Isolated coupled-inductor-integrated dc-dc converter with nondissipative snubber for solar energy applications

This paper proposes an isolated coupled-inductor-integrated dc-dc converter with a nondissipative snubber for solar energy applications. The proposed converter realizes high step-up voltage gain without incurring a high coupled inductor turns ratio by adapting a dual-voltage doubler circuit. In addition, the energy in the coupled inductor leakage inductance can be recycled via a nondissipative snubber on the primary side. Thus, the system efficiency is improved. Finally, a laboratory prototype for demonstrating the performance of the proposed circuit is implemented with a 200-W solar array simulator, a 24-V solar voltage, and a 200-V output voltage. The experimental results show that the peak efficiency of the proposed converter is about 96%.