Transistor-Clamped Multilevel H-Bridge Inverter in Si and SiC Hybrid Configuration for High-Efficiency Photovoltaic Applications

Yibin Zhang; Jiangbiao He; Sanjeevikumar Padmanaban; Dan M. Ionel

doi:10.1109/ECCE.2018.8557394

Transistor-Clamped Multilevel H-Bridge Inverter in Si and SiC Hybrid Configuration for High-Efficiency Photovoltaic Applications

Yibin Zhang, Jiangbiao He, Sanjeevikumar Padmanaban, Dan M. Ionel

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

20 Scopus citations

Abstract

Using wide bandgap (WBG) devices has been a promising solution to improve the efficiency of power inverters for photovoltaic (PV) applications. However, for multilevel inverters, using WBG devices to improve the inverter efficiency can increase the system cost dramatically due to the high price of WBG devices in the present market as well as the large number of power devices typically required in multilevel inverter topologies. In this paper, a five-level transistor clamped H-bridge (TCHB) inverter will be further investigated. This inverter requires much lower number of semiconductor switches and fewer isolated dc sources than the conventional cascaded H-bridge inverter. To improve the inverter efficiency, semiconductor switches operating at carrier frequency will be configured by Silicon Carbide (SiC) devices to reduce the dominant switching losses, while the switches operating at fundamental output frequency (i.e., grid frequency) will be constituted by Silicon (Si) devices. As a result, both of the peak efficiency and California Energy Commission (CEC) efficiency of the TCHB inverter are significantly improved and dramatic system cost increase is avoided. In addition, due to the faster saturation characteristic of the IGBT devices, the large short-circuit current in SiC MOSFETs is constrained under the condition of load short-circuit faults. In other words, this proposed 'SiC+Si' hybrid TCHB inverter can ride through a load short-circuit fault. Simulation and experimental results are presented to confirm the benefits of this proposed hybrid TCHB inverter.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	2018 IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition, ECCE 2018
Pages	2536-2542
Number of pages	7
ISBN (Electronic)	9781479973118
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/ECCE.2018.8557394
State	Published - Dec 3 2018
Event	10th Annual IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition, ECCE 2018 - Portland, United States Duration: Sep 23 2018 → Sep 27 2018

Publication series

Name	2018 IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition, ECCE 2018

Conference

Conference	10th Annual IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition, ECCE 2018
Country/Territory	United States
City	Portland
Period	9/23/18 → 9/27/18

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 IEEE.

Funding

ACKNOWLEDGMENT The support of University of Kentucky, the L. Stanley Pigman endowment and the SPARK program, and ANSYS Inc. is gratefully acknowledged.

Funders	Funder number
ANSYS, Inc.
University of Kentucky

Keywords

High efficiency
Hybrid configuration
Multilevel inverter
Photovoltaic applications
Silicon Carbide

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Energy Engineering and Power Technology
Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
Control and Optimization
Computer Networks and Communications
Hardware and Architecture
Information Systems and Management

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1109/ECCE.2018.8557394

Cite this

Zhang, Y., He, J., Padmanaban, S., & Ionel, D. M. (2018). Transistor-Clamped Multilevel H-Bridge Inverter in Si and SiC Hybrid Configuration for High-Efficiency Photovoltaic Applications. In 2018 IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition, ECCE 2018 (pp. 2536-2542). Article 8557394 (2018 IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition, ECCE 2018). https://doi.org/10.1109/ECCE.2018.8557394

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title = "Transistor-Clamped Multilevel H-Bridge Inverter in Si and SiC Hybrid Configuration for High-Efficiency Photovoltaic Applications",

abstract = "Using wide bandgap (WBG) devices has been a promising solution to improve the efficiency of power inverters for photovoltaic (PV) applications. However, for multilevel inverters, using WBG devices to improve the inverter efficiency can increase the system cost dramatically due to the high price of WBG devices in the present market as well as the large number of power devices typically required in multilevel inverter topologies. In this paper, a five-level transistor clamped H-bridge (TCHB) inverter will be further investigated. This inverter requires much lower number of semiconductor switches and fewer isolated dc sources than the conventional cascaded H-bridge inverter. To improve the inverter efficiency, semiconductor switches operating at carrier frequency will be configured by Silicon Carbide (SiC) devices to reduce the dominant switching losses, while the switches operating at fundamental output frequency (i.e., grid frequency) will be constituted by Silicon (Si) devices. As a result, both of the peak efficiency and California Energy Commission (CEC) efficiency of the TCHB inverter are significantly improved and dramatic system cost increase is avoided. In addition, due to the faster saturation characteristic of the IGBT devices, the large short-circuit current in SiC MOSFETs is constrained under the condition of load short-circuit faults. In other words, this proposed 'SiC+Si' hybrid TCHB inverter can ride through a load short-circuit fault. Simulation and experimental results are presented to confirm the benefits of this proposed hybrid TCHB inverter.",

