Efficiency improvement of a low-power multiple-input converter with forward-conducting-bidirectional-blocking switches

This paper presents key design aspects for achieving high efficiency in a family of non-isolated multiple-input converters (MICs). Many MIC topologies are based on a time-multiplexing (TM) scheme that relies on forward-conducting-bidirectional-blocking (FCBB). However, these switches tend to increase power losses in a TM-MIC. The significance of the proposed strategies is exemplified through experiments with a multiple-input SEPIC which originally operates at about 85 % efficiency. It is shown that for output power from 1 W to 220 W, the improved design achieves a higher efficiency (up to about 96 %).