| Title |
Development of a 3 kW Grid-tied PV Inverter With GaN HEMT Considering Thermal Considerations |
| Authors |
Seok-Gyu Han ; Yong-Su Noh ; Byong-Jo Hyon ; Joon-Sung Park ; Dongmyoung Joo |
| DOI |
https://doi.org/10.6113/TKPE.2021.26.5.325 |
| Keywords |
WBG (Wide-Band-Gap); Power semiconductor; GaN HEMT; PV inverter; Thermal design |
| Abstract |
A 3 kW grid-tied PV inverter with Gallium nitride high-electron mobility transistor (GaN HEMT) for domestic commercialization was developed using boost converter and full-bridge inverter with LCL filter topology. Recently, many GaN HEMTs are manufactured as surface mount packages because of their lower parasitic inductance characteristic than standard TO (transistor outline) packages. A surface mount packaged GaN HEMT releases heat through either top or bottom cooling method. IGOT60R070D1 is selected as a key power semiconductor because it has a top cooling method and fairly low thermal resistances from junction to ambient. Its characteristics allow the design of a 3 kW inverter without forced convection, thereby providing great advantages in terms of easy maintenance and high reliability. 1EDF5673K is selected as a gate driver because its driving current and negative voltage output characteristics are highly optimized for IGOT60R070D1. An LCL filter with passive damping resistor is applied to attenuate the switching frequency harmonics to the grid-tied operation. The designed LCL filter parameters are validated with PSIM simulation. A prototype of 3 kW PV inverter with GaN HEMT is constructed to verify the performance of the power conversion system. It achieved high power density of 614 W/L and peak power efficiency of 99% for the boost converter and inverter. |