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Zhang, Y, He, J, Padmanaban, S & Ionel, DM 2018, Transistor-Clamped Multilevel H-Bridge Inverter in Si and SiC Hybrid Configuration for High-Efficiency Photovoltaic Applications. in 2018 IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition, ECCE 2018., 8557394, 2018 IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition, ECCE 2018, pp. 2536-2542, 10th Annual IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition, ECCE 2018, Portland, United States, 9/23/18. https://doi.org/10.1109/ECCE.2018.8557394

Transistor-Clamped Multilevel H-Bridge Inverter in Si and SiC Hybrid Configuration for High-Efficiency Photovoltaic Applications. / Zhang, Yibin; He, Jiangbiao; Padmanaban, Sanjeevikumar et al.
2018 IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition, ECCE 2018. 2018. p. 2536-2542 8557394 (2018 IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition, ECCE 2018).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › peer-review

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AU - He, Jiangbiao

AU - Padmanaban, Sanjeevikumar

AU - Ionel, Dan M.

PY - 2018/12/3

Y1 - 2018/12/3

N2 - Using wide bandgap (WBG) devices has been a promising solution to improve the efficiency of power inverters for photovoltaic (PV) applications. However, for multilevel inverters, using WBG devices to improve the inverter efficiency can increase the system cost dramatically due to the high price of WBG devices in the present market as well as the large number of power devices typically required in multilevel inverter topologies. In this paper, a five-level transistor clamped H-bridge (TCHB) inverter will be further investigated. This inverter requires much lower number of semiconductor switches and fewer isolated dc sources than the conventional cascaded H-bridge inverter. To improve the inverter efficiency, semiconductor switches operating at carrier frequency will be configured by Silicon Carbide (SiC) devices to reduce the dominant switching losses, while the switches operating at fundamental output frequency (i.e., grid frequency) will be constituted by Silicon (Si) devices. As a result, both of the peak efficiency and California Energy Commission (CEC) efficiency of the TCHB inverter are significantly improved and dramatic system cost increase is avoided. In addition, due to the faster saturation characteristic of the IGBT devices, the large short-circuit current in SiC MOSFETs is constrained under the condition of load short-circuit faults. In other words, this proposed 'SiC+Si' hybrid TCHB inverter can ride through a load short-circuit fault. Simulation and experimental results are presented to confirm the benefits of this proposed hybrid TCHB inverter.

AB - Using wide bandgap (WBG) devices has been a promising solution to improve the efficiency of power inverters for photovoltaic (PV) applications. However, for multilevel inverters, using WBG devices to improve the inverter efficiency can increase the system cost dramatically due to the high price of WBG devices in the present market as well as the large number of power devices typically required in multilevel inverter topologies. In this paper, a five-level transistor clamped H-bridge (TCHB) inverter will be further investigated. This inverter requires much lower number of semiconductor switches and fewer isolated dc sources than the conventional cascaded H-bridge inverter. To improve the inverter efficiency, semiconductor switches operating at carrier frequency will be configured by Silicon Carbide (SiC) devices to reduce the dominant switching losses, while the switches operating at fundamental output frequency (i.e., grid frequency) will be constituted by Silicon (Si) devices. As a result, both of the peak efficiency and California Energy Commission (CEC) efficiency of the TCHB inverter are significantly improved and dramatic system cost increase is avoided. In addition, due to the faster saturation characteristic of the IGBT devices, the large short-circuit current in SiC MOSFETs is constrained under the condition of load short-circuit faults. In other words, this proposed 'SiC+Si' hybrid TCHB inverter can ride through a load short-circuit fault. Simulation and experimental results are presented to confirm the benefits of this proposed hybrid TCHB inverter.

KW - High efficiency

KW - Hybrid configuration

KW - Multilevel inverter

KW - Photovoltaic applications

KW - Silicon Carbide

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Transistor-Clamped Multilevel H-Bridge Inverter in Si and SiC Hybrid Configuration for High-Efficiency Photovoltaic Applications

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

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