SMA and Infineon join to reduce system costs for inverters
SMA Solar Technology and Infineon Technologies claim to reduce the production costs for solar power with the latest generation of silicon carbide (SiC)-based solar inverters. SiC reduces the system costs for inverters and increases their efficiency, say the companies.
SMA’s Sunny Highpower Peak3 is the basis for the compact module designed for 1,500V DC, which delivers an output of 150 kW per unit, using SiC technology from Infineon.
Six CoolSiC EasyPack 2B power modules and 36 gate drivers of the EiceDriver family 1ED20 convert the direct current (DC) generated by the solar cells into grid-compatible alternating current (AC) with an efficiency of over 99 per cent.
Sven Bremicker, head of the Technology Development Center at SMA, said: “In the Sunny Highpower PEAK3, the CoolSiC modules almost double the specific output from 0.97 to 1.76 kW/kg. Due to the compact design, the inverters are much easier to transport and much faster to install.” The advantages of a decentralised plant layout can be combined with those for central inverters and expansions are “easily possible” says SMA, even after the photovoltaic power plant has been commissioned.
“SiC-based power semiconductors are more expensive than silicon solutions,” said Dr. Peter Wawer, president of the Industrial Power Control Division of Infineon. “But thanks to the electrical properties of the material, this is more than offset at system level. Higher switching speeds and efficiency allow transformers, capacitors, heat sinks and ultimately packages to be smaller – and thus save system costs”.
Infineon has developed a customer-specific solution for SMA that includes both a classic TrenchStop IGBT and a CoolSiC MOSFET with body diode. The Active Neutral-Point Clamped (ANPC) topology allows system voltages up to 1,500V to be switched with switches designed for 1,200V. The topology uses the advantages of SiC, although only some of the switches in the EasyPack module are based on it, Infineon says. Overall, the use of SiC reduces the complexity in the inverter and increases efficiency, but also makes the system easier to maintain and extends its service life, adds the company.
