A Novel Multiple DBC-staked units Package to Parallel More Chips for SiC Power Module

Silicon carbide(SiC) power modules play an essential role in the electric vehicle drive system. To improve their performance, reduce their size, and increase production efficiency, this paper proposes a multiple staked direct bonded copper(DBC) unit based power module packaging method to parallel more chips. This method utilizes mutual inductance cancellation effect to reduce parasitic inductance. Because the conduction area in the new package is doubled, the overall area of power module can be reduced. Entire power module is divided into smaller units to enhance manufacture yield, and improve design freedom. This paper provides a detailed design, analysis and fabrication procedure for the proposed package structure. Additionally, this paper offers several feasible solutions for the connection between power terminals and DBC untis. With the structure, 18dies were paralleled for each phase-leg in a econodual size power module. Both simulation and double pulse test results demonstrate that, compared to conventional layouts, the proposed package method has 74.8% smaller parasitic inductance and 34.9% lower footprint.

Analysis for Effects of Temperature Rise of PV Modules upon Driving Distance of Vehicle Integrated Photovoltaic Electric Vehicles

The development of vehicle integrated photovoltaics-powered electric vehicles (VIPV-EV) significantly reduces CO2 emissions from the transport sector to realize a decarbonized society. Although long-distance driving of VIPV-EV without electricity charging is expected in sunny regions, driving distance of VIPV-EV is affected by climate conditions such as solar irradiation and temperature rise of PV modules. In this paper, detailed analytical results for effects of climate conditions such as solar irradiation and temperature rise of PV modules upon driving distance of the VIPV-EV were presented by using test data for Toyota Prius and Nissan Van demonstration cars installed with high-efficiency InGaP/GaAs/InGaAs 3-junction solar cell modules with a module efficiency of more than 30%. The temperature rise of some PV modules studied in this study was shown to be expressed by some coefficients related to solar irradiation, wind speed and radiative cooling. The potential of VIPV-EV to be deployed in 10 major cities was also analyzed. Although sunshine cities such as Phoenix show the high reduction ratio of driving range with 17% due to temperature rise of VIPV modules, populous cities such as Tokyo show low reduction ratio of 9%. It was also shown in this paper that the difference between the driving distance of VIPV-EV driving in the morning and the afternoon is due to PV modules’ radiative cooling. In addition, the importance of heat dissipation of PV modules and the development of high-efficiency PV modules with better temperature coefficients was suggested in order to expand driving range of VIPV-EV. The effects of air-conditioner usage and partial shading in addition to the effects of temperature rise of VIPV modules were suggested as the other power losses of VIPV-EV.

Thermal fatigue behaviors of SiC power module by Ag sinter joining under harsh thermal shock test

The excellent properties of SiC bring new challenges for the device packaging.In this study,the bonding strength,fracture behaviors and microstructural evolution of micron-porous Ag joint were elevated during thermal cycling(–50 ℃–250 ℃) in SiC/DBC(direct bonding copper) die attachment structure for different time.During harsh thermal shock test,the strength of sintered joint deceased gradually with the increase of cycling number,and the value just was half of the value of as-sintered after 1 000 cycles.Coarsening of Ag grains was observed in micron-porous joint with the structure inhomogeneity and defects increasing,which were the reasons of the strength decease.In addition,it was also found that the fracture behavior of sintered joints was changed from ductile deformation of Ag grain to brittle fracture of crack propagation after 1 000 cycles.This study will add the understanding in the mechanical properties of Ag sinter joining and its applications at high temperature.

PS-modules over Rings of Generalized Power Series

Let R be a commutative ring and (S, ≤) a strictly totally ordered monoid which satisfies the condition that 0 ≤ s for every s ∈ S. In this paper we show that if RM is a PS-module, then the module [[MS≤]] of generalized power series over M is a PS [[RS,≤]]-module.

