Technology development for a high power three-phase electric vehicle charger using GaN devices

温室气体吸收地球的热量，导致全球变暖。2015年，美国约27%的温室气体排放来自交通运输。电动汽车（EV）是减少温室气体排放的一种方式。各大汽车制造商已经制定了雄心勃勃的目标，到2050年逐步淘汰内燃机。由于行驶里程有限，电动汽车需要频繁充电。快速电动汽车充电站是实现电动汽车广泛采用的关键一步。它们可以建在任何需要充电的地方，比如办公楼的停车场、超市和加油站。根据最近的一份报告，全球电动汽车充电器市场预计将在2020年增长到超过1270万台。在该项目中，将使用氮化镓（GaN）开关开发15 kW三相交流输入EV充电器的技术。它可以在30分钟内将EV电池从0%充电到80%，这是广泛采用EV的关键因素。由于高电压要求，现有的非车载三相EV充电器大多设计有基于IGBT（绝缘栅双极晶体管）或SiC MOSFET（碳化硅金属氧化物半导体场效应晶体管）的电力电子技术。氮化镓（GaN）开关可以提供比IGBT和MOSFET明显更好的性能，并提供显著提高性能的机会。然而，GaN开关的额定电压（650 V）比现有设计所需的低得多。在该项目中，将为三相AC EV充电器开发一种新的电源架构，该充电器针对GaN器件进行了优化。预计将达到97.5%或更高的满载效率-世界上最好的效率。该项目的成功将展示行业合作伙伴生产的GaN开关的上级性能，促进其GaN开关在高电压，高功率应用（如电动汽车充电器）中的销售。它还将鼓励加拿大拥有电动汽车，使加拿大成为世界上使用绿色能源的领导者。

Greenhouse gas traps the earth's heat and contributes to global warming. In 2015, about 27% of the total greenhouse gas emission in U.S was from transportation. Electric Vehicles (EVs) are one way to reduce greenhouse gas emission. Major automobile manufacturers have set ambitious goals to gradually phase out the combustion engine by 2050. Due to limited driving range, EVs require frequent charging. Fast EV charging stations are one critical step to achieve widespread adoption of EVs. They can be built anywhere charging is in high demand, such as parking lots of office buildings, supermarkets and service stations. According to a recent report, the global EV Charger market is forecast to grow to more than 12.7 million units in 2020. In this project, the technologies for a 15kW 3-phase AC input EV charger will be developed using a Gallium Nitride (GaN) switch. It can charge an EV battery from 0% to 80% in 30 minutes, the key factor for wide adoption of EVs. Existing off-board 3-phase EV chargers are mostly designed with IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor) or SiC MOSFET (Silicon Carbide Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor) based power electronics technology, because of the high voltage requirement. A Gallium Nitride (GaN) switch can provide significantly better performance than IGBT and MOSFET and offers the opportunity to significantly improve performance. However, GaN switches have a much lower voltage rating (650V) than is required in existing design. In this project, a new power architecture will be developed for a 3-phase AC EV charger that is optimized for GaN devices. It is expected 97.5% or more full load efficiency will be achieved - the best efficiency in the world. The success of this project will demonstrate the superior performance of the GaN switches produced by the industry partner, promoting its GaN switch sales in high voltage, high power application like EV charger. It will also encourage EV ownership in Canada, making Canada the world leader in using green energy.