Gallium nitride (GaN) power devices are an emerging technology that have only recently become available commercially. This new technology enables the design of converters at higher frequencies and ...efficiencies than those achievable with conventional Si devices. This paper reviews the characteristics and commercial status of both vertical and lateral GaN power devices, providing the background necessary to understand the significance of these recent developments. In addition, the challenges encountered in GaN-based converter design are considered, such as the consequences of faster switching on gate driver design and board layout. Other issues include the unique reverse conduction behavior, dynamic R ds,on , breakdown mechanisms, thermal design, device availability, and reliability qualification. This review will help prepare the reader to effectively design GaN-based converters, as these devices become increasingly available on a commercial scale.
This paper introduces series work of common-mode (CM) voltage reduction for the paralleled inverters. The paralleled inverters' phase-legs are connected through coupling inductors and the combined ...three-phase currents are provided to the load. Interleaving is an approach to reduce the CM voltage for the paralleled inverters but it cannot eliminate CM voltage. A novel pulse-width-modulation (PWM) method for paralleled inverters which can theoretically achieve zero CM voltage is developed. Considering the basic voltage vectors in each inverter, novel paralleled voltage vectors which have zero CM voltage are proposed to combine the reference voltage vector. The action time's distribution and voltage vectors' sending sequence for each inverter are also introduced. The proposed PWM method can make sure the voltage of the two inverters are balanced in each switching cycle and limits the circulating current through small coupling inductors. Similar to interleaving space vector PWM, the proposed zero CM PWM also has the ability to reduce the output current ripple and electromagnetic interference (EMI). Simulation and experimental results are provided to show the advantage of paralleled inverters in CM voltage reduction and validate the proposed method has good performance to reduce CM current and CM EMI noise.
Compared with the widely used constant switching frequency pulse-width-modulation (PWM) method, variable switching frequency PWM can benefit more because of the extra freedom. Based on the analytical ...expression of current ripple of three-phase converters, variable switching frequency control methods are proposed to satisfy different ripple requirements. Switching cycle T_{s} is updated in DSP in every interruption period based on the ripple requirement. Two methods are discussed in this paper. The first method is designed to arrange the current ripple peak value within a certain value and can reduce the equivalent switching frequency and electromagnetic interference (EMI) noise; the second method is designed to keep ripple current RMS value constant and reduce the EMI noise. Simulation and experimental results show that variable switching frequency control could improve the performance of EMI and efficiency without impairing the power quality.
One way to incorporate the increasing amount of wind penetration is to control wind turbines to emulate the behavior of conventional synchronous generators. However, the energy balance is the main ...issue for the wind turbines to be truly dispatchable by the power system operator such as the generators. This paper presents a comprehensive virtual generator control method for the full converter wind turbine, with a minute-level energy storage in the dc link as the energy buffer. The voltage closed-loop virtual synchronous generator control of the wind turbine allows it to work under both grid-connected and stand-alone condition. Power balance of the wind turbine system is achieved by controlling the rotor speed of the turbine according to the loading condition. With the proposed control, the wind turbine system can enhance the dynamic response, and can be dispatched and regulated by the system operator. The sizing design of the short term energy storage is also discussed in this paper. Experimental results are presented to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed control method.
The double pulse test (DPT) is a widely accepted method to evaluate the dynamic behavior of power devices. Considering the high switching-speed capability of wide band-gap devices, the test results ...are very sensitive to the alignment of voltage and current (V-I) measurements. Also, because of the shoot-through current induced by C dv/dt (i.e., cross-talk), the switching losses of the nonoperating switch device in a phase-leg must be considered in addition to the operating device. This paper summarizes the key issues of the DPT, including components and layout design, measurement considerations, grounding effects, and data processing. Additionally, a practical method is proposed for phase-leg switching loss evaluation by calculating the difference between the input energy supplied by a dc capacitor and the output energy stored in a load inductor. Based on a phase-leg power module built with 1200-V/50-A SiC MOSFETs, the test results show that this method can accurately evaluate the switching loss of both the upper and lower switches by detecting only one switching current and voltage, and it is immune to V-I timing misalignment errors.
