SiC-based High-density Inverter Drive for New Energy (ART/376CP)

Power inverter is an essential component widely used in the new energy applications, such as electrical vehicles, wind turbines, solar panels, tractions, and home energy systems. According to the research from the Insight Partners in August 2022, global market for traction inverters is expected to grow from US$13.1 billion in 2021 to US$39.1 billion till 2028 with a CAGR of 17.2%. Leading international companies, such as BorgWarner, Marelli, Mitsubishi and Denso, are focusing on the development of efficient and reliable solutions by using the advanced Silicon Carbide (SiC) devices in the high-end applications. Driven by the big opportunity and huge requests from domestic market, China has also included the development of 3rd generation semiconductors into the 14th Five-Year Plan to achieve the carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals. This project aims to develop a SiC-based inverter drive integration platform and provide the corresponding high-density and scalable subsystem solution. A series of key platform technologies are proposed including: (1) a novel dual-side direct cooled (DDC) 3D integration technology to breakthrough the heat dissipation limit; (2) a new Symmetric Power Architecture (SPA) with 3D integrated Frequency Independent gate Resistor (FIR) to ensure a stable and efficient operation of paralleled SiC devices; (3) a new Building Block-based inverter drive Architecture (BBA) to improve the power density and scalability concurrently. The developed SiC-based high-density inverter drive in this project will improve the performance, density, scalability, and reliability of the subsystem for new energy applications, such as renewable energy, distributed energy storage system, automotive and traction. The proposed project will not only establish a technology platform, but also provide a tangible high-end inverter drive subsystem solution beneficial to the whole new energy and power electronics industry in Hong Kong, China, and worldwide.