Concise Silicon Carbide DC Circuit Breaker Module for Satellite Electrical Systems

Abstract

Fault protection and real-time monitoring of Satellite Electrical Power Systems (SEPS) are of importance for the advancement of modern satellite systems of high power, compact sizing and long lifespan. Conventional protection methods could handle the overcurrent faults but lack flexibility in fault clearance time. With these important considerations, a compact and programable Silicon Carbide (SiC) power MOSFET based DC circuit breaker module is developed to not only handle multiple levels of overcurrent faults with suitable time-delay protection scheme, but also provide the real-time monitoring of circuit breaker status by using the Long Range (LoRa) and Internet of Things (IoT) Technology. The proposed module has been implemented and its effectiveness was tested and confirmed in laboratory under various overcurrent fault conditions.