Advanced Power Electronic Converters for Improved Energy Efficiency in Photovoltaic and Automotive Applications

先进的电力电子转换器可提高光伏和汽车应用的能源效率

• 批准号: RGPIN-2014-05209
• 负责人: Trescases, Olivier
• 金额: $ 2.26万
• 依托单位: University of Toronto
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2014-01-01 至 2015-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=567019
• 关键词: Advanced; Power; Electronic; Converters; Improved

Power Electronic Converters (PEC) have played a pivotal role in the steadily increasing global energy efficiency over the past 35 years, across transportation, industrial, commercial and residential sectors. PECs are the key enabling technology for efficiently harvesting electrical energy from renewable sources, and delivering it to the modern electrical loads that we rely on for a high standard of living. The power electronics component market represents approximately $20 Billion today and is rapidly growing. From 1990 to 2010, the efficiency gains achieved using PECs alone have eliminated the need to build an estimated 930 one-Gigawatt coal-fired power plants, saving $ 2.794 Trillion globally. Global awareness in climate change, compounded by the steadily rising demand for energy, underscores the need for cheap yet robust low-carbon technologies. The mass deployment of technologies such as Photovoltaics (PV) and Electric Vehicles (EV) will greatly alleviate our future global energy challenges, however today their cost/performance ratio remains far too high to be truly disruptive on a large scale. The high cost of PV systems remains the critical obstacle to achieving a penetration that exceeds 10% of the energy mix by 2030 in North America. While EVs consume nine times less energy than conventional vehicles, they represent only 0.4 % of the market in Canada. The long-term objective is to demonstrate PEC innovations, at the device, circuit and system level, to push these and future low-carbon applications beyond early adopters over the next 10 years. The dominant research trend in PECs is towards 1) increased switching frequency to reduce the size, cost and weight of the components, 2) deploying advanced digital control schemes to make PECs more modular, adaptive, re-configurable and reliable and 3) leveraging new Smart Power IC fabrication technologies to integrate sensing, power-stage and control functions on-chip. The next frontier of power electronics lies in the proliferation of new wide-bandgap power devices using Silicon Carbide (SiC) and Gallium Nitride (GaN), with the ultimate goal of providing unprecedented power density and energy savings. The grant will fund three synergistic projects with 12 HQPs, while providing valuable training in clean technologies for Canadian Engineers. The application focus of PV and EV is chosen based on the potential to achieve a high impact in modern society’s carbon footprint. The first project focuses on highly integrated 600 V GaN based PECs operating at multi-MHz switching frequencies. The second project is anchored around UofT’s one-of-a-kind custom EV prototype, which has a top speed of 130 km/h and a 210 km driving range; a record for this vehicle class. The work will focus on 1) a hybrid energy storage system comprised of ultracapacitors and lithium batteries with GPS-based power-mix optimization and 2) a new self-learning thermal management approach for the battery pack, specifically optimized for the cold Canadian climate. Finally, the third project extends our past work on Distributed Maximum Power Point Tracking (DMPPT) in PV applications to an exciting new aerospace technology: the Solarship. The Canadian-made buoyant electric aircraft was conceived to deliver supplies in remote areas where roads, fuel and electrical infrastructure is sparse or non-existent, making conventional vehicles unpractical. The Helium filled wing creates buoyancy and increases the payload. Two electric motors are supplied by a lithium battery, which is charged using the large wing-mounted PV array during flight. Specialized PECs based on the partial-power-processing concept will be developed to maximize the solar energy harvesting in this weight sensitive application.

过去 35 年来，电力电子转换器 (PEC) 在交通、工业、商业和住宅领域全球能源效率的稳步提高中发挥了关键作用。 PEC 是从可再生能源中高效获取电能并将其输送到我们赖以实现高生活水平的现代电力负载的关键使能技术。目前电力电子元件市场价值约 200 亿美元，并且正在快速增长。从 1990 年到 2010 年，仅使用 PEC 所实现的效率提升就消除了建造约 930 个 1 吉瓦燃煤发电厂的需要，在全球节省了 2794 万亿美元。全球对气候变化的认识，加上能源需求的稳步增长，凸显了对廉价而强大的低碳技术的需求。光伏（PV）和电动汽车（EV）等技术的大规模部署将极大地缓解我们未来的全球能源挑战，但目前它们的成本/性能比仍然太高，无法真正实现大规模颠覆。到 2030 年，光伏系统的高成本仍然是北美实现其能源结构渗透率超过 10% 的关键障碍。虽然电动汽车消耗的能源比传统汽车少九倍，但它们仅占加拿大市场的 0.4%。长期目标是在设备、电路和系统层面展示 PEC 创新，在未来 10 年内推动这些和未来的低碳应用超越早期采用者。 PEC 的主要研究趋势是：1) 提高开关频率，以减小组件的尺寸、成本和重量；2) 部署先进的数字控制方案，使 PEC 更加模块化、自适应、可重新配置和可靠；3) 利用新的智能功率 IC 制造技术，在片上集成传感、功率级和控制功能。电力电子的下一个前沿在于使用碳化硅 (SiC) 和氮化镓 (GaN) 的新型宽带隙功率器件的普及，最终目标是提供前所未有的功率密度和节能。这笔赠款将为 12 个 HQP 的三个协同项目提供资金，同时为加拿大工程师提供有价值的清洁技术培训。光伏和电动汽车的应用重点是根据对现代社会碳足迹产生重大影响的潜力来选择的。第一个项目重点关注在多 MHz 开关频率下运行的高度集成的 600 V GaN 基 PEC。第二个项目以多伦多大学独一无二的定制电动汽车原型为基础，该原型的最高时速为 130 公里/小时，行驶里程为 210 公里；创造了该车型的记录。这项工作将重点关注 1) 由超级电容器和锂电池组成的混合储能系统，并具有基于 GPS 的电源组合优化；2) 一种新的电池组自学习热管理方法，专门针对加拿大寒冷的气候进行了优化。最后，第三个项目将我们过去在光伏应用中分布式最大功率点跟踪 (DMPPT) 的工作扩展到令人兴奋的新型航空航天技术：Solarship。这架加拿大制造的浮力电动飞机旨在向道路、燃料和电力基础设施稀缺或不存在的偏远地区运送物资，导致传统车辆不切实际。充氦机翼可产生浮力并增加有效载荷。两个电动机由锂电池供电，在飞行过程中使用安装在机翼上的大型光伏阵列进行充电。将开发基于部分功率处理概念的专用 PEC，以最大限度地提高这种重量敏感应用中的太阳能收集。