Investigation into High Efficiency DC-DC Converter Topologies for a DC Microgrid System

Distributed generation in the form of DC microgrids has recently attracted increasing research interest. For integrating primary sources and energy storage devices to the DC bus of a DC microgrid power electronic converters are necessary, but the associated losses may degrade the microgrid efficiency. Therefore, the aim of this work is to develop high-efficiency converters, particularly for fuel cell generators and ultracapacitors energy buffers suitable for use in a stationary distribution system. Based on the evaluation of the fuel cell dynamic performance, a current–fed DC–DC converter design with a lower voltage rating of the switching devices and a higher DC voltage conversion ratio is proposed. A number of optimisation approaches have been applied to further improve the converter efficiency over its full power range. The periodic steady state operation of the converter is analysed in detail; state-space averaging is then used to determine the small signal equations and derive transfer functions. A close