A Single Gate Driver Based Solid-State Circuit Breaker Using Series Connected SiC MOSFETs

Semiconductor devices based solid-state circuit breakers (SSCBs) are promising in the dc power distribution system as protective equipment for their ultrashort action time. This letter proposes a topology of SSCB using series connected silicon carbide (SiC) metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors
(mosfet
s), which only requires a single isolated gate driver. The SSCB has very low cost and high reliability because it only has 13 components including passive components and diodes apart from two SiC
mosfet
s to achieve both balanced voltage distribution during short-circuit interruption duration and reliable positive gate voltage during
on
-state. The SSCB prototype is built and experimentally verified to interrupt 75 A short-circuit current under the dc-bus voltage of 1200 V within 1.5 μs.