Sunny future with efficient photovoltaic inverters

Sunny future

Research project on efficient photovoltaic inverters launched

Expanding renewable energy is a central pillar of the energy transition policy. “But for the energy transition to succeed, technical advancements are needed throughout the entire supply system,” says Professor Marco Jung, an expert in power electronics at the Institute of Technology, Resource and Energy-Efficient Engineering (TREE). Take photovoltaic systems, for example. The collaborative research project GaN-HighPower, which has been running since 2021, aims to develop efficient, cost-effective and resource-saving photovoltaic power inverters.

Time to think big

“The globally decreasing feed-in tariffs and competing products make lower and lower component prices necessary. This leads to strong price pressure in photovoltaic system technology, while at the same time the demands on the functional diversity of the devices are increasing,” explains Marco Jung, who is leading the project at H-BRS. In order to secure the economic viability of photovoltaic systems in the long term, Jung and his team want to develop more efficient photovoltaic power inverters for the power range above 100 kilovolt-amperes. The power inverters convert the direct current generated from solar energy into grid-compliant alternating current, which can then be fed into the power grid. What already works well in low power ranges – in mobile phones, for instance – should be technically feasible in large photovoltaic parks in the future – the use of gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductors. “In the higher power range, GaN technology is in its infancy. Together with our partners in the research project, we are integrating several semiconductor chips into one module for the first time,” explains Marco Jung. With his team, he is characterising and modelling the GaN semiconductor modules, developing the driver circuit, working out the relevant power inverter topology (i.e. the “circuits” for transforming the electric current) and matching it to the other components. If everything goes according to plan, the new inverter technology could be ready for mass production in five to six years. In addition to H-BRS, Infineon Technologies AG, the Fraunhofer Institute for Energy Economics and Energy System Technology, SMA Solar Technology AG, TH Cologne and Vacuumschmelze GmbH are involved in the project. The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) is funding the joint project, which is scheduled to run until 2024, with 4.1 million euros.

More: www.h-brs.de/de/gan-highpower