Power electronics and future marine electrical systems

Tomorrow's marine electrical systems will be profoundly different from today's systems. Power electronics is making major impacts on virtually every marine system including propulsion, power distribution, auxiliaries, sonar, and radar. Newly emerging materials, components, and system concepts (such as wide band-gap materials, silicon-carbide-based power semiconductor devices, power electronics building blocks (PEBBs), and integrated power systems) are, and will continue, enabling future marine systems as different from today's systems as steam ships were to sailing ships. However, these enabling technologies and concepts are not well known and have been difficult to understand. This paper will introduce these new concepts and technologies, identify potential impacts, and explore new design methods to simplify marine electrical system development.