Medium-voltage Solid-state Transformer Research Articles

Device Voltage Stress From Ground Leakage Current in Medium-Voltage Solid-State Transformer

Grounding related issues are critical for safe and reliable operation of solid-state transformer (SST) in medium-voltage (MV) applications, e.g., solar photovoltaic and energy storage integration, date center, electric vehicle fast charging, etc. This article presents for the first time the issue of additional device voltage stress due to grounding-loop current in current-source SST, using the soft-switching solid-state transformer (S4T) as an example. The S4T features single-stage isolated ac–ac, ac–dc, or dc–dc conversion with full-range ZVS, derived from flyback converter or current-source converter (CSC). However, the flyback operation for CSC-based SST means that magnetizing current flows through the reverse-blocking devices on only one side of the medium-frequency transformer (MFT) at a time. Then, the voltages across the devices, especially those on the other side of the MFT, can be influenced by parasitic current. A parasitic model of a modular S4T (M-S4T) prototype is developed from direct measurements and datasheets. Using the developed parasitic model and equivalent circuits, the causes of the voltage stress are analyzed. A voltage-stress mitigation scheme of connecting additional grounding capacitors is proposed. Damping resistors are also installed to damp out the grounding-loop resonance. A robust parameter design of the proposed scheme is given. The existence of the voltage stress issue and the effectiveness of the proposed scheme are verified experimentally on an MV SiC M-S4T prototype with inherent parameter variations among the five modules in the prototype. Both single-module and stacked-module operation are demonstrated during steady state and dynamic conditions up to 4 kV peak.

High Voltage Winding Internal Electric Field Shielding Structure for Medium Voltage High Frequency Transformers

In this letter, an internal electric field shielding layer for high voltage winding of medium voltage high frequency transformer used in a modular cascaded medium voltage solid state transformer is proposed. Without breaking the litz wire insulation layer, the high electric field is effectively shielded by a semiconducting layer and an unclosed copper foil spiral, which are electrically connected together. Not only the electric field in the main wall insulation is uniformed but also the peak value of the internal field is greatly reduced, which will help to achieve lower partial discharge and higher insulation reliability. With this structure, the difficulties of pouring process and electric field estimation for the litz wire winding are both avoid. Finally, a no partial discharge 100 kW medium voltage high frequency transformer prototype with 75 kV base insulation level is built and verified with the insulation tests.

Isolated AC/AC Converter With LLC Resonant Converter High-Frequency Link and Four-Quadrant Switches in the Output Stage

An AC-AC converter with a high-frequency link employing an LLC resonant converter operating in the vicinity of the resonance frequency was studied, in which a single output power stage is used, formed by a high-frequency AC-AC converter employing four-quadrant switches. The topology, its operation and the modulation strategy are described. The high-frequency stage switches located on the primary side of the transformer operate with soft switching of the ZVS type, while the four-quadrant switches that form the output stage operate with soft switching of the ZCS type. Experimental data obtained with a 1.5 kW experimental prototype (input $220~V_{RMS}$ , output $220~V_{RMS}$ and switching frequency 40 kHz), which was designed, built and tested in the laboratory, are reported herein. This converter can be considered a candidate for the building block of medium voltage solid-state transformers (SST) for power distribution systems.

Modeling and Control of Three-Level Boost Rectifier Based Medium-Voltage Solid-State Transformer for DC Fast Charger Application

This paper presents modeling, control, and system design of three-level boost (TLB) rectifier based medium-voltage (MV) solid-state transformer (SST) for dc fast charger application. In order to operate at MV with 1.2-kV SiC devices, the target system is configured by input-series output-parallel (ISOP) multimodule structure. Each module adopts TLB to front-end rectifier and stacked half-bridge LLCs to back-end isolated dc–dc converters. Operation principles of TLB rectifier and LLC converters are analyzed to derive an equivalent model of the entire system. Based on the detailed derivation, this paper aims to achieve three performance criteria, including bus voltage regulation, input current regulation, and voltage balancing. Basic feedback control loops are designed to control TLB’s output voltage and input current in an average manner, based on the derived system model. Then, ideal TLB duty-ratios in both continuous/discontinuous conduction modes are analyzed and duty-ratio feedforward control is proposed to improve the low quality of input current due to inherent feedback control limitations. For voltage balancing, system design approaches are used in the SST prototype. With the proposed control and system design, a prototype of four-module-stacked TLB SST was built and tested up to 3.8-kVrms and 16-kW conditions.

Control of a three-stage medium voltage solid-state transformer

Fil: Busada, Claudio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet - Bahia Blanca. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingenieria Electrica ; Argentina

Solid-State-Transformer-Interfaced Permanent Magnet Wind Turbine Distributed Generation System With Power Management Functions

The higher penetration of wind energy poses increasing demand for grid support and power management functions of a wind energy conversion system (WECS). This paper investigates a medium-voltage solid-state transformer (SST)-interfaced permanent magnet synchronous generator system with integrated active power management and reactive power compensation functions. Specifically, a WECS consisting of wind turbines, SSTs, and dc loads is presented. In addition, a distributed power management algorithm is proposed for a dc network with local wind turbine controls incorporated to achieve a self-contained power-balanced condition without the need for energy storage or communication devices. Scenarios considered include the grid-connected mode, the islanding mode, and the mode transitions. Simulation results are provided to verify the effectiveness of the proposed strategy. Additionally, the concept is experimentally verified using a scaled-down laboratory prototype.

Medium-Voltage Solid-State Transformer: Technology for a Smarter and Resilient Grid

The most important impact of power electronics on our society in the last 50 years has been the elimination of the 60-Hz ac power delivery system for consumer electronic products. Central to this achievement is the use of silicon (Si) power devices and pulsewidth modulation (PWM) techniques in delivering regulated ac and dc powers to low-voltage (LV) loads such as light-emitting diodes and computers. These solid-state power electronic converters have provided our society numerous benefits, including high-quality power and substantial energy savings. They also form the core technology for integrating renewable energies such as wind and solar into our power grid. Figure 1 shows a typical power delivery architecture commonly found in computer supplies and data centers. The incoming universal ac grid power is converted by a power factor correction circuit to 400 V dc before it is stepped down to a lower voltage dc intermediate bus, such as 12 V, and then it powers the digital loads at voltages as low as 1 V by a point-of-load converter. Si power metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effective transistor (MOSFET) transistors from 20 V to 700 V are almost exclusively used in this application with switching frequencies from tens of kilohertz to one megahertz. Emerging devices based on gallium nitride (GaN) heterojunction field effect transistors reduce the switching and conduction losses when compared with Si power MOSFETs and are, therefore, poised to compete in these applications, driven by the need for higher energy efficiency and higher power density.