operating principles during one
switching cycle are described as follows:
Mode I: [to ~ t1]
In this mode, switch S4 and diode DS1 are turned on.
The equivalent circuit is shown in Fig. 7(a). The
magnetizing-inductor Lm releases energy to the capacitor CL
and the load. The magnetizing-current iLm is decreased
linearly. The secondary leakage energy is recycled to the
capacitor CH2. This mode ends when the current iS4 is
reduced to zero and switch S4 achieves zero-voltage
switching (ZVS) at t1.
Mode II: [t1 ~ t2]
In this mode, switch S4 and diode DS1 are turned on. The
equivalent circuit is shown in Fig. 7(b). The magnetizing-
inductor Lm releases energy to the capacitor CL and the load.
In addition, the capacitor CH2 charges the capacitor Cc via
switch S4. This mode ends when the current iDS1 is reduced
to zero.
Mode III: [t2 ~ t3]
In this mode, switches S4 and S2 are turned on. The
equivalent circuit is shown in Fig. 7(c). The capacitor CH2
charges the capacitor Cc and the magnetizing-inductor Lm
via switch S4 . The magnetizing-current iLm is increased
linearly. This mode ends when the current iS2 equals zero
and the switch S2 achieves ZVS at t3.
Mode IV: [t3 ~ t4] Figure 6. Typical waveforms in buck mode.
In this mode, switches S4 and S2 are turned on. The
equivalent circuit is shown in Fig. 7(d). The capacitors CH1
and CH2 charge the magnetizing-inductor Lm. This mode
ends when switches S2 and S4 are turned off.
Mode V: [t4 ~ t5]

137
 (f) Mode VI
(a) Mode I
Figure 7. Equivalent circuit in buck mode.

The input voltage VH is obtained by adding the capacitor

voltages VCH1 and VCH2. The main intervals of storing
energy for Lm are Mode III and Mode IV, and the voltage
across Lm equals VCH1-VL. The main intervals of releasing
energy for Lm are Mode V and Mode VI, and the voltage
across Lm is -VL. The following voltages can be derived
based on voltage-second balance
nD
VCc = VH , (5)
(b) Mode II n +1
1
VCH 1 = VH , (6)
n +1
n
VCH 2 = VH , (7)
n +1
VL D
= . (8)
VH n +1
Fig. 8 shows the step-down voltage gain versus duty
(c) Mode III
ratio of the proposed converter in buck mode under a fixed
turns ratio of coupled inductor, n=5. The proposed converter
achieves higher voltage gain than others.
VL
VH

(d) Mode IV

Figure 8. Voltage gain versus duty ratio in buck mode.

IV. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

A prototype of the proposed converter is built to verify
(e) Mode V
the feasibility. The specifications and component parameters
are Low-side voltage VL = 24 V, High-side voltage VH =
400 V, Rated power Po = 500 W, Switching frequency fs =
50 kHz, Coupled-inductor turn ratio n= 5, Lm = 37 μH, k =

138
0.97, Capacitor CL = 1800 μF; CH1 = 100 μF; CH2 = 22 μF;
Cc = 68 μF. Fig. 9 shows the experimental waveforms in
the boost mode at full load. The leakage energy is recycled
when S1 is turned off. Moreover, the voltage vDS1 is clamped
to the voltage VCH1 less than output voltage 400 V. The
efficiency curve in the boost mode is shown in Fig. 10. The
maximum converter efficiency is about 94%, and the
efficiency at full load 500 W is 90.9%.

Figure 10. Efficiency curve in the boost mode.

Fig. 11 shows the experimental waveforms in the buck

mode at full load. The leakage energy is able to be recycled
to Cc by the clamping circuit. Also, all switches of the
converter achieve ZVS turn on in the buck mode. The
efficiency curve in the buck mode is shown in Fig. 13. The
maximum efficiency is 92.3%, and the efficiency at full load
(a) Switch currents of S1 and S2
500 W is 88.7%.

(a) Switch currents of S3 and S4

(b) Switch currents of S3 and S4

(b) Switch currents of S1 and S2

(c) Switch voltages of S1 and S2

(c) Switch voltages of S3 and S4

(d) Switch voltages of S3 and S4

Figure 9. Experimental waveforms in the boost mode.

139

(d) Switch voltages of S1 and S2
Figure 11. Experimental waveforms in the buke mode.
Figure 12. Efficiency curve in the buck mode.
V. CONCLUSIONS
This paper presents theoretical analysis and
experimental results for a novel bidirectional DC-DC
converter. This converter achieves steep voltage conversion
ratio by using coupled-inductor technique. The voltage
stress is reduced by a clamping circuit, and the leakage
energy is recycled. All power switches can achieve ZVS
turn on in the buck mode, and the experimental results
match the theoretical analysis. Eventually, the efficiency in
the boost mode is over 90%, and the efficiency in the buck
mode is over 88%.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support
from the National Science Council of Taiwan under project
No. NSC 99-2218-E-006-004 and Bureau of Energy,
Ministry of Economic Affairs of Taiwan under project No.
99-D0204-6.
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