Publications

Design and evaluation of hybrid switched capacitor converters for high voltage, high power density applications

Stewart, Joshua S.; Richards, J.; Delhotal, Jarod J.; Neely, J.; Flicker, Jack D.; Brocato, R.; Rashkin, L.

This work investigates the use of hybrid switched capacitor converter (HSCC) topologies with wide bandgap devices to achieve high efficiency DC-DC power conversion with high gain, high voltage outputs. This class of converter may be useful for several applications that include a medium voltage bus, such as solar PV, electric aircraft, or even all-electric ship architectures. Three converter prototypes are considered and evaluated in hardware, including a basic (unipolar) HSCC and two bipolar HSCC variants. The converter operation is discussed, and the bipolar prototypes are demonstrated to achieve high-gain, high-voltage output. Finally, the latest bipolar switched capacitor prototype is demonstrated to boost 480 V to 10 kV (Gain > 20) with 97.9% efficiency at 4.96 kW output power.