SiC-SIT Circuit Breakers With Controllable Interruption Voltage for 400-V DC Distribution Systems

• Published in: IEEE transactions on power electronics Vol. 29; no. 5; pp. 2597 - 2605
• Main Authors: Sato, Yukihiko, Tanaka, Yasunori, Fukui, Akiyoshi, Yamasaki, Mikio, Ohashi, Hiromichi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01.05.2014; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: 400-V dc distribution systems; Circuit breakers; Circuits; Electric currents; Electricity distribution; gate driving circuits; Interrupters; Logic gates; overvoltage protection; Prototypes; SiC; Silicon carbide; static induction transistors; Switches; Transistors; Voltage control
• ISSN: 0885-8993; 1941-0107
• DOI: 10.1109/TPEL.2013.2274464

400-V direct current (400-V dc) distribution systems are promising candidate of highly efficient and reliable distribution systems for data centers. To realize the 400-V dc distribution systems, development of methods for high-speed overcurrent protection is one of the important issues. In this paper, as a solution to this problem, a semiconductor dc circuit breaker using SiC static induction transistors (SiC-SIT's) is investigated. The SiC-SIT's has extremely low on-state resistance and very large safe operating area (SOA). These properties are attractive in the application of the circuit breakers for 400-V dc distribution systems. A novel control method of the gate voltage waveform to reduce the transient overvoltage and resonance during the interruption process is proposed. The effectiveness of the proposed method is confirmed by actual operation tests employing an experimental prototype of the dc distribution system. All of the result is confirmed by the fabricated SiC-SIT circuit breaker prototype.