IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 61, NO.

9, SEPTEMBER 2014

4691

Active BuckBoost Inverter

Yu Tang, Member, IEEE, Xianmei Dong, and Yaohua He

AbstractThe voltage range of a renewable energy source, such

as the photovoltaic cell, is influenced by the environment, light,
temperature, and so on. The power conditioning system should
adapt to the wide input voltage and have buckboost ability. Based
on the structure of the ac/ac unit, this paper presents a novel
active buckboost inverter (ABI) topology suitable for wide-range
input, which can realize buckboost conversion in a quasi-singlestage inverter. The ac/ac unit composed of active switches is
utilized to perform voltage boost without introducing additional
passive elements, which is in favor to the system power density
and efficiency. Operational analysis in buck and boost modes are
presented, and the modulation strategy applied in the ABI is also
developed. Simulation and experimental results are presented to
verify the operational principle and its modulation strategy.
Index TermsAC/AC unit, buckboost, photovoltaic (PV),
single-stage inverter.

I. I NTRODUCTION

O realize the dcac power conversion, there are two

traditional inverter systems: the voltage-source inverter
(VSI) and the current-source inverter. The VSI can only perform the voltage buck conversion, whereas the current-source
inverter performs the voltage boost conversion. In applications
such as the renewable-energy-generating system, e.g., in the
photovoltaic power conditioning system, the voltage of the
photovoltaic cell varies in a wide range; therefore, the inverter
system needs to perform both the voltage buck conversion and
the voltage boost conversion.
The full-bridge inverter is the commonly used VSI topology,
while the ac output is lower than the dc power source. To solve
this problem, there are two kinds of common solution. The first
solution is to add a line-frequency step-up transformer in the
full-bridge inverter, as shown in Fig. 1.
This structure increases the system volume, weight, and cost
and also reduces the power density greatly with noise pollution.
Another solution is the use of a two-stage cascade structure, as
shown in Fig. 2. The front dcdc converter performs the voltage

Manuscript received January 15, 2013; revised March 28, 2013 and July 17,
2013; accepted August 30, 2013. Date of publication December 5, 2013;
date of current version March 21, 2014. This work was supported in part
by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant 51307083,
in part by the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province under Grant
BK20130795, in part by the Open Funds from the Jiangsu Key Laboratory of
New Energy Generation and Power Conversion under Grant ZAB11002-02,
and in part by Jiangsu province university outstanding science and technology
innovation team project.
The authors are with Jiangsu Key Laboratory of New Energy Generation
and Power Conversion (Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics),
Nanjing 210016, China (e-mail: ty8025@hotmail.com; hyhnuaa@126.com;
dongxianmei@126.com).
Color versions of one or more of the figures in this paper are available online
at http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/TIE.2013.2293694

Fig. 1. Inverter with a transformer.

Fig. 2. Inverter with a cascade structure.

boost, and the later dcac converter performs the inversion. The
boost converter is usually used in the front stage. The twostage structure needs multiple inductors and capacitors; this
is not conducive to the integration. The dc bus needs large
electrolytic capacitors for power decoupling, which affects the
system power density, and the electrolytic capacitor is easy to
aging with the short service life. On the other hand, the cascade
structure has poor stability and low efficiency [1], [2].
Recently, various single-stage buckboost inverters have
been proposed. The Z-source inverter can boost the voltage
using the additional passive network with the advantage of
shoot-through in bridge arms [3][14]. Ribeiro et al. have
proposed a single-stage buckboost inverter without a linefrequency step-up transformer [15]. By sharing of the power
switches in the dc/dc and dc/ac stages, additional active devices
are avoided, while the numbers of passive components do not
decrease. The diode-assisted buckboost VSI can perform a
wide-range buck-and-boost conversion with additional passive
and active elements [16]. The switched boost inverter is proposed with a similar voltage gain with the Z-source inverter
and less inductors and capacitors [17]. These topologies exhibit
the same two-stage power processing as the two-stage structure,
i.e., the dcdc and dcac stages, so as not to be strictly treated
as a single-stage inverter.
The previous solutions introduce additional transformer or
passive components to boost its voltage, which means reduced
system compact and expensive cost. To overcome the problems of traditional solutions in buckboost inverters, this paper
presents an active buckboost inverter (ABI) and its control
method. The ABI can boost the voltage with Active Boost
Network, performs the voltage buck and boost conversion in a
quasi-single-stage inverter, and has the advantages of compact
structure, improved power density, and efficiency without utilization of a line-frequency transformer and additional passive
elements.

