Investigation on over current capability in the Power Electronics Building Blocks System

Abstract

Power Electronics Building Block (PEBB) systems may experience different types of load transients, including short-circuit fault or scheduled load switching, which can lead to overloading stress and reliability issues. This paper uses cumulative current energy and dynamic electro-thermal model to analyze the over current capability of a PEBB system. The analysis can be used to choose protection devices and an improved operation strategy is presented in order to maximize the over current capability of the system. Some preliminary results are also shown to prove that, with the proposed strategy, the temperature profile of the devices can be fully utilized without triggering thermal breakdown and expanded operation duration can be achieved even under overload conditions in the PEBB system. © 2013 IEEE.