Role of PV-Powered Vehicles in Low-Carbon Society and Some Approaches of High-Efficiency Solar Cell Modules for Cars

Development of highly-efficient photovoltaic (PV) modules and expanding its application fields are significant for the further development of PV technologies and realization of innovative green energy infrastructure based on PV. Especially, development of solar-powered vehicles as a new application is highly desired and very important for this end. This paper presents the impact of PV cell/module conversion efficiency on reduction in CO2 emission and increase in driving range of the electric based vehicles. Our studies show that the utilization of a highly-efficient (higher than 30%) PV module enables the solar-powered vehicle to drive 30 km/day without charging in the case of light weight cars with electric mileage of 17 km/kWh under solar irradiation of 3.7 kWh/m2/day, which means that the majority of the family cars in Japan can run only by the sunlight without supplying fossil fuels. Thus, it is essential to develop high-efficiency as well as low-cost solar cells and modules for automotive applications. The analytical results developed by the authors for conversion efficiency potential of various solar cells for choosing candidates of the PV modules for automotive applications are shown. Then we overview the conversion efficiency potential and recent progress of various Si tandem solar cells, such as III-V/Si, II-VI/Si, chalcopyrite/Si, and perovskite/Si tandem solar cells. The III-V/Si tandem solar cells are expected to have a high potential for various applications because of its high conversion efficiency of larger than 36% for dual-junction and 42% for triple-junction solar cells under 1-sun AM1.5 G illumination, lightweight and low-cost potentials. The analysis shows that III-V based multi-junction and Si based tandem solar cells are considered to be promising candidates for the automotive application. Finally, we report recent results for our 28.2% efficiency and Sharp’s 33% mechanically stacked InGaP/GaAs/Si triple-junction solar cell. In addition, new approaches which are suitable for automotive applications by using III-V triple-junction, and static low concentrator PV modules are also presented.

A Study of Efficient Power Consumption Wireless Communication Techniques/ Modules for Internet of Things (IoT) Applications

A study of wireless technologies for IoT applications in terms of power consumption has been presented in this paper. The study focuses on the importance of using low power wireless techniques and modules in IoT applications by introducing a comparative between different low power wireless communication techniques such as ZigBee, Low Power Wi-Fi, 6LowPAN, LPWA and their modules to conserve power and longing the life for the IoT network sensors. The approach of the study is in term of protocol used and the particular module that achieve that protocol. The candidate protocols are classified according to the range of connectivity between sensor nodes. For short ranges connectivity the candidate protocols are ZigBee, 6LoWPAN and low power Wi-Fi. For long connectivity the candidate is LoRaWAN protocol. The results of the study demonstrate that the choice of module for each protocol plays a vital role in battery life due to the difference of power consumption for each module/protocol. So, the evaluation of protocols with each other depends on the module used.

Broadband Dual-Input Doherty Power Amplifier Design Based on a Simple Adaptive Power Dividing Ratio Function

In this paper,a simple adaptive power dividing function for the design of a dual-input Doherty power amplifier(DPA)is presented.In the presented approaches,the signal separation function(SSF)at different frequency points can be characterized by a polynomial.And in the practical test,the coefficients of SSF can be determined by measuring a small number of data points of input power.Same as other dualinput DPAs,the proposed approach can also achieve high output power and back-off efficiency in a broadband operation band by adjusting the power distribution ratio flexibly.Finally,a 1.5-2.5 GHz highefficiency dual-input Doherty power amplifier is implemented according to this approach.The test results show that the peak power is 48.6-49.7d Bm,and the 6-d B back-off efficiency is 51.0-67.0%,and the saturation efficiency is 52.4-74.6%.The digital predistortion correction is carried out at the frequency points of 1.8/2.1GHz,and the adjacent channel power ratio is lower than-54.5d Bc.Simulation and experiment results can verify the effectiveness and correctness of the proposed method.

Optimization Design for a High Voltage DC Power Supply Module Based on PSM Technology

Pulse step modulator （PSM） topology is applied to the EAST auxiliary heating system, which consists of a neutral beam injection （NBI） and the related microwave heating system. This paper firstly analyzes the merits and demerits of the traditional PSM modules adopted by other international companies, and then optimizes the topology of the module using the analysis results. Finally, a new topology for the PSM module （a three-phase neutral-point diode-clamped rectifier） is proposed. This new module overcomes the problems of traditional modules and has better cost-effective performance. The experimental results verify that the new module is feasible for engineering applications.

New thermal optimization scheme of power module in solid-state amplifier

The new 1 kW power module for ADS project needs the optimization of cooling design including water flow and tunnel layout, and the water flow of three tons per hour was chosen to be a goal for a 20 kW power source.According to analysis from the insertion and integrated loss, about 24 modules were integrated into the rated power. Thus, every module has a cooling flow of 2.1 L/min for RF heat load and power supply loss, which is very hard to achieve if no special consideration and techniques. A new thermal simulation method was introduced for thermal analysis of cooling plate through CST multi-physics suite,especially for temperature of power LDMOS transistor.Some specific measures carried out for the higher heat transfer were also presented in this paper.