0278-0046 2013 IEEE. Personal use is permitted, but republication/redistribution requires IEEE permission.
See http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/index.html for more information.

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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 61, NO. 9, SEPTEMBER 2014

Fig. 3. General structure of a single-stage buckboost inverter.

Fig. 4. Boost ac/ac converter.

Fig. 6. Equivalent circuit of the ac/ac unit. (a) Output positive half-cycle.
(b) Output negative half-cycle.

Fig. 5. Active buckboost full-bridge inverter.

II. D ERIVATION OF THE ABI T OPOLOGY

Fig. 3 shows the general structure of the single-stage buck
boost inverter derived in Fig. 1. The step-up transformer is
replaced by the ac/ac stage to perform voltage boost function.
The ac/ac unit can reach the voltage boost conversion,
whereas the dc/ac unit performs the voltage buck conversion.
The boost ac/ac converter is utilized as the ac/ac unit here, as
shown in Fig. 4.
Then, a novel single-stage buckboost full-bridge inverter
is derived, as shown in Fig. 5. The voltage boost function
is realized with the inserted ac/ac unit composed of active
switches only, which is named the ABI. As can be seen,
the dc/ac and ac/ac units share the inductor and capacitor in
the ABI, thus avoiding additional passive elements. Only one
power-processing stage exists in the proposed topology; thus, it
can be seen as a quasi-single-stage buckboost inverter.

Fig. 7.

Equivalent circuit of the ABI.

are modulated in complementary, as shown in Fig. 6(a). In the

output negative half-cycle, Q1 and Q3 are always on, while Q2
and Q4 are modulated in complementary, as shown in Fig. 6(b).
The output voltage is given by
vo = vAB_F /(1 d) = M Vi sin t/(1 d)

where d is the duty ratio of Q3 (positive half-cycle) or Q4

(negative half-cycle); representing (1 d) with d , i.e., d is
the duty ratio of Q1 (positive half-cycle) or Q2 (negative halfcycle), we can obtain
vo
M sin t
=
.
Vi
d

III. O PERATING P RINCIPLE OF THE ABI

A sinusoidal pulse width modulation (SPWM) strategy can
be applied in the full-bridge switches, and the fundamental
voltage of the bridge output voltage vAB can be expressed as
vAB_F = M Vi sin t

(1)

where M is the modulation ratio; the SPWM voltage is boost

by the ac/ac unit, while sharing the same inductor with the
dc/ac unit. The equivalent input voltage of the ac/ac unit can
be represented as vAB_F , and the operating principle of the
ac/ac unit is the same as the boost ac/ac converter. In the output
positive half-cycle, Q2 and Q4 are always on, while Q1 and Q3

(2)

(3)

As can be seen, the output voltage can be modulated with two

parameters: M and d , and the ac/ac unit functions as a stepup transformer with turn ratios d : 1; the equivalent circuit is
shown in Fig. 7.
A. Buck Mode
When the input voltage is high enough to get the desired
output, the ABI operates in the buck mode to realize the voltage
step down. In this condition, d is set to 1; therefore, Q1 and
Q2 are always turned on, while Q3 and Q4 are switching in

TANG et al.: ACTIVE BUCKBOOST INVERTER

Fig. 8.

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Equivalent circuit of the ABI in the buck mode.

line frequency. The equivalent circuit of the ABI is the VSI, as

shown in Fig. 8. SPWM schemes can be adopted with
vo = M Vi sin t.

