Control and design of full-bridge three-level converter for renewable energy sources

Output voltage of renewable energy sources, such as fuel cell and PV cell, is often low and varies widely with load and environmental conditions. Therefore, the high step-up DC-DC converter is needed between renewable energy sources and the grid-connected inverter. However, voltage stress of rectifier diodes is high and filter is large in traditional voltage-source converters in a wide input-voltage range. In order to solve the aforementioned problems, a full-bridge (FB) three-level (TL) converter is proposed. It can operate at both two-level and three-level modes, so it is suitable for wide input-voltage range application. Compared with FB converter, voltage stress of rectifier diodes and the filter can be reduced. Operating principle and control strategy of the proposed converter are illustrated. Design guidelines and example are given. Simulation results of a 1-kW FB TL converter verify the theoretical analysis.