Review of DC-DC Partial Power Converter Configurations and Topologies

Abstract

The Partial Power Processing (PPP) concept has garnered attention as it enables the down-sizing of converter and component ratings. Unlike conventional power processing, PPP addresses a portion of the transferred power, leading to a reduction in conversion losses. Throughout this paper, the state of the art of isolated and non-isolated DC-DC converter topologies will be revised. Partial Power Converter (PPC) systems represent one of the main streams of PPP, which, based on isolation requirements and converter connections, can further be divided into isolated converters, such as: Input-Parallel-Output-Series (IPOS), Input-Series-Output-Parallel (ISOP), and, Input-Series-Output-Series (ISOS), or non-isolated converters. This work intends to evaluate and differentiate the characteristics of each type of topology while developing analytically possible connections that may require further research and reviewing metrics that help in fair comparisons of different PPC arrangements, operating under different conditions. A thorough revision is provided for DC-DC converter topologies due to their increased importance in present-day applications, such as energy storage, Electric Vehicles (EVs), and Photo-Voltaics (PVs).