(4)

B. Boost Mode
When the input voltage is low and not enough to get to the
desired output, the ABI operates in the boost mode. In this
condition, M is set to 1, d is adjusted to boost the voltage;
the output voltage can be calculated as
vo =

Vi sin t
.
d

(5)

SPWM schemes are adopted to modulate S1 S4 , whereas

Q1 Q4 are modulated the same as in the boost acac converter
discussed earlier. With a unipolarity SPWM scheme, in the
positive half-cycle, the bridge output voltage vAB is varied with
Vi and 0, whereas the voltage after the inductor vCB is varied
with vo and 0. The voltage across the inductor uL can be the
following four cases: 0, Vi , vo , and Vi vo . The condition
in the negative half-cycle is similar, and the voltage across
the inductor can be the following four cases: 0,Vi , vo , and
Vi vo . The four operating modes in the positive half-cycle
are shown in Fig. 9.
In the positive half-cycle, Q2 and Q4 are always turned on.
In Mode I, S1 , S4 , and Q3 are turned on, and uL is equal to Vi .
The inductor current is charged by the input power source.
In Mode II, S2 , S4 , and Q3 are turned on, and uL is equal
to 0. The inductor current is in the freewheeling state.
In Mode III, S1 , S4 , and Q1 are turned on, and uL is equal to
Vi vo . The inductor current increases when Vi > vo , whereas
it decreases when Vi < vo .
In Mode IV, S2 , S4 , and Q1 are turned on, and uL is equal to
vo . The inductor current decreases.
The three of the four operating modes exist in one switching
cycle, according to the relationship between Vi and vo . When
Vi > vo , the switching state is described in Fig. 10(a), the
modulation wave Vd is used to generate duty ratio d , and the
modulation wave VSPWM is used to generate the SPWM signal.
In this condition, Vd > VSPWM ; the three operating modes are
Mode II, Mode III, and Mode IV. When Vi < vo , the switching
state is described in Fig. 10(b). In this condition, Vd < VSPWM ;
the three operating modes are Mode I, Mode II, and Mode III.

Fig. 9. Four operating modes in the positive half-cycle. (a) Mode I.

(b) Mode II. (c) Mode III. (d) Mode IV.

Fig. 11 shows the switching sequence of the three modes.

The difference in these two different conditions is Mode I and
Mode IV, while Mode II and Mode III all exist.

IV. M ODULATION S TRATEGY OF THE ABI

Table I gives the switching signals of Q1 Q4 ; +represents
the on state,represents the off state, and d and d
represent the duty ratio in the switching cycle. When in the
buck mode, which means that the input voltage Vi is larger
than the peak output voltage Vop , in the positive half-cycle, Q1 ,
Q2 , and Q4 are turned on, and Q3 is turned off, whereas in
the negative half-cycle, Q1 , Q2 , and Q3 are turned on, and Q4
is turned off. When in the boost mode, which means that the
input voltage Vi is less than the peak output voltage Vop , in the
positive half-cycle, Q2 and Q4 are turned on, and Q1 and Q3
are switched in complementary with high frequency, whereas in
the negative half-cycle, Q1 and Q3 are turned on, and Q2 and
Q4 are switched in complementary with high frequency.

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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 61, NO. 9, SEPTEMBER 2014

Fig. 12.

Modulation scheme of the ABI.

Fig. 13. Relationship of M , d with Vi with a simple boost modulation

strategy.

tionship of M and d with Vi is described in Fig. 13. When the

input voltage is lower than the peak output voltage 156 V, M is
set to 1 and d is used to boost the voltage; when input voltage
is higher than 156 V, d is set to 1 and M is used to step down
the voltage.
Fig. 10. Switching states in different conditions. (a) Vi > vo . (b) Vi < vo .

V. S IMULATION AND E XPERIMENTAL V ERIFICATION

Fig. 11. Switching sequence in different conditions. (a) Vi > vo . (b) Vi < vo .
TABLE I
S WITCHING S IGNALS OF Q1 Q4

As analyzed earlier, a simple boost modulation scheme can

be derived, as shown in Fig. 12. An example of a 100200-V
dc input and 110-V ac output ABI is designed here; the rela-

Simulation results are given with the parameters used as

follows: Vi = 100200-V dc; Vo = 110-V/50-Hz ac; carrier
frequency 20 kHz; filter inductor Lf = 1 mH; filter capacitor
Cf = 20 F. Fig. 14 shows the waveforms in the buck mode,
with Vi = 200 V. Fig. 14(a) shows the waveforms of input
voltage Vi , output voltage vo , and inductor current. Fig. 14(b)
shows the switching signals of Q1 Q4 . In this mode, Q1 and
Q2 are turned on; Q3 and Q4 are switching in 50 Hz.
Fig. 15 shows the waveforms in the boost mode, with Vi =
100 V. Fig. 15(a) shows the waveforms of input voltage Vi ,
output voltage vo , and inductor current. Fig. 15(b) shows the
switching signals of Q1 Q4 . In this mode, Q2 and Q4 are
always on in the positive half-cycle; Q1 and Q3 are always on
in the negative half-cycle.
The parameters used in the experiments are the same as in
the simulation. A prototype rated at 500 VA is established in
the laboratory. Experimental results are given in the stand-alone
mode with the open-loop modulation strategy discussed earlier.
Fig. 16 shows the experimental results in the buck mode.
Fig. 16(a) shows the waveforms of input voltage Vi , output

