A multilevel boost converter based on a switched-capacitor structure

In this paper, a new circuit for multilevel boost converter based on DC-DC switched-capacitor structure is presented. This DC-AC converter increases the input voltage for the output terminal, so it's suitable for photovoltaic applications. The proposed multilevel converter is compared with other recently suggested structures in terms of power electronic components and voltage boosting capability. Based on the comparison results, the proposed topology utilizes least number of power switches, diodes and capacitors. Also, the proposed multilevel converter overcomes the disadvantage of conventional multilevel converters which were suffering from voltage imbalance of the capacitors. These advantages decrease the costs, reduce the size of the converter and prevent the control circuit from being more complicated. Finally, for verifying the performance of the proposed structure, experimental results are provided.