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DC to DC Converters

DC to DC Converters are used to interface two systems working at two different DC voltage
levels. Hence both input voltage and output voltage of the converter is DC.

These converters can be used to generate a constant DC output voltage from a continuously
varying input voltage.

Hence, these converters can be used to connect a solar PV panel to the load. Here the solar
PV output voltage varies based on the weather conditions, such as, temperature and solar
irradiation. The DC to DC converter takes this weather depended PV voltage as input and
generates a constant DC output voltage.

Similarly, the DC to DC converters can also generate a continuously varying DC output

voltage from a constant DC input voltage.

Hence these converters can be used for speed control of DC motors. They can generate a
continuously varying armature voltage or Field winding input voltage, so that the speed of
DC motor can be regulated.

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Notation:

Symbol Description Units

Instantaneous and Average Input voltage
Instantaneous and Average Input current
Instantaneous and Average Output voltage
Instantaneous and Average Inductor current
Instantaneous and Average Capacitor current
Voltage across switch
Voltage across diode
Peak to peak ripple in
Peak to peak ripple in
Instantaneous and Average duty ratio
Gate signal to the switch
Load Resistance
Switching Frequency and Switching Time Period
Power consumed by

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In Buck converter, the output voltage is always less than input voltage. So it is also
called step-down dc-dc converter.

In Boost converter, the output voltage is always greater than the input voltage. It is
also called step-up dc-dc converter.

Circuit Diagram:

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In interval, switch is on and diode is reverse biased. The voltage across diode
in this interval is .

The voltage across inductor in this interval is positive and equal to the source
voltage. So the energy stored in the inductor increases in this interval.

In interval, the capacitor supplies energy to the load. The energy stored in the
capacitor decreases in this interval.

In interval, switch is turned off. The diode turns on to provide path for
the inductor current. The voltage across inductor is , which is negative. So,
the energy stored in the inductor decreases in this interval.

In interval, energy stored in the inductor is transferred to the Capacitor

and load. The energy stored in the capacitor increases in this interval.

Note that the inductor current should be greater than zero so that the diode remains
ON during the entire interval of . This is also called the continuous
conduction mode (CCM) operation.

Equivalent circuits

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By applying KVL and KCL we get,

Using small ripple approximation, the equations are rewritten as:

Using inductor volt-sec balance,

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Using capacitor charge balance,

Peak-Peak ripple in inductor current,

Peak-Peak ripple in capacitor voltage,

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In Buck converter, the output voltage is always less than input voltage. In Boost
converter, the output voltage is always greater than the input voltage.

In Buck-Boost converter, the output voltage can be either less than or greater than the
input voltage.

Circuit Diagram:

Note that in buck-boost converter, the output voltage is positive with respect to the
ground of voltage source.

In interval, switch is on and diode is reverse biased. The voltage across diode
in this interval is .

The voltage across inductor in this interval is positive and equal to the source
voltage. So the energy stored in the inductor increases in this interval.

In interval, the capacitor supplies energy to the load. The energy stored in the
capacitor decreases in this interval.

In interval, switch is turned off. The diode turns on to provide path for
the inductor current. The voltage across inductor is , which is negative. So, the
energy stored in the inductor decreases in this interval.

In interval, energy stored in the inductor is transferred to the Capacitor

and load. The energy stored in the capacitor increases in this interval.

Note that the inductor current should be greater than zero so that the diode remains
ON during the entire interval of . This is also called the continuous
conduction mode (CCM) operation.

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Equivalent Circuits:

interval: Switch is ON and diode is OFF

interval: Switch is OFF and diode is ON

By applying KVL and KCL we get,

Using small ripple approximation, the equations are rewritten as:

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Using inductor volt-sec balance,

Using capacitor charge balance,

Peak-Peak ripple in inductor current,

Peak-Peak ripple in capacitor voltage,

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Effect of non-idealities on conversion ratio of dc-dc converters:

In the previous derivations, we assumed that all the components in the converter are
ideal. But in practical circuits, each components has its own non-idealities. For
example, inductor and capacitor have series resistance as non-ideality. Similarly,
switch has on-state resistance and diode has forward voltage drop. It is important to
analyze the effect of these non-idealities on the conversion ratio of dc-dc converters.

Here, we consider only inductor series resistance and re-derive the expression for
output votlage of buck converter.

Circuit diagram:

Equivalent circuits:
interval:
interval:
Switch is OFF and diode is ON
Switch is ON and diode is OFF

By applying KVL and KCL, we get:

After small ripple approximation, the above equations can be re-written as:

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Using same procedure, we can derive the output voltage expression for boost and
buck-boost converters considering , series resistance of inductor into account.
These expressions are given below:

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