What he is describing sounds like a standard charge pump voltage multiplier. Nothing new there in designing one of those.

One Half bridge or full H-bridge inverter followed by a bunch of capacitors and diodes in a specific arrangement.
Then ad more strings of them with offset charge-discharge timing to make it a multiphase system for more current handling ability plus less output voltage ripple at load.

I'm not seeing anything too difficult with the concept here.

As far as wanting something then well by my understandings then you are also searching for something.

 

Difficult for me. I just can't visualize the current flow through the diodes and capacitors.

 

Here's the basics. Just diodes and capacitors.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voltage_multiplier


Do a search for 'Cascade voltage multiplier circuit" for more info and designs.

 

My idea was simply charging each capacitor individually one at a time rapidly switching between them all. while having them connected in series already the whole time. so the total output would always the power supplies voltage times the amount of charged capacitors in series.

so 2 capacitors with 3v would be 12v
Or just 6v with one capacitor up to 12v
With some mosfets and switching components (mosfets to handle strong current charging the capacitors quickly and switching at a reasonable rate and their low-current turn-on.)
It would work reasonably well.

lets say you had a 1.5v battery and an LED for a simple example. You could easily create a small and efficient capacitor charge pump for the task.
So just upscale the power supply. the load. and the charge pump circuit.

An LED for example wouldn't even light up from a single AA battery alone. It'd only take one capacitor to do the job if you get the switching circuitry set up so that it could swap the polarity the capacitor is connected to after charging to be in series with the battery. then once it's discharged slightly it can repeat the cycle and charge the capacitor again. quick enough that it can cause the LED to fully light.

 

You are still describing a common charge pump voltage multiplier.

You are just making it more complicated than it needs to be.

To charge each capacitor one at a time in series you will need a way to isolate the primary charging power source from the rest of the capacitor bank which thus means you need a transformer in thy system.

 

i was thinking you could just use transistors to make and break the connections of a switching circuit to do the job without transformers or inductors. it would be more complex maybe but it would work if you took the time to construct the circuitry wouldn't it?

 

Why? You won't gain anything on the terms of practicality, efficiency cost, parts count or size and ultimately either the primary or the secondary has to be a full floating system with no common fixed tie to the other.

Just to do it to say it can be done. Well sure. To do anything else, Not so much.

 

I was thinking there would be a way to switch multiple transistors on to multiple capacitors in such a way that the capacitors would have a series voltage output higher than the voltage of the power supplies voltage without using a transformer to increase the voltage

its similar to charging two capacitors seperately then putting them in series and using the doubled voltage of them in series
If you had about 8 capacitors. lets say you would charge each of them up to 12v and the switching circuitry would switch rapidly between all of them to juggle the voltage as quickly as possible charging each capacitor to 12v simulate a higher voltage on the output of the capacitors
I was thinking multiple clocks syncronized rapidly switching transistors to charge each capacitor up to the voltage of the power supply (or battery)
and it would create a higher voltage on the output than if connected directly to the power source possibly higher voltage DC on the output)

If that would be true. then you could efficiently power a 12v DC to AC 120v inverter with a 6v 10A solar panel and minimal losses from circuitry.
as long as the switching circuitry could keep the capacitors charged up to a decent total voltage?

Would this be possible? and effective in any way? I thought it sounded like a great idea.

It sounds like it would only work for DC but would be much more efficient than using a transformer with an inverter circuit and a rectifier and regulator..

 

I was thinking there would be a way to switch multiple transistors on to multiple capacitors in such a way that the capacitors would have a series voltage output higher than the voltage of the power supplies voltage without using a transformer to increase the voltage

its similar to charging two capacitors seperately then putting them in series and using the doubled voltage of them in series
If you had about 8 capacitors. lets say you would charge each of them up to 12v and the switching circuitry would switch rapidly between all of them to juggle the voltage as quickly as possible charging each capacitor to 12v simulate a higher voltage on the output of the capacitors
I was thinking multiple clocks syncronized rapidly switching transistors to charge each capacitor up to the voltage of the power supply (or battery)
and it would create a higher voltage on the output than if connected directly to the power source possibly higher voltage DC on the output)

If that would be true. then you could efficiently power a 12v DC to AC 120v inverter with a 6v 10A solar panel and minimal losses from circuitry.
as long as the switching circuitry could keep the capacitors charged up to a decent total voltage?

Would this be possible? and effective in any way? I thought it sounded like a great idea.

It sounds like it would only work for DC but would be much more efficient than using a transformer with an inverter circuit and a rectifier and regulator..

Petkan:
It is called "charge pump converters". Capacitors are charged and then added to the input voltage (doublers). It is also possible to charge caps in series and then discharge in parallel (fractional conversion). Essentially a single complementary switch and a bunch of diodes and capacitors are required. There are ready made ICs doing this even with regulation of the output voltage and they are applicable for relatively low powers.
Check LTC1986 on www.linear.com for illustration. Note that capacitors when charged from voltage source provoke heavy inrush currents. This is the reason for higher power inductor based converters rule.

 

thanks #12 as i attempted this 40 years ago with your same answer!

 

A Cockcroft-Walton voltage multiplier does what you are describing using diodes instead of transistors as the switches. ...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cockcroft–Walton_generator ak

Reminds me of the 1200 volt supply I designed in 1965 to power a photomultiplier tube used on an experiment flown on

the Lunar Orbiter - boosted from 65 VDC ...

 

This solution has been around for a very long time. Check out the link in AK's post #18 if you skipped it.

As far as feasibility is concerned, one morning when I stopped by my boss's office and naively criticized his new circuit idea, he said "Man who says it cannot be done shall not stop the man doing it."

Just because the topology is not being used today for the application mentioned does not mean that it will not be used in the future. The only chance of it being shown to be practical is if people continue to examine and re-examine the application in the light of emerging components and technologies.