PV–FC based high-gain non-isolated multi-port DC–DC converter with voltage multiplier cells for DC-microgrid applications

Abstract This paper presents a High-gain non-isolated, Multi-port DC-DC converter (HG-NIMPC) with voltage multiplier cells (VMC) for PV-FC based Microgrid applications. This proposed design integrated with hybrid Photo Voltaic (PV) and Fuel Cell (FC) energy sources. PV and FC sources inherently provide low-voltage outputs, whereas DC microgrids require higher regulated DC bus voltages for efficient operation. In view of this, the multi-port dc-dc converter are required. These will give stable and efficient power management between the energy sources to load. Here, a Switched Capacitor (SC) design with VMC is utilized to achieve high voltage gain. A key advantage of the proposed topology is, it has significantly lower current and voltage ripples, it achieves superior performance through a simplified structure, attaining a higher gain with a reduced component count compared to conventional converters. It is characterized by its wide operating range, minimized voltage stress on semiconductor switches, and a common ground. The converter’s efficacy for Microgrid applications is demonstrated through comprehensive operational mode analysis, steady-state modeling, power losses, dynamic modeling and comparative results. The theoretical analysis is validated with MATLAB simulations and Hardware in Loop(HIL) for the output voltage of 470 V and 350 W. The proposed system is primarily developed for regulated DC-bus applications in DC microgrids with hybrid energy integration, while its high-gain unidirectional structure also makes it suitable for EV charging systems.