400 V to 12 V Step-down DC-DC Power Converter Based on the Differential Concept

A new approach for step-down dc-dc power converter design is proposed in this paper, which is based on the differential connection of two conventional topologies. The converters provide two output voltages, and, then, the difference between them is the output voltage applied to the load. This strategy allows that each converter to work in an adequate operation point regarding gain and duty cycle because a high step-down gain is provided by the difference of voltages between converters. The method can be applied in all converters, using either equal or different topologies. In this paper, an analysis for a differential converter is presented, and corroborated by simulation and experimental results, using a designed prototype of 400 V to 12 V and 100 W rated power.