Abstract
High efficiency in power converters means less power wasted, which implies reduction in heat sink requirement, thereby small in size and less in weight. This power loss reductions in space application leads to smaller solar panels and less fuel on-board, hence reduces the spacecraft size, weight and launch cost. One of the major challenges for power converters in space application is to boost their efficiency, to reduce thermal dissipation problems.In this paper, design and implementation of an ultra-high efficiency isolated bi-directional dc-dc converter utilizing GaN devices is presented. Loss modelling of the GaN converter is also included in this paper. The converter has achieved a maximum measured efficiency of 98.8% in both directions of power flow, using the same power components. Hardware prototype of the converter along with the measured efficiency curve is also presented in this paper.
Highlights
Solar energy is a major source of energy for the satellite in orbit
The size, reliability and efficiency of the overall system mainly depend on the power losses of the converter; efficiency is a key parameter in designing such a dc-dc converter
This paper presents an ultra-high efficiency isolated dcdc converter
Summary
A bidirectional dc-dc converter is highly desirable to charge the battery with solar energy and in eclipse period to power the satellite equipment. Various bidirectional converters to achieve high efficiency have been discussed in the literature [5]-[7]. This paper presents an ultra-high efficiency isolated dcdc converter. GaN devices are used as the switching device to realize the hardware prototype of the converter. This paper discusses the design of high efficiency magnetics along with design considerations of using GaN FETs as the switching device. The loss modelling of the GaN converter is presented in the paper. The hardware prototype of a 1.7 kW GaN converter is presented in this paper. The measured maximum efficiency of the converter is 98.8% in both the directions of power flow. The converter has achieved an efficiency of above 98.5% over a wide range of output power
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