Potential of silicon carbide MOSFETs in the DC/DC converters for future HVDC offshore wind farms

High-voltage direct current(HVDC)is more and more often implemented for long distance electrical energy transmission,especially for off-shore wind farms.In this study,a full DC off-shore wind farm,which requires a high-power and high-voltage DC/DC converter,is considered.In order to reduce the size of the converter,the trend is to increase operating frequency.Silicon carbide(SiC)metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors(MOSFETs)are becoming industrially available and give scope for the realisation of high-performance DC/DC converters based on modular architectures.This study presents a prospective analysis of the potential of such devices in HVDC power systems.Considering the characteristics of Si insulated-gate bipolar transistor and SiC MOSFET power modules,two DC/DC converter topologies are compared in terms of losses and number of components.In conclusion,a study of the efficiency based on converter energy loss is presented.