Multiport DC-DC converters for renewable energy: an overview with contributions

The natural energy sources such as oil, coal, natural gas are finite. Also the environmental issues such as global warming have become increasingly serious and require attention. The applications of renewable energy (RE) sources viz. Solar, wind, biomass and tidal power as a major form of clean technology could be the right solution to solve energy crisis ahead with decreasing manufacturing cost. Power electronic converters are used to convert power from renewable sources to cater load demand and/ or grid. Instead of using different DC-DC converters for connecting renewable sources and storage system to the load, Multiport DC-DC converter as single unit can be used to improve efficiency and power density. Many such converters have been proposed in recent times each of which has different topology, reliability and efficiency. The comparison of such different topologies is carried on in this paper which can assist proper selection of suitable topology for any specific requirement. Also, the research extension of the topologies is discussed quoting how the voltage gain can be improved and development of multiport DC-AC inverters.