AC-DC Power Electronic Converters with Wide Bandgap Devices

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AC-DC power electronic converters are the main interface between the AC utility grid and any electrical equipment or product as it is rare for the grid voltage to directly match the requirements of any load; they can also be used to extract electrical energy generated from wind turbines. These converters convert AC voltage into DC voltage that can then be directly fed to a load or to a voltage bus from which other power converters that power other loads can be fed from. They can be supplied by a single-phase input such as a wall outlet for low-power applications or a three-phase input for high-power applications. Given the widespread use of electrical products and loads today, AC-DC converters are a must in any modern industrial society. Any improvement in their cost or efficiency would benefit society as money would be saved, the need for new conventional, environmentally unfriendly fossil fuel power plants would be reduced, and energy obtained from renewable, green energy sources would be used more efficiently. The field of power electronics is currently undergoing a revolution due to the development of wide bandgap semiconductor devices made from silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) material. These devices perform better than traditional silicon (Si) devices and it is expected that they will eventually replace Si devices in commercial power electronic converters as they become more widely available, as more and more power electronic designers gain confidence in their reliability, and as their cost matches those of Si devices. Power converter designs, however, have not yet taken full advantage of the superior performance of these new devices and thus most designs are still based on Si technology. For the most part, designers are simply taking traditional Si converter designs and implementing them with the newer wide bandgap technology; they have not been taking full advantage of the benefits of the new technology. In the proposed project, new AC-DC power converter topologies with SiC and GaN technology will be investigated and developed, and the performance of older, well-established topologies will be reassessed, in light of recent advances in power semiconductor technology. The novelty will be in the originality and improvement in cost and/or efficiency of the proposed alternatives to existing converters. The research will be lead to better performing AC-DC converters that are smaller, lighter, and more efficient than presently existing AC-DC converters. The results of the research will result in energy and cost savings, improvements in renewable energy technology that will facilitate the implementation of this technology in society, and less reliance and stress on an already over-taxed utility grid. The proposed research will also help strengthen Canadian capabilities in the area of power electronics and train highly qualified personnel to develop multidisciplinary electrical engineering skills for the 21st century.