Double-Dual DC-DC Conversion: A Survey of Contributions, Generalization, and Systematic Generation of New Topologies

Abstract

The integration of renewable energy into the grid demands the development of increasingly more sophisticated power electronics configurations. This situation has motivated the current boom of new power converter topologies. Even though most of the recently proposed converters are scattered across the literature, some of them can be classified in a taxonomical fashion. This action permits studying their properties, generalizing principles, and generating new contributions with improved features—these are the general aims and overall research direction reported in this paper. In this work, we are devoted to generating a well-defined corpus of knowledge by characterizing an emerging family of DC-DC double dual converters. We show that the underlying principle of dualization can be fully enclosed within a systematic procedure and applied not only to classical DC-DC converters but also to any modern configuration. This contribution thus permits the diversification of new topologies that hold relevant features, such as low common-mode voltages and currents, high-voltage gains, and efficient harmonic mitigation—among other advantages that are oriented to renewable energy management. We thus demonstrate that systematic dualization leads to the development of new designs with enhanced features. Experimental results of new topologies are also presented to corroborate the proposed principles and advantages.

Keywords

• Power electronics
• DC-DC power converters
• double dual converters