In order to apply power electronics systems to applications such as superconducting systems under cryogenic temperatures, it is necessary to investigate the characteristics of different parts in the ...power electronics system. This article reviews the influence of cryogenic temperature on power semiconductor devices including Si and wide bandgap switches, integrated circuits, passive components, interconnection and dielectric materials, and some typical cryogenic converter systems. Also, the basic theories and principles are given to explain the trends for different aspects of cryogenically cooled converters. Based on the review, Si active power devices, bulk Complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) based integrated circuits, nanocrystalline and amorphous magnetic cores, NP0 ceramic and film capacitors, thin/metal film and wirewound resistors are the components suitable for cryogenic operation. Pb-rich PbSn solder or In solder, classic printed circuit boards material, most insulation papers and epoxy encapsulant are good interconnection and dielectric parts for cryogenic temperatures.
High-performance gate drive power supply (GDPS) plays a crucial role in ensuring the reliability and safety of the gate driver for power semiconductor devices. This article focuses on the design of a ...high-voltage-insulated GDPS for the 10-kV silicon carbide MOSFET in medium-voltage (MV) application. Design considerations, including insulation scheme, high-voltage-insulated transformer design, and load voltage regulation scheme, are proposed. In addition, the performance of the secondary-side-regulated (SSR) GDPS and that of the primary-side-regulated (PSR) GDPS are compared for several aspects, including interwinding capacitance, load voltage regulation rate, conversion efficiency, and hardware complexity. Finally, an SSR GDPS and a PSR GDPS, with an insulation voltage of 20 kV, are built in the lab. The test results demonstrate that the PSR GDPS is more preferable because of lower interwinding capacitance, lower load voltage regulation rate, higher conversion efficiency, and simpler control circuit.
A hardware testbed platform emulating multiple-area power system scenario dynamics has been established aiming at multiple time-scale real-time emulations. In order to mimic real power flow ...situations in the utility system, the load emulators have to behave like real ones in both their static and dynamic characteristics. A constant-impedance, constant-current, and constant-power (ZIP) model has been used for static load types, while a three-phase induction motor model has been built to represent dynamic load types. In this paper, ways of modeling ZIP and induction motor loads and the performance of each load emulator are discussed. Comparisons between simulation and experimental results are shown as well for the validation of the emulator behaviors. A real-time composite power load emulator is then demonstrated with desired characteristics and detailed transients for representing a power system PQ bus dynamics.
Voltage-balancing control in a modular multilevel converter (MMC) impacts not only the voltage difference among submodule capacitors, but also the power device switching patterns. As a result, MMC ...possesses a nondeterministic switching pattern and its switching frequency is no longer an independent parameter. This paper theoretically investigates how voltage-balancing control influences the switching frequency in the MMC. Equations describing the relationship between the submodule capacitor unbalanced voltage and converter switching frequency are derived. Since unbalanced voltage also impacts the submodule capacitor ripple voltage and voltage/current harmonics, the design interaction between switching frequency and submodule capacitance, as well as the selection of unbalanced voltage are further investigated. Both simulation and experimental verifications are provided.
This paper presents a board-level integrated silicon carbide (SiC) mosfet power module for high temperature and high power density application. Specifically, a silicon-on-insulator (SOI)-based gate ...driver capable of operating at 200 °C ambient temperature is designed and fabricated. The sourcing and sinking current capability of the gate driver are tested under various ambient temperatures. Also, a 1200 V/100 A SiC mosfet phase-leg power module is developed utilizing high temperature packaging technologies. The static characteristics, switching performance, and short-circuit behavior of the fabricated power module are fully evaluated at different temperatures. Moreover, a buck converter prototype composed of the SOI gate driver and SiC power module is built for high temperature continuous operation. The converter is operated at different switching frequencies up to 100 kHz, with its junction temperature monitored by a thermosensitive electrical parameter and compared with thermal simulation results. The experimental results from the continuous operation demonstrate the high temperature capability of the power module at a junction temperature greater than 225 °C.
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