Efficiency and Thermal Analysis of Si and SiC-Based Bidirectional DC-DC Converters for Transactive Energy Systems

As the smart-grid realization is becoming more pragmatic, the analysis on transactive energy systems (TESs) is also getting more substantial. Bidirectional DC-DC converter (BDDC) is the energy flow driver for a TES connected electric vehicles (EVs) and energy storage systems (ESSs). In this work, we have performed a detailed thermal and efficiency analysis of Silicon (Si), Silicon Carbide (SiC), and Si-SiC hybrid half-bridge commercial power modules for BDDC. Considering the power modules' operating junction temperature as 85% of the rated maximum value, the optimum switching frequency (OSF) for Si, hybrid, and SiC modules is evaluated as 4, 10.5, and 27.5 kHz, respectively. For the full load OSF operation, the required heatsink maximum thermal resistance is estimated as 0.037, 0.040, and 0.080 °C/W, respectively and the SiC MOSFET module shows the highest efficiency of 99%. The BDDC simulation is performed in PLECS, which comprises a control block for bi-directional power operation and the estimated thermal management.