We consider a switched-capacitor DC/DC power converter with variable switching instants. The determination of optimal switching instants giving low output ripple and strong load regulation is posed as a non-smooth dynamic optimization problem. By introducing a set of auxiliary differential equations and applying a time-scaling transformation, we formulate an equivalent optimization problem with semi-infinite constraints. Existing algorithms can be applied to solve this smooth semi-infinite optimization problem. The existence of an optimal solution is also established. For illustration, the optimal switching instants for a practical switched-capacitor DC/DC power converter are determined using this approach. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.