Power Output Improvement of PV Module for Agricultural Use by Using Inexpensive Sunlight Concentrator

PV modules are used as stand alone power sources for agricultural equipments such as lifting pumps in farms, where the power infrastructure is not yet improved. In order to expand the agricultural use of PV module, the cost of PV generation should be reduced. In this paper, the power output performance of a commercial PV module was improved by using a sunlight concentrator that could be assembled inexpensively and a simple sun-tracking method.

Lifetime estimation of IGBT module using square-wave loss discretization and power cycling test

The insulated gate bipolar transistor(IGBT)module is one of the most age-affected components in the switch power supply, and its reliability prediction is conducive to timely troubleshooting and reduction in safety risks and unnecessary costs. The pulsed current pattern of the accelerator power supply is different from other converter applications;therefore, this study proposed a lifetime estimation method for IGBT modules in pulsed power supplies for accelerator magnets. The proposed methodology was based on junction temperature calculations using square-wave loss discretization and thermal modeling.Comparison results showed that the junction temperature error between the simulation and IR measurements was less than 3%. An AC power cycling test under real pulsed power supply applications was performed via offline wearout monitoring of the tested power IGBT module. After combining the IGBT4 PC curve and fitting the test results,a simple corrected lifetime model was developed to quantitatively evaluate the lifetime of the IGBT module,which can be employed for the accelerator pulsed power supply in engineering. This method can be applied to other IGBT modules and pulsed power supplies.

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS OF DIRECT BONDED COPPER(DBC)SUBSTRATES FOR POWER MODULES

DBC substrates are the standard circuit boardsfor power modules. Using the DBC technologythick copper foils (0.125mm - 0.Tmm) arecladded to Alumina or Aluminum Nitride,The strong adhesion of the copper to ceramicbond reduces the thermal expansion coefficientin horizontal direction only slightly above theTEC of the ceramic itself. This allows directsilicon attach of large dies without using TECcontrolling layers.As DBC technology is using copper foils,integralleads overhanging the ceramic can be realized...

Further Stabilization and Power Density Improvement of Stack-Type Thermoelectric Power Generating Module with Biphasic Medium by Using Various Flexible Metals as Electrodes

In order to realize further stability of a stack-type thermoelectric power generating module (i.e. no electrical connections inside), flexible materials of metal springs and/or rods having restoring forces were installed between lower-temperature-sides of thermoelectric elements. These flexible materials were expected to play three important roles of interpolating different thermal expansions of the module components, enlarging heat removal area and penetration of any media through themselves. Then, a low-boiling-point medium (i.e. NOVEC manufactured by 3M Japan Ltd.) was also applied for a high-speed direct heat removal via its phase change from the lower-temperature-sides of the thermoelectric elements in the proposing stack-type thermoelectric power generating module. No electrical disconnections inside the module were confirmed for more than 9 years of use, indicating further module stability. The power generating density was improved to about 120 mW·m-2 with SUS304 springs having 0.7 mm diameter. Increasing power generating density can be expected in terms of suitable selection of flexible metal with high Vickers hardness, cavities control on the spring surface, more vigorous multiphase flow with adding powders to the medium and optimization of the module configurations according to numerical simulations.

Performance and Stability of Supercapacitor Modules based on Porous Carbon Electrodes in Hybrid Powertrain

Hybrid power sources have attracted much attention in the electric vehicle area. Particularly, electric-electric hybrid powertrain system consisting of supercapacitor modules and lithium-ion batteries has been widely applied because of the high power density of supercapacitors. In this study, we design a hybrid powertrain system containing two porous carbon electrode-based supercapacitor modules in parallel and one lithium ion battery pack. With the construction of the testing station, the performance and stability of the used supercapacitor modules are investigated in correlation with the structure of the supercapacitor and the nature of the electrode materials applied. It has been shown that the responding time for voltage vibration from 20 V to 48.5 V during charging or discharging process decreases from about 490 s to 94 s with the increase in applied current from 20 A to 100 A. The capacitance of the capacitor modules is nearly independent on the applied current. With the designed setup, the energy efficiency can reach as high as 0.99. The results described here provide a guidance for material selection of supercapacitors and optimized controlling strategy for hybrid power system applied in electric vehicles.

