Applications of SiC-Transistors in Photovoltaic Inverters

Abstract

Currently there are several silicon carbide (SiC) field effect or bipolar transistor types in development with normally-on and normally-off characteristics. It is not yet clear, which transistor type will prevail in the market and which will remain a niche product. This is not only determined by their electrical characteristics, but also by their acceptance by engineers. In this paper the implementation and the performance of 1200 V / 20 A / 100 m SiC-DMOSFETS and 1200 V / 12 A / 125 m normally-off SiC-JFETs in photovoltaic inverters (PV-inverters) is shown.

Silicon carbide power device status and issue

“…By combining these two devices i.e. recovery free SiC Schottky diodes SiC VJFET, significant improvement in overall efficiency, up to 99% overall efficiency, can be achieved [13] Gate drivers that are used to drive silicon IGBTs can be used to drive the SiC JFET; however, n optimized driver specifically designed to drive the normally-off JFET can significantly improve the switching performance of the SiC JFET. One such driver is a two-stage DC-coupled driver [6].…”

Reliability-Driven Assessment of GaN HEMTs and Si IGBTs in 3L-ANPC PV Inverters

“…For example, the performance of SiC JFET devices for PV applications has been discussed in detail in [8]- [10]. A number of experimental test results show a peak efficiency of 98.8%, and in [8], the highly efficient and reliable inverter concept converter with SiC devices has achieved a 99% peak efficiency.…”

A Transportable Photovoltaic Power Generation System Utilizing a SiC Inverter and Spherical Si Solar Cells

“…Ref. [11] reported a 2500-W single-phase inverter built with 1200-V SiC JFETs. In [12], the employment of 1200-V SiC MOSFETs realized a 5000-W single-phase inverter.…”

“…In [9], the employment of 1200-V SiC BJTs realized a 5500-W converter. Concerning DC-alternating current (AC) converters, single-phase inverters using SiC junction field-effect transistors (JFETs) and SiC MOSFETs were presented in [11] and [12], respectively. Ref.…”