Replacing All ECs With NECs in Step-Up Converters—A Systematic Approach

Proposed in this letter is a novel generalized method to replace all short-life and large-size electrolytic capacitors (ECs) with non-ECs (NECs) in step-up converters. NEC has a longer lifespan and smaller size, leading to extended converter life and reduced converter size. The proposed approach can systematically replace ECs with NECs without affecting the desired converters’ output features. After theory elaboration, five representative converters in two schemes are built with ten $150\,\mathrm{W}$ / $100\,\mathrm{V}$ high power density prototypes for experimental verification. Experiments show that these prototypes can reach maximum power density of $2.91\,\mathrm{W/cm^3}$ , significantly higher than converters with ECs, and maximum efficiency of 95.64%.