Analysis of Current Ripple in Ćuk Converter Topologies - A Novel Approach

Rooftop solar energy for electricity generation is becoming increasingly popular. An ideal photovoltaic interface has ripple-free terminal currents and a high step-up ratio along with compact design. The Ćuk converter is an ideal choice for such applications due to its unique quality of wide operating range. With integrated magnetics, the Ćuk converter is capable of operating as a DC transformer, with ripple-free input and output currents. However, only a few users readily adapt Cuk converter in their systems due to the complexity of design aspects and lack of a simple procedure for determining the ideal integrated magnetics that yield ‘zero-ripple’ terminal currents. This paper provides a novel, descriptive approach with an analytical basis for determining the component values that cater to a wide range of applications for a coupled inductor Ćuk converter topology and compares it with the basic Ćuk converter topology. MATLAB scripts have been written to facilitate the approach and PLECS models have been created to validate the results.