Gain controlled high efficiency power factor correction circuit

The purpose of this study is to improve the efficiency of a boost-type power factor correction (PFC) circuit with a digital controller. One of the biggest losses in PFC circuits is the switching loss. Switching loss can be reduced by low boost ratio operation, but these results in a greater voltage drop at transient response. The voltage drop can be suppressed by using a high gain setting for the voltage control loop, but this lowers the power factor, which creates a harmonic distortion of the AC power line. To improve this trade-off, we developed a gain control method that adjusts the gain to high only at the moment of transient response. This method improves both the efficiency and the power factor of PFC circuits. We implemented the proposed method using a digital controller and demonstrated a power factor improvement of 0.08 points and an efficiency improvement of 0.4 points for a 2.5 kW PFC circuit.