Performance on Power,Hot and Cold Water Generation of a Hybrid Photovoltaic Thermal Module

This paper proposed a new function of photovoltaic thermal(PVT)module to produce nocturnal cool water not just only generating electrical power and hot water during daytime.Experimental tests were carried out under Chiang Mai tropical climate with a 200 Wp monocrystalline PVT module having dimensions of 1.601 m×0.828 m connected with two water tanks each of 60 L taken for hot and cool water storages.The module was facing south with 18o inclination.The electrical load was a 200 W halogen lamp.From experiments,by taking the module as a nocturnal radiative cooling surface,the cool water temperature in the cool storage tank could be reduced 2℃–3℃each night and the temperature could be reduced from 31.5℃to 22.1℃within 4 consecutive days.The cool water at approximately 23℃was also used to cool down the PVT module from noon when the PVT module temperature was rather high,and then the module temperature immediately dropped around 5℃and approximately 10%increase of electrical power could be achieved.A set of mathematical models was also developed to predict the PVT module temperature and the hot water temperature including the cool water temperature in the storage tanks during daytime and nighttime.The simulated results agreed well with the experimental data.

Failure Analysis of Ceramic Substrates Used in High Power IGBT Modules

High voltage power modules are used in numerous applications to build high power converters. Technically, these modules are made of different materials and among them, dielectric materials are organic and inorganic. Organic insulators (gels) are used to avoid corona discharges in the vicinity of connecting wires and high voltage dies (diodes and transistors) and to protect them from moisture and contaminants. Inorganic insulators (ceramic substrates) are used to insulate the high voltage which dies from the grounded elements and to transfer heat to the heat sink. Despite being used since the late 90s, there is a lack of fundamental knowledge about the electrical properties of these substrates. Consequently, manufacturers tend to assure the reliability by over sizing them. As there are no clear rules for how to do that, failures occur, leading to the converter shutdown. The aim of this study is to bring new information about the understanding of the dielectric strength of ceramic materials used in these modules. We have focused our work on the correlation between the mechanical and the dielectric properties of ceramics by using relevant experiments. We provide new information about the impact of existing cracks on the ceramic dielectric failure, according to the electromechanical breakdown model. Our conclusions bring crucial information about the precautions to be taken during manufacturing and implementation of these substrates in power modules to reduce the likelihood of the particular causes of failure.

Dynamic Performance of Fuel Cell Power Module for Mobility Applications

Fuel cell powered vehicles have been developed as another alternative to internal combustion engine powered vehicles for some applications including passenger cars, buses, trains, motorcycles, forklifts, electric wheelchairs, electric trolleybuses, medical carts, military engines, personal sports craft, mobility devices and other self propelled equipment. Up to now, many researches have focused on the development of the power module in the Fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) and the components of these systems such as membranes, bipolar plates, and electrodes. However, our work in this study focuses on operating the integrated fuel cell power module system efficiently for various operating conditions such as pressure, relative humidity and operating modes. In our validation we have utilized PEMFC single cell, with active area geometry 16 cm2 and of 120 cm2. Some results obtained in our study shown significant performance indicators for PEMFC stack (composed of 2 cells and 4 cells in a series) at different humidification levels.

Capacitor Pattern H-Bridge Multilevel Inverter (CPHMLI) Using Phase Diposition Pulse Width Modulation for Grid Applications

This work presents an implementation of an innovative single phase multilevel inverter using capacitors with reduced switches. The proposed Capacitor pattern H-bridge Multilevel Inverter (CPHMLI) topology consists of a proper number of Capacitor connected with switches and power sources. The advanced switching control supplied by Pulse Width Modulation (PDPWM) to attain mixed staircase switching state. The charging and discharging mode are achieved by calculating the voltage error at the load. Furthermore, to accomplish the higher voltage levels at the output with less number of semiconductors switches and simple commutation designed using CPHMLI topology. To prove the performance and effectiveness of the proposed approach, a set of experiments performed under various load conditions using MATLAB tool.

一种新型PV AC Module的研究

为了解决传统的两级式光伏交流模块PV AC module存在的结构复杂、成本高、效率低等问题,提出了一种新型PV AC module。该AC module的前级为传统的Boost变换器,完成光伏组件的最大功率点跟踪和光伏接口电压的泵升;后级采用高增益集成式逆变器,实现直流母线电压的泵升和并网发电功能。分析了PV AC module的系统结构,工作原理及控制策略,并通过一套250 W/40 kHz的样机仿真模型,验证了方案的可行性与理论分析的正确性。研究结果表明:该新型PV AC module具有结构简洁、控制简单、成本低、效率高等优点。