A 4 kV Silicon Carbide solid-state fault current limiter

Due to increased demand and deployment of new technologies, such as electric vehicles, utilities face increasing fault currents in their systems. As a consequence protection devices must have higher ratings. Replacing existing infrastructure can prove expensive and complicated. Fault current limiters promise an upgrade solution that will mitigate the need for replacing existing breakers to keep fault currents within the ratings of existing protection equipment. SiC offers several key advantages to grid-connected power electronics, such as smaller footprint, faster switching speeds, and simpler cooling systems. This paper describes a 4 kV Silicon Carbide (SiC) fault current limiter that demonstrated the technologies' potential.