Transformerless Intelligent Power Substation Research Articles

A Transformerless Intelligent Power Substation: A three-phase SST enabled by a 15-kV SiC IGBT

The solid-state transformer (SST) is a promising power electronics solution that provides voltage regulation, reactive power compensation, dc-sourced renewable integration, and communication capabilities, in addition to the traditional step-up/step-down functionality of a transformer. It is gaining widespread attention for medium-voltage (MV) grid interfacing to enable increases in renewable energy penetration, and, commercially, the SST is of interest for traction applications due to its light weight as a result of medium-frequency isolation. The recent advancements in silicon carbide (SiC) power semiconductor device technology are creating a new paradigm with the development of discrete power semiconductor devices in the range of 10-15 kV and even beyond-up to 22 kV, as recently reported. In contrast to silicon (Si) IGBTs, which are limited to 6.5-kV blocking, these high-voltage (HV) SiC devices are enabling much simpler converter topologies and increased efficiency and reliability, with dramatic reductions of the size and weight of the MV power-conversion systems.

Solid-State Transformer and MV Grid Tie Applications Enabled by 15 kV SiC IGBTs and 10 kV SiC MOSFETs Based Multilevel Converters

Medium-voltage (MV) SiC devices have been developed recently which can be used for three-phase MV grid tie applications. Two such devices, 15 kV SiC insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) and 10 kV SiC MOSFET, have opened up the possibilities of looking into different converter topologies for the MV distribution grid interface. These can be used in MV drives, active filter applications, or as the active front end converter for solid-state transformers (SSTs). The transformerless intelligent power substation (TIPS) is one such application for these devices. TIPS is proposed as a three-phase SST interconnecting a 13.8 kV distribution grid with a 480 V utility grid. It is an all SiC device-based multistage SST. This paper focuses on the advantages, design considerations, and challenges associated with the operation of converters using these devices keeping TIPS as the topology of reference. The efficiency of the TIPS topology is also calculated using the experimentally measured loss data of the devices and the high-frequency transformer. Experimental results captured on a developed prototype of TIPS along with its measured efficiency are also given.