Power Conversion - Inverter

Opcondys will develop a high voltage (800 VDC to 14.5 kVAC), 60 kW power converter design for energy storage systems connected directly to the power grid. The team seeks to achieve significant efficiency gains over existing systems while also dramatically reducing the system size and cost. The converter will rely on a high-speed, optically switched, SiC-based power electronics device to produce extremely high-efficiencies of 99% while eliminating complexity. If successful, project developments could open the door to increased integration of grid-level energy storage at much lower cost.

United Technologies Research Center and its project team will develop an extremely efficient, high-power power converter capable of handling kilowatts of electricity at ultra-high power densities. The team will leverage the superior performance of SiC and GaN devices to achieve its efficiency and power density goals while eliminating electromagnetic “noise” in the circuit. If successful, the UTRC team will achieve landmark power densities in its converter while reducing cooling requirements, useful for applications such as aircraft starter motors.

The University of Arkansas and its project team will develop a 2 by 250 kW power inverter system for use in the electrification of heavy equipment and other higher volume transportation applications (e.g., trucks, buses, cars). The team will leverage SiC power electronics devices to achieve high levels of efficiency while greatly increasing the volumetric and gravimetric power density of its system over existing ones. If successful, the team will achieve an improvement of four times the power density and reduce converter cost by 50% compared to today’s technology.

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and its project team will develop an extremely efficient AC-toDC converter based on GaN devices for use in data centers. The team seeks to develop a prototype device that converts power from the grid (110-240 V at 50-60 Hz) to 48 VDC and lower point-of-load supplies used by data centers at efficiencies exceeding 97% and power densities beyond 7.5 kW/L. If successful, project developments will greatly reduce the amount of energy lost powering data centers while significantly improving power capability over current converters.

Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University will develop a GaN- and SiC-based, utility scale, high power (100 kW), multilevel, medium voltage DC-to-AC inverter that can receive power from sources like batteries or solar panels and transfer it directly to the medium voltage level of the utility grid. The team will also integrate the developed inverter with an existing medium voltage AC-to-DC converter to build a bidirectional solid-state transformer that converts low-voltage AC to high-voltage AC without using heavy, low-frequency materials such as copper and iron in its design. If successful, the project could lead to the first commercially viable medium voltage solid-state transformer, using just a single-stage process to obtain ultra-high efficiency power conversion.

Dynapower designed and manufacture an ultrafast Bi-directional inverters for use in Battery Energy Storage System.