POWER CONVERSION DEVICE

There is provided a power conversion device having no limitation on a voltage on each of an input side and an output side, being compact, and involving a low loss. The power conversion device is characterized by including: a rectifying unit 10 that rectifies an alternating current; a voltage step-up/step-down unit 20 that includes an element 23 for correcting a power factor, and that steps up or down a DC voltage from the rectifying unit; a central capacitor 15 that is charged by the DC voltage and discharges the voltage to an output section at a rear stage; a first front-stage switching element 11 and a second front-stage switching element 12 serially arranged between the voltage step-up/step-down unit and the central capacitor; a first rear-stage switching element 16 and a second rear-stage switching element 17 serially arranged between the central capacitor and the output section; and a control unit that controls the foregoing constituents.