I-Corps: Solid State Circuit Breakers Technology to Market

I-Corps项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是开发一种技术，以具有竞争力的成本解决当前断路器的局限性。该技术促进了直流电力系统的可再生能源整合，并有助于加速电气化行业的发展，以科普全球范围内减少碳足迹的努力。据报道，2019年全球断路器市场为160.4亿美元，预计到2027年美国将达到258.5亿美元。在这个市场中，直流断路器预计从2019年到2024年将以6.54%的年增长率增长。当前断路器技术的痛点包括但不限于操作缓慢、功率密度低、灵活性和可靠性低、没有可扩展性以及监测和控制功能有限。除了这些缺点之外，现有的断路器技术不能响应新兴电气化技术的迫切需要，例如，该I-Corps项目基于新兴的固态断路器技术的发展，以隔离电气系统中的故障。该技术旨在利用最先进的宽带隙固态器件来增加紧凑性，提高效率并更快地运行。该解决方案包括软件和硬件，可针对不同电力的各种应用进行调整。性能、设计简单性和低价格的组合使该技术广泛适用于各种应用。该技术通过呈现模块化结构来提供可扩展性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a technology that addresses the limitations of current circuit breakers, at a competitive cost. The technology facilitates renewable energy integration by direct current power systems and helps to accelerate the development of the electrification industry to cope with the world-wide effort in minimizing carbon footprints. The global circuit breaker market has been reported as $16.04 billion in 2019 and is estimated to reach $25.85 billion in the US by 2027. Among this market, direct current circuit breakers are estimated to grow at an annual rate of 6.54% from 2019 to 2024. The pain points of the current circuit breaker technology include, but are not limited to, slow operation, low power density, low flexibility and reliability, no scalability, and limited monitoring and controlling functions. In addition to these drawbacks, the existing circuit breaker technology cannot respond to the urgent needs of emerging electrified technologies, e.g., aerospace, marine, and electric vehicle applications.This I-Corps project is based on the development of emerging solid state circuit breaker technologies to isolate fault in an electric system. The technology aims to utilize state-of-the-art, wide bandgap, solid-state devices to increase compactness, enhance efficiency, and operate faster. The solution includes both software and hardware which can be adjusted for various applications with different electrical power. The combinations of performance, design simplicity, and low-price make this technology broadly accessible and manageable for various applications. The technology provides scalability by presenting a modular structure. This feature helps to push up power limitation of the current technology.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.