Technology: Fiber Optic Electrical Current Transducer

Developers:

• Airak, Inc.
• PPI
• Sandia National Laboratories
• U.S. DOE – Office of Electricity, Energy Storage Program

The Fiber Optic Electrical Current Transducer is an optical current sensor that measures current, magnetic fields, and ambient/conductor temperature in high-power applications with increased safety, isolation, and lower installation costs than conventional technologies. The FOECT measures the magnetic field surrounding or current flowing through a conductor, simultaneously providing temperature. It was designed to replace existing current transducers in applications ranging from monitoring load currents in electrical power lines to providing feedback information in high-energy power electronic converters.

Developers expanded upon how it is not necessary to completely encircle the conductor that is being monitored. Rather than perform an integration of the magnetic field, the sensor samples a point in the field using an optical crystal at a predetermined location. Through Faraday rotation of the polarized state, developers measured the strength of the magnetic field, extracting the temperature from fluctuations in the rotation angle.

Technology: Emitter Turn-Off (ETO) Thyristor Switch

Developers:

• Solitronics
• Virginia Tech
• American Competitiveness Institute
• U.S. DOE – Office of Electricity, Energy Storage Program
• Sandia National Laboratories

The Emitter Turn-Off (ETO) Thyristor Switch (pdf) is an inexpensive, high power/high speed, semiconductor switch for use in high power converters requiring elevated current and reverse voltage blocking capabilities. The ETO is a key enabling technology for Flexible AC Transmission System (FACTS) for safeguarding the nation’s electric power transmission and distribution.The ETO features a low gate drive power consumption with high reliability. The gate drive power does not vary significantly with the ETO current and switching frequency, approximately 15-25 watts.

Applications of the ETO include distributed energy resources, energy storage, FACTs, motor drives, and power system protection. The advantages of the ETO include a 5,000 A snubberless turn-off capability, low switching and conduction losses, low-cost device and circuit, ease for series and parallel operation, and built-in overcurrent protection and current sensor.

Technology: High-temperature Silicon Carbide (SiC) Power Module

Developers:

• Arkansas Power Electronics International, Inc.
• Univ. of Arkansas
• Rohm Co., Ltd.
• Sandia National Laboratories
• U.S. DOE – Office of Electricity, Energy Storage Program

The High-temperature Silicon Carbide (SiC) Power Module is a high-temperature 250°C power module implementing silicon carbide power transistors and integrated high-temperature silicon on insulator (HTSOI) gate driver to reduce system electrical loss by less than 50 percent.

Power electronics modules are the core components of all power electronics systems. In essence, power electronics systems convert electrical energy from one form (provided by a source) into another form (consumed by a load). They are required to drive electric motors (such as those for electric and hybrid vehicles), convert energy from renewable sources (i.e., solar arrays or wind generators), and provide power for a wide variety of electronics and electronic systems (DC power supplies and inverters).

The high-temperature silicon carbide power module is the world’s first commercial high-temperature (250°C) silicon carbide-based power electronics module. The 50 kW (kilowatt) (1200 V (volt) /150 A (ampere) peak) silicon carbide (SiC) power modules are rated up to 250°C junction temperature and integrate high-temperature gate drivers.

For more information, download the factsheet (PDF, 2.8 mb).

Technology: Silicon-carbide thyristor

Developers:

• GeneSiC Semiconductor Inc.
• Sandia National Laboratories
• U.S. DOE – Office of Electricity, Energy Storage Program
• U.S. Army/Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center

Ultra-high-voltage Silicon Carbide Thyristor

A DOE Energy Storage Systems project, managed by Sandia National Laboratories in partnership with GeneSiC Semiconductor Inc., and the U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC), has developed an Ultra-high-voltage Silicon Carbide Thyristor.The semiconductor device allows next-generation “smart grid” power electronics system to be built up to 10 times smaller and lighter than current silicon-based technologies. These packaged-power devices are the world’s first commercially available, high-voltage, high-frequency, high-current, high-temperature, single-chip SiC-based thyristors. Their performance advantages are expected to spur innovations in utility-scale power electronics hardware and to increase the accessibility and use of distributed energy resources.

The developers adopted a different operational physics for this device, which operates on minority carrier transportation and an integrated third terminal rectifier, which is one more than other commercial SiC devices. The developers adopted a new fabrication technique that supports ratings above 6,500 V, as well as a new gate-anode design for high-current devices. Capable of performing at temperatures up to 300° C and current at 80 A, the SiC Thyristor offers up to 10 times higher voltage, four times higher blocking voltages, and 100 times faster switching frequency than silicon-based thyristors.

For more information, download the factsheet (PDF, 2.4 mb) or watch the video.

Technology: 6.5 kV Enhancement-Mode Silicon Carbide JFET Switch

Developers:

• United Silicon Carbide Inc.
• Sandia National Laboratories
• U.S. DOE – Office of Electricity, Energy Storage Program

For the next-generation power-conversion technology to meet the efficiency and reliability demands of integrated renewables and energy storage systems requires using high-voltage SiC devices and reducing current throughout a system, as well as reducing the switching losses.

United Silicon Carbide Inc. and Sandia National Laboratories’ 6.5 kV SiC device and power module — the 6.5kV Enhancement-Mode Silicon Carbide JFET Switch — represents a high-voltage module based on reliable, normally off SiC JFETs. It reduces switching losses over that of Si-IGBTs by a factor of 20, and exhibits the fastest turn-on and turn-off of any 6.5 kV power module.

Green Tech Special Recognition

Technology: Precision High Power Battery Tester (PHPBT)

Developers:

• Sandia National Laboratories
• Arbin Instruments
• U.S. DOE – Office of Electricity, Energy Storage Program
• Montana Tech
• Ford Motor Company

The PHPBT uses high-precision charge/discharge test measurements at up to 200A current to capture electrochemical measurements such as coulombic efficiency with greater accuracy than was previously possible at currents applicable to EV and stationary storage applications. The goal is to detect minute signs of battery degradation earlier than previous testing, providing insight into a battery’s long-term capabilities and enabling engineers to better select feasible technologies from those needing more development.

Technology: Control System for Active Damping of Inter-Area Oscillations

Today, electric power grids operate well below transmission capacity to avoid widespread outages due to inter-area oscillations. This new control system improves electric power grid reliability by continuously damping inter-area oscillations, allowing greater power transfer. This control system is the first successful grid demonstration of feedback control, making it a game changer in efforts to transform the existing grid into the future smart grid.

Developers:

• Sandia National Laboratories
• Montana Tech
• U.S. DOE – Office of Electricity, Energy Storage Program
• U.S. DOE – Office of Electricity, Transmission Reliability Program
• Bonneville Power Administration

Technology: SiC-based Monolithic Transistor Rectifier Semiconductor Switch

Developers:

• Sandia National Laboratories
• GeneSiC Semiconductor

Sandia National Laboratories, in collaboration with GeneSiC Semiconductor, has won Special Recognition for developing the industry’s first commercially available silicon-carbide, transistor rectifier on a single chip. The monolithic transistor rectifier switch allows power-electronic systems to operate at a four-times-higher switching frequency, thus allowing designs for proportionally smaller magnetic components like inductors and transformers, which are often the bulkiest components of power-electronics hardware.

• Read more about the Sandia researchers who were honored.