Silicium-Carbide-Based Isolated DC/DC Converter for Medium-Voltage Photovoltaic Power Plants

Minh Nhut Ngo, Philippe Ladoux, Jérémy Martin and Sébastien Sanchez
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Minh Nhut Ngo: Laboratory of Intelligent Management of Electrical Network (LIRE), Department of Solar Technologies (DTS), LITEN, CEA Grenoble, 73370 Le Bourget du Lac, France
Philippe Ladoux: Laboratory of Plasma and Energy Conversion (LAPLACE), University of Toulouse, 31000 Toulouse, France
Jérémy Martin: Laboratory of Intelligent Management of Electrical Network (LIRE), Department of Solar Technologies (DTS), LITEN, CEA Grenoble, 73370 Le Bourget du Lac, France
Sébastien Sanchez: Laboratory of Plasma and Energy Conversion (LAPLACE), University of Toulouse, 31000 Toulouse, France

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 3, 1-17

Abstract: The production of large-scale photovoltaics (PVs) is becoming increasingly popular in the field of power generation; they require the construction of power plants of several hundred megawatts. Nevertheless, the construction of these PV power plants with conventional low-voltage (LV) conversion systems is not an appropriate technological path. Particularly, large cross-section cables, a high quantity of semiconductors, and the bulky layout of 50/60-Hz step-up transformers make the PV system less competitive in terms of energy efficiency and cost. To overcome these drawbacks, this paper introduces new PV plant topologies with an intermediate medium-voltage direct current (MVDC) collector that requires galvanic isolation for connecting the PV arrays. Then, the design of a power electronic transformer (PET) is proposed, implementing 1.7-kV and 3.3-kV silicium carbide (SiC) power modules. The study confirms that this converter allows the use of medium-frequency (MF) transformers with high power densities while maintaining high efficiency, which facilitates the implementation of isolated medium-voltage (MV) topologies for utility-scale PV power plants.

Keywords: SiC power modules; solid-state transformer; medium-voltage photovoltaic power plant (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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