Capacitor lifetime monitoring for multilevel modular capacitor clamped DC to DC converter

Capacitor lifetime monitoring for multilevel modular capacitor clamped dc to dc converter (M²C³) are presented in this paper. M²C³ can supply a multilevel dc output voltage by using capacitors and power switches together with a method of charge and discharge balance. Each capacitor lifetime is somehow various; the higher voltage will lead to a shorter lifetime of a capacitor than the low voltage one. It is complex to monitor many capacitors in M²C³ using a capacitor lifetime model because this model complexity has a mathematical model and nonlinear variables. Therefore, the prediction of capacitor lifetime methodology is proposed in this research by utilizing principal component regression model (PCR). A M²C³ 1-kW prototype is developed. The experimental results are also performed to monitor a capacitor lifetime. The results show that PCR can be used to predict a capacitor life time in M²C³ application: for this reason, the reliability of using M²C³ can be increased.