Journal of Advanced Research in Fluid Mechanics and Thermal Sciences 90, Issue 2 (2022) 124-134 124 Journal of Advanced Research in Fluid Mechanics and Thermal Sciences Journal homepage: https://semarakilmu.com.my/journals/index.php/fluid_mechanics_thermal_sciences/index ISSN: 2289-7879 Simulation of Low Voltage DC-DC Booster Circuit with Improved Switch for Amplification of Biophotovoltaic Cell Output Voltage Shaea Alajmi 1 , Izhal Abdul Halin 1,* , Faizal Mustapha 2 , Eris Elianddy Supeni 3 , Irwan Ibrahim 4 1 Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia 2 Department of Aerospace Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia 3 Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia 4 Malaysia Institute of Transport, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Article history: Received 18 October 2021 Received in revised form 15 December 2021 Accepted 17 December 2021 Available online 6 January 2022 Biophotovoltaic (BPV) cells otherwise called living solar cells are a clean energy- generating technology that uses photosynthetic organisms (cyanobacteria or microalgae) to produce electricity. However, the output voltage and current density of BPV cells are extremely low and the lifespan of BPV cells is short. In this article, a study based on computer simulation on the improvement of the switch of a low power DC to DC converter circuit is presented. A redesign of the circuit’s switch (NMOSFETs) shows that a 10.5 % increase in output voltage is achievable with an increase in efficiency of 3.4 %. Simulation shows that the increase in performance is due to the very low ON resistance of the newly designed switch. Keywords: BPV; Photomicrobial Fuel Cells; Microbial Solar Cells; DC-DC Converter; NMOSFET switch; DC Boost Converter; Low Power Renewable Energy 1. Introduction Renewable energy sources today come mainly from wind and solar energy [1-3]. Biophotovoltaic (BPV) cells convert light energy into usable electrical energy by harvesting photo electrons excreted as by products from the photosynthetic activities of cyanobacteria and microalgae. The first BPV cells were demonstrated 40 years ago using Rhodospirillum Rubrum. They used a very simple setup where inert electrodes were used to harvest electrons from the organisms. Their system used the Indirect Extracellular Electron Transfer (IEET) where electron carriers diffuse between the sandblasted Platinum electrodes and the cells to produce a current density of 162 A/cm 2 for 24 hours [4]. This type of system suffers from low power densities due to limitations in the rate of mass transport between the electrodes and the cells because the cells are contained in water, thus are mobile and not constantly in contact with the electrodes. Recently, an abundance of work to further address this issue and to optimize the IEET type BPV cell is plentiful where innovative electrode designs, the use of bio-films to trap the organism and * Corresponding author. E-mail address: izhal@upm.edu.my https://doi.org/10.37934/arfmts.90.2.124134