Bdfrg Wind Turbine Partial-Scale Converter: Efficiency, Cost and Volume Comparison of Sic-Based and Igbt-Based Converter Solution

Power electronics is considered the enabling technology in the most renewable energy systems. Nowadays it is gaining increasing attention, as the penetration of renewable energy sources increases. Of particular interest are the wideband-gap devices, as they offer important benefits when considering the efficiency increase and volume reduction. Consequently, they can be viably adopted in the renewable energy sources, particularly when considering the green goals imposed by many countries. In this paper, the 1.5 MW BDFRG-based wind conversion system with bidirectional partial-scale frequency converter comprised of two back-to-back inverters is considered. The efficiency, total volume and cost comparison have been conducted for Si- and SiC-based converters. Both the converters are designed with modules of the same power ratings. The comparison is done in PLECS simulation tool, using the PLECS libraries for different modules obtained from the manufacturers’ experimental data. The results show the benefits of adopting the SiC-based converter solutions due to reduced volume and cost.