Electric vehicles, among other application fields with battery energy storage systems, rely on power electronic converters to transfer power between different voltage buses. Applications such as charging and active balancing of battery packs utilize converters between DC buses with constant voltage sources and loads, and therefore their reliable design and operation has been a key focus of ongoing research. In this work, a specific focus is made on the non-isolated buck converter and boost converter, although the results can be generalized to other converters. A key result is to demonstrate that discontinuous conduction mode (DCM) is necessary when these converters operate between constant voltages. Formulas are derived to size the inductor i.e., find its inductance and current ratings, and to relate the duty ratio in DCM to practical setpoint variables for both converters. The derivations are included in detail to facilitate a better understanding of these results, allow for their extension to other converters, and enable their inclusion as a reference in power electronic textbooks. Moreover, procedures are included to aid in the design and operation of the converters using the developed formulas. Additionally, in practice, the procedures allow for the open-loop duty ratio in DCM to be used as a feed-forward term in controlled converters speeding up their convergence and aiding in the converter’s design process. Simulation is included to showcase the efficacy of the key results and procedures in aiding with the design and predicting the performance of the converters under all modes of operation.

2026

01/2026

10.1109/ACCESS.2026.3657242