Editorial: Emerging boost converter topologies for renewable energy applications

The role of the power electronic converter is crucial for the effective utilization of renewable energy resources. Power electronic converters are used as an interface between renewable energy sources and their utilization, which can be in industrial loads, utility grids, and domestic loads. The main converters used with renewable energy resources are DC/DC converters and DC/AC converters. As the voltage magnitude of most renewable energy resources is low, a boost stage is required between the source and the load. Therefore, a new category of high gain DC/DC converters and DC/AC converters are required with higher reliability and efficiency.

A multilevel inverter (MLI) topology is a matured power converter, and it is most suitable for medium and high voltage applications with renewable energy. Most of the multilevel inverters use isolated DC sources, which limit their applications. By replacing the DC source with capacitors, a significant reduction in the cost and size of the converters can be achieved. This attractive feature has led researchers to develop boost multilevel inverters with fewer switches. The boosting feature enables the use of MLI in photovoltaic (PV)-based applications. Further, the switched capacitor MLI (SCMLI) topologies need further improvement in terms of developing new additional circuits, and control and modulation techniques to balance floating capacitor voltages.