Design and implementation of PWM inverter using GaN power devices and its applications

• Project/Area Number: 16H04320
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Power engineering/Power conversion/Electric machinery
• Research Institution: Tokyo Metropolitan University
• Principal Investigator: Wada Keiji 首都大学東京, システムデザイン研究科, 准教授 (00326018)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2018)
• Budget Amount: ¥16,770,000 (Direct Cost: ¥12,900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥3,870,000); Fiscal Year 2018: ¥5,590,000 (Direct Cost: ¥4,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,290,000); Fiscal Year 2017: ¥3,640,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥840,000); Fiscal Year 2016: ¥7,540,000 (Direct Cost: ¥5,800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,740,000)
• Keywords: GaNパワーデバイス / PWMインバータ / GaN パワーデバイス / 電流制御 / GaNトランジスタ / 電力変換

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research discusses a circuit implementation aiming at the high efficiency of the PWM inverter using the GaN power device. Especially, this research dealt with the implementation of gate drive and inverter circuits. Furthermore, the research proposed a current control method that assumed the small size of the circuit, and clarified its validity and issues. In order to confirm the validity of these considerations, the experimental results are verified the operation of the inverter circuit with 1 MHz switching operation, and further discussed the application technology.

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

家電・産業機器の省エネルギー化や多機能化を実現するためには，高効率な電力変換回路の需要が今後さらに増加する。電力エネルギー利用の有効活用のためには，制御可能周波数帯域がより高くなることが要求されている。本研究では，100 kHzまでの電力を利用することを前提として，GaNパワーデバイスを用いた回路実装技術の研究，およびその実証試験を行った。以上のことより，100 kHz帯域の電力エネルギー利用に向けた可能性を示した。

Research Products

• [Journal Article] Circuit implementation of power converter for high-speed switching operations (2018)
  • Author(s): Keiji Wada
  • Journal Title: Chinese Journal of Electrical Engineering Volume: 4 Issue: 3 Pages: 47-52
  • DOI: 10.23919/cjee.2018.8471289
  • Open Access
• [Journal Article] Implementation of Gate Driver Circuit for Suppressing Both Surge Voltage and Switching Loss by Using Mutual Inductance (2018)
  • Author(s): 緒形航, 和田圭二
  • Journal Title: IEEJ Transactions on Industry Applications Volume: 138 Issue: 2 Pages: 135-140
  • DOI: 10.1541/ieejias.138.135
  • NAID: 130006329432
  • ISSN: 0913-6339, 1348-8163
  • Peer Reviewed
• [Presentation] Current Control using Pulse Current Sampling Considering both Sampling Points and Sensor Positions for Single-Phase Inverter (2019)
  • Author(s): Kensuke Suzuki, Keiji Wada
  • Organizer: IEEE APEC 2019
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] CURRENT CONTROL OF POWER CONVERTER USING CURRENT SENSORS INSIDE POWER MODULE FOR SMART GRID APPLICATION (2018)
  • Author(s): Kensuke Suzuki, Keiji Wada
  • Organizer: AFORE 2018
• [Presentation] パルス電流サンプリングによる単相インバータの電流制御 (2018)
  • Author(s): 鈴木謙介，和田圭二
  • Organizer: 電気学会半導体電力変換研究会
• [Presentation] 1 MHz スイッチング単相PWM インバータの動作検証 (2017)
  • Author(s): 前田宏樹，和田圭二
  • Organizer: 電気学会産業応用部門大会
• [Presentation] Experimental Verification of 1 MHz PWM Inverter for Generating High Frequency Sinusoidal Current (2016)
  • Author(s): Luu Tien Duc and Keiji Wada
  • Organizer: IEEE ECCE Asia
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Influence of induced voltage noise on switching characteristics for a power converter circuit (2016)
  • Author(s): Ko Ogata and Keiji Wada
  • Organizer: URSI AP-RASC
  • Int'l Joint Research