A 2 kW, single-phase, 7-level, GaN inverter with an active energy buffer achieving 216 W/in3 power density and 97.6% peak efficiency

Lei, Yutian; Barth, Christopher; Qin, Shibin; Liu, Wen-Chuen; Moon, Intae; Stillwell, Andrew; Chou, Derek; Foulkes, Thomas; Ye, Zichao; Liao, Zitao; Pilawa-Podgurski, Robert C. N.

doi:10.1109/apec.2016.7468068

Cited by 89 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…The switching frequency of the converters range between 100 kHz to 200 kHz to reduce output filter size while keeping the inverter efficiency above 95 %. A multilevel inverter topology based on 200 V GaN devices and achieving MHz effective switching frequency at the output of the inverter is presented in [10]. In addition to inverter applications, active power decoupling converters to eliminate electrolytic capacitors in single phase inverters have been also discussed and realised with these WBG devices.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tradeoff Study of Heat Sink and Output Filter Volume in a GaN HEMT Based Single-Phase Inverter

Gurpinar

Castellazzi

2018

IEEE Trans. Power Electron.

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Abstract-This paper presents the trade-off study of heat sink and output filter volume of a GaN HEMT based single phase inverter. The selected topology is three-level Active Neutral point Clamped (ANPC) inverter, and the main aim is to explore the benefits of the GaN HEMTs at 600 V blocking class on the system level efficiency, and power density under wide range of operating conditions. The paper starts by introducing the inverter topology, selected PWM scheme and followed by the device features, static and dynamic characterisation and continues with presenting and discussing the results of extensive experimental and analytical characterisation. After this, the impact of GaN HEMTs on inverter volume is discussed in terms of heat sink and output filter volume analysis under different switching frequency and heat sink temperature conditions. The calculation of heat sink volume and single stage LC output filter volume are presented with respect to experimental results of single phase prototype. The findings from static, dynamic characterisation and single phase prototype results clearly show that GaN HEMT has excellent switching performance under wide load current and heat sink temperature conditions. The high performance of the inverter lead to reduction of the combined total volume, including output filter and heat sink volume.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tradeoff Study of Heat Sink and Output Filter Volume in a GaN HEMT Based Single-Phase Inverter

Gurpinar

Castellazzi

2018

IEEE Trans. Power Electron.

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“…An example of such an integrated s witching cell, with carefully controlled impedance to minimize ringing, is shown in Figure 22. Here, four GaN devices, two gate drive ICs, and local decoupling capacitors were integrated onto the same substrate to achieve a high level of integration in a 2 kW inverter prototype [354] with excellent results.…”

Section: Packagingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ultrawide‐Bandgap Semiconductors: Research Opportunities and Challenges

Tsao

Chowdhury

Hollis

et al. 2017

Adv Elect Materials

1,051

463

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“…1). More details regarding the operation and implementation of the topology can be found in [2]. A preceding Pareto optimization with focus on high power density (omitted here for the sake of brevity) yielded the system parameters listed in Table I.…”

Section: A 5-level Single-phase Fccmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The off-state resistance of the power transistors (2-3 orders of magnitude lower, operating as IBBs) tend to balance the FCs back to their nominal values, however the actual off-state resistance can vary significantly between the power transistors. To remedy this problem, IBBs of 1 MΩ (or less if needed) are installed which ensure permanent balance of the circuit while in standby, causing negligible steady state losses of 13 mW/cell (according to (2)). The value of Rboost (cf.…”

Section: A Grid Connected / Island-mode Pv Inverter 1) Studied Loadsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the past, multi-level converters have been employed in high voltage / high power applications to overcome the blocking voltage limitation of the involved power semiconductors [1]. Recently, it was demonstrated that the FCC might also be a preferable choice in low-voltage DC/AC applications [2]. Due to the resulting multi-level output voltage and the increased effective switching frequency, the size of passive filter components can be significantly reduced yielding high power density designs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Behavior of the flying capacitor converter under critical operating conditions

Papamanolis

Neumayr

Kolar

2017

2017 IEEE 26th International Symposium on Industrial Electronics (ISIE)

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The Flying Capacitor Converter (FCC) offers an attractive alternative to conventional 2-level converter topologies due to the easily acquired high number of voltage levels and the increased effective switching frequency. However, balancing of the flying capacitor (FC) voltages is crucial in practice since a deviation from the nominal voltage levels increases harmonics in the output voltage and, more importantly, jeopardizes the integrity of the converter due to overvoltages across the power transistors. Modulation inherent FC balancing techniques (termed natural/passive balancing) have been thoroughly analyzed in literature, however only for stationary operating conditions. In this paper, the behavior of the FCC and the effectiveness of passive balancing will be analyzed in detail regarding specific operating conditions present in typical industry applications such as converter start-up, shut-down, standby and operation under fault conditions. The basis for the analysis is a 5-level, 2 kW FCC embedded in two typical industry applications: single-phase PV inverter and single-phase PFC rectifier.

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A 2 kW, single-phase, 7-level, GaN inverter with an active energy buffer achieving 216 W/in3 power density and 97.6% peak efficiency

Cited by 89 publications

References 15 publications

Tradeoff Study of Heat Sink and Output Filter Volume in a GaN HEMT Based Single-Phase Inverter

Tradeoff Study of Heat Sink and Output Filter Volume in a GaN HEMT Based Single-Phase Inverter

Ultrawide‐Bandgap Semiconductors: Research Opportunities and Challenges

Behavior of the flying capacitor converter under critical operating conditions

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