An Improved Method of Solid State Circuit Breaker in Low Voltage DC Microgrid

In order to solve the imminent problem in that the traditional protection strategy cannot meet time requirements, together with the fact that the rotational inertia of a DC microgrid is small and short-circuit fault develops rapidly, a bidirectional short-circuit current blocker (BSCCB) based on solid-state circuit breaker for a DC microgrid is proposed. Firstly, the bidirectional current blocking circuit structure is proposed based on the analysis of key components. Then, a top-level differential protection strategy is developed based on the aforementioned proposal. Finally, the performance of the blocking circuit is simulated and verified by experiments. The results show that the proposed method can block short-circuit current within 4 ms, and the response speed of the protection strategy is very fast compared with previous approaches. BSCCB also has reclosing, bidirectional blocking and energy releasing functions. The current blocker proposed in this paper can be reused multiple times and has a promising future in low-voltage DC microgrid application.

Download Full-text

Solid-State Circuit Breaker Snubber Design for Transient Overvoltage Suppression at Bus Fault Interruption in Low-Voltage DC Microgrid

IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics ◽

10.1109/tpel.2016.2574751 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 32 (4) ◽

pp. 3007-3021 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

Fei Liu ◽

Wenjun Liu ◽

Xiaoming Zha ◽

Hua Yang ◽

Kun Feng

Keyword(s):

Solid State ◽

Low Voltage ◽

Circuit Breaker ◽

Dc Microgrid ◽

Solid State Circuit ◽

Solid State Circuit Breaker ◽

Transient Overvoltage

Download Full-text

An improved RCD snubber for solid-state circuit breaker protection against bus fault in low-voltage DC microgrid

2015 IEEE 2nd International Future Energy Electronics Conference (IFEEC) ◽

10.1109/ifeec.2015.7361508 ◽

2015 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Wenjun Liu ◽

Hua Yang ◽

Fei Liu ◽

Jianjun Sun ◽

Xiaoming Zha

Keyword(s):

Solid State ◽

Low Voltage ◽

Circuit Breaker ◽

Dc Microgrid ◽

Solid State Circuit ◽

Solid State Circuit Breaker

Download Full-text

Design and Testing of a Low Voltage Solid-State Circuit Breaker for a DC Distribution System

Energies ◽

10.3390/en13020338 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. 338

Author(s):

Leslie Tracy ◽

Praveen Kumar Sekhar

Keyword(s):

Solid State ◽

Power Distribution ◽

Distribution System ◽

Distribution Systems ◽

Low Voltage ◽

Circuit Breaker ◽

Solid State Circuit ◽

Dc Distribution ◽

High Side ◽

Solid State Circuit Breaker

In this study, a low voltage solid-state circuit breaker (SSCB) was implemented for a DC distribution system using commercially available components. The design process of the high-side static switch was enabled through a voltage bias. Detailed functional testing of the current sensor, high-side switch, thermal ratings, analog to digital conversion (ADC) techniques, and response times of the SSCB was evaluated. The designed SSCB was capable of low-end lighting protection applications and tested at 50 V. A 15 A continuous current rating was obtained, and the minimum response time of the SSCB was nearly 290 times faster than that of conventional AC protection methods. The SSCB was implemented to fill the gap where traditional AC protection schemes have failed. DC distribution systems are capable of extreme faults that can destroy sensitive power electronic equipment. However, continued research and development of the SSCB is helping to revolutionize the power industry and change the current power distribution methods to better utilize clean renewable energy systems.

Download Full-text

Design of 400 V Miniature DC Solid State Circuit Breaker with SiC MOSFET

Micromachines ◽

10.3390/mi10050314 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (5) ◽

pp. 314 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Hui Li ◽

Renze Yu ◽

Yi Zhong ◽

Ran Yao ◽

Xinglin Liao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Solid State ◽

Field Effect Transistors ◽

Short Circuit ◽

Circuit Breaker ◽

Oxide Semiconductor ◽

Dc Microgrid ◽

Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor ◽

Prototype Development ◽

Solid State Circuit ◽

Solid State Circuit Breaker

Silicon carbide (SiC) metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) have the advantages of high-frequency switching capability and the capability to withstand high temperatures, which are suitable for switching devices in a direct current (DC) solid state circuit breaker (SSCB). To guarantee fast and reliable action of a 400 V DC SSCB with SiC MOSFET, circuit design and prototype development were carried out. Taking 400V DC microgrid as research background, firstly, the topology of DC SSCB with SiC MOSFET was introduced. Then, the drive circuit of SiC MOSFET, fault detection circuit, energy absorption circuit, and snubber circuit of the SSCB were designed and analyzed. Lastly, a prototype of the DC SSCB with SiC MOSFET was developed, tested, and compared with the SSCB with Silicon (Si) insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT). Experimental results show that the designed circuits of SSCB with SiC MOSFET are valid. Also, the developed miniature DC SSCB with the SiC MOSFET exhibits faster reaction to the fault and can reduce short circuit time and fault current in contrast with the SSCB with Si IGBT. Hence, the proposed SSCB can better meet the requirements of DC microgrid protection.

Download Full-text