MOSFET-based Power Converters
Technology Description:
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) and its project team will develop high power, high voltage AC-to-DC and DC-to-DC modular power converters with a circuit configuration optimized for silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductors. In medium voltage and high voltage applications, multilevel modular converters are the favored architecture that overcomes the limitations of Si. Such architecture requires high frequency galvanic isolation to attain higher operating voltages. This project seeks to develop modular power converters optimized for SiC devices without any galvanic isolation, by harnessing two unique circuit operating modes of this power converter, transforming its intrinsic operation into one that favors high switching frequency. The team will pursue three primary applications for their proposed 2 MW, high-efficiency (99%) power converter: 1) electric motor drives, 2) power inverters for grid-scale use, and 3) a DC-to-DC converters for microgrid applications. If successful, the project’s optimized circuit designs could open the door for more SiC-based, high power, medium-voltage converters.