The input capacitor should have enough ripple current rating to absorb input switching ripple current. The worst case RMS ripple current is half of the charging current when duty cycle is 0.5. If the converter does not operate at 50% duty cycle, then the worst case capacitor RMS current I_CIN occurs where the duty cycle is closest to 50% and can be estimated by the following equation:

Equation 12.

A low ESR ceramic capacitor such as X7R or X5R is preferred for the input decoupling capacitor and should be placed as close as possible to the drain of the high-side MOSFET and source of the low-side MOSFET. The voltage rating of the capacitor must be higher than the normal input voltage level. A 25-V rating or higher capacitor is preferred for a 15-V input voltage. A 20-μF capacitance is suggested for a typical 2.5-A charging current.