Course detail

Welcome to Reliability of Power Electronics in PV Systems: Design and Control solutions

Description: Power electronics are essential for power conversion of Photovoltaic (PV) systems and their reliability of power electronics systems strongly affects the availability and consequently the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of PV energy. According to field experience, the power electronics systems (e.g., PV inverter) are among the most fragile parts in PV systems that contribute to a majority of system downtime. With the demand to further reduce the cost of PV energy, the reliability of power electronics in PV systems needs to be improved to reduce the (unexpected) failure in field operation. This calls for a better design methodology as well as a proper control strategy.

This PhD course aims to address the reliability challenge and solution for power electronics in PV applications. It will cover the design aspects related to power electronics reliability for PV systems. A step-by-step modeling approach from mission profile to the reliability performance (e.g., failure rates) will be introduced. The reliability of key components such as power devices and dc-link capacitors will be elaborated in details, and solutions to enhance their reliability through the design and control methods will be discussed and demonstrated. Moreover, emerging solutions and new technology to further enhance the reliability performance of the power electronics in PV applications will be also be covered in the lecture.

Prerequisites: 

• Basic knowledge of power electronics circuit and electrical engineering
• Basic knowledge of circuit simulation software, e.g., Matlab/Simulink, PLECS

Learning objectives: The participant will gain knowledge about the mission profile based lifetime and reliability evaluation applied to power electronics in PV system. A step-by step hand-on experience and exercise will also be covered in the course.

Form of evaluation: Mini report from the exercise session during the class

Organizer: Professor Frede Blaabjerg, fbl@et.aau.dk

Lecturers: Assistant Professor, Ariya Sangwongwanich, AAU Energy

ECTS: 1.5

Date: 16, 17 November 2026

Place: Aalborg University

City: Aalborg

Maximal number of participants: 30

Open for enrolment: 16 June 2026

Deadline for enrolment: 27 October 2026

Important information concerning PhD courses: 

There is a no-show fee of DKK 3,000 for each course where the student does not show up. Cancellations are accepted no later than 2 weeks before the start of the course. Registered illness is of course an acceptable reason for not showing up on those days. Furthermore, all courses open for registration approximately four months before start of the course.

We cannot ensure any seats before the deadline for enrolment, all participants will be informed after the deadline, approximately 3 weeks before the start of the course.

You may find more information in our FAQ: https://phd.moodle.aau.dk/local/page/faq 

For inquiries not described in the FAQ, please contact the PhD administration at phdcourses@adm.aau.dk. When contacting us please state the course title and course period. Thank you.