Active-clamp soft-switching step-up converter with high-voltage gain

An active-clamp soft-switching step-up converter with high-voltage gain is proposed. By utilising the active-clamp circuit, the voltages across the power switches in the proposed converter are clamped and the zero-voltage switching of the power switches is achieved. To increase the voltage gain, two voltage doubler rectifiers are connected serially and stacked on top of the clamp capacitor. Therefore high-voltage gain is obtained and soft-switching characteristic is achieved. Also, the voltage stresses of the power switches and the output diodes are effectively reduced. Theoretical analysis and performance of the proposed converter are verified on a 110 W experimental prototype operating at 110 kHz switching frequency.