TANG et al.: ACTIVE BUCKBOOST INVERTER

4695

Fig. 14. Simulation results in the buck mode.

Fig. 16. Experimental results in the buck mode. (a) Input voltage, switching
signal of Q1 , and inductor current. (b) Output voltage and switching signals of
Q1 , Q2 , and Q3 .

Fig. 15. Simulation results in the boost mode.

voltage vo , switching signal of Q1 , and inductor current. As

can be seen, Q1 is always on in this mode. Fig. 16(b) shows
the waveforms of output voltage vo and the switching signals
of Q1 , Q2 , and Q3 . Q3 is switched in 50 Hz.
Fig. 17 shows the experimental results in the boost mode.
Fig. 17(a) shows the waveforms of input voltage Vi , output
voltage vo , and inductor current. As can be seen, the output
voltage is boost to 110 V. Fig. 17(b) shows the waveforms of
output voltage vo and the switching signals of Q1 , Q2 , and Q3 .
Fig. 17(c) shows the extended waveforms of output voltage vo
and the switching signals of Q1 , Q2 , and Q3 in the switching
cycle. As can be seen, Q2 is always on in the positive halfcycle of output; Q1 and Q3 are switching in complementary.
Fig. 17(d) shows the waveforms of output voltage vo and
the voltage across switches Q1 , Q2 , and Q3 . It shows that
the voltage stress of switches in the ac/ac unit is the output
voltage.
Fig. 18 shows the efficiency of the inverter with resistance
load under 500-W power. When it operates in the boost mode,
the inductor current is higher than in the buck mode, which
causes more conduction loss, and the efficiency in the boost
mode is lower than in the buck mode.
The simulation and experimental results verified that the
proposed ABI can operate in a wide input range.

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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRIAL ELECTRONICS, VOL. 61, NO. 9, SEPTEMBER 2014

Fig. 18.

Efficiency of the proposed inverter.

VI. C ONCLUSION
The ABI has been proposed in this paper. The topological
derivation, the operating principle, and the modulation strategy
have been presented. Active switches are utilized to perform
voltage boost conversion without introducing additional passive elements; therefore, high power density and efficiency is
achieved.
The voltage boost ability of the acac unit is similar to the
transformer with flexible gain. The simulation and experimental
verification is given to demonstrate the buck and boost operating modes and the developed modulation strategy of the ABI.

R EFERENCES

Fig. 17. Experimental results in the boost mode. (a) Input voltage, output
voltage, and inductor current. (b) Output voltage and switching signals of Q1 ,
Q2 , and Q3 . (c) Output voltage and switching signals of Q1 , Q2 , and Q3
in the switching period. (d) Output voltage and switch voltage of Q1 , Q2 ,
and Q3 .

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Xianmei Dong was born in Jiangsu, China, in 1988.

She received the B.S. degree in automatic engineering from Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, China, in 2010 and the M.S. degree
in automatic engineering from Nanjing University of
Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, in 2013.
She is currently an Application Engineer with
Monolithic Power Systems, Inc.

Yu Tang (M09) received the B.S. and Ph.D. degrees

from Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (NUAA), Nanjing, China, in 2003 and 2008,
respectively, both in electrical engineering.
Since 2008, he has been a Lecturer with the Electrical Engineering Department, NUAA. He is the
author of more than 20 papers published in journals
and conference proceedings and the holder of two
China patents. His research interests include power
electronics in renewable energy generation.

Yaohua He was born in Anhui, China, in 1990. He

received the B.S. degree in electrical and information
engineering from Anhui University of Science and
Technology, Huainan, China, in 2012. He is currently working toward the M.S. degree at the College
of Automation Engineering, Nanjing University of
Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, China.