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.
Day 1: Lecturer - Ariya
LL1 - Power electronics in PV application
LL2 - Failure and critical components in PV systems
LL3 - Reliability engineering for power electronics
LL4 - Mission profile-based reliability evaluation of PV inverters
Exercise 1 (Mission profile-based lifetime evaluation)
Day 2: Lecturer - Ariya
LL5 – System-level reliability analysis with Monte Carlo simulation
Exercise 2 (System-level reliability assessment with Monte Carlo simulation)
LL6 - Impact of mission profile dynamics and thermal model
LL7 - Impact of PV module sizing and mission profile variations
LL8 - Control for reliability of PV inverter
LL9 - Emerging Technologies and Trends
Wrap up & Continue exercise
Prerequisites:
- Basic knowledge of power electronics circuit and electrical engineering
- Basic knowledge of circuit simulation software, e.g., Matlab/Simulink, PLECS
Form of evaluation: Report from the exercise session during the class
Course literature:
1. Design for reliability of power electronic systems, Y Yang, H Wang, A Sangwongwanich, F Blaabjerg, Power electronics handbook, 1423-1440:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128114070000519
2. Y. Yang, A. Sangwongwanich and F. Blaabjerg, "Design for reliability of power electronics for grid-connected photovoltaic systems," CPSS Trans. Power Electron.
App., vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 92-103, Dec. 2016.
3. P. D. Reigosa, H. Wang, Y. Yang and F. Blaabjerg, "Prediction of Bond Wire Fatigue of IGBTs in a PV Inverter Under a Long-Term Operation," in IEEE Transactions on
Power Electronics, vol. 31, no. 10, pp. 7171-7182, Oct. 2016, doi: 10.1109/TPEL.2015.2509643.
4. A. Sangwongwanich, Y. Yang, D. Sera and F. Blaabjerg, "Lifetime Evaluation of Grid-Connected PV Inverters Considering Panel Degradation Rates and Installation
Sites," IEEE Trans. Power Electron., vol. 33, no. 2, pp. 1225-1236, Feb. 2018.
Organizer: Prof. Frede Blaabjerg, fbl