WBG semiconductors for HV Power Electronics

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The emergence of wide bandgap semiconductors in power electronics has made it possible to manufacture high voltage (HV) devices with low on-state resistance and offer fast switching transitions. This has enabled high switching frequencies in MV applications, which reduces the size and weight of the magnetic components and has opened up various opportunities in the field of power transmission and distribution. With the increasing popularity of MVac and MVdc microgrids, it has become necessary to have suitable MVac/MVdc, MVac/MVac, or MVac/LVac converters to integrate MVac systems with AC or DC microgrids. On account of this, an MV solid-state transformer (MV-SST) enabled by 10 kV SiC MOSFETs is developed to integrate an MV grid of 4.16 kV to a low voltage (LV) grid of 480 V. This talk focuses on the design, hardware development and experimental demonstration of this 10 kV SiC MOSFET based MV-SST system. Specific challenges that arise with the use of these devices will also be discussed. A key part of the presentation will focus on the design considerations and development of a high voltage gate driver for driving these devices. The operation of the different converter will be discussed in brief and specific challenges regarding the magnetics design for medium voltage converters will also be touched upon.