| Summary: | The aim of the thesis is to investigate and assess the benefits of SiC power devices on wind inverter topologies for low and medium voltage grid connections in terms of power losses and efficiency under different conditions, i.e. various power loading, different switching frequencies and different heat-sink temperatures. The thesis also proposes and develops solutions for maximum exploitation of the potential benefits of SiC technology in wind energy applications.
The comparison between Si and SiC devices is established for a particular case of wind applications; the compared efficiency versus the wind distribution allows to determine the advantages of SiC-based solution. The static and dynamic characterizations of the 1.2 kV SiC MOSFET power module are carried out to allow determining the impact of different operating parameters over the device performance. The evaluated module is used for the design of a three-phase inverter for wind application referring to some behavioural features of SiC devices and specific operating conditions of wind turbines. A bespoke design for the three-phase inverter is presented to inverter performance and power density by joint electro-thermal and electro-magnetic design optimization of the wind inverter. Finally, the knowledge gained in low voltage SiC devices is transferred to the high voltage ones, especially 3.3 kV SiC MOSFET; these devices not yet commercially available at the time of writing, but promising to become a key SiC component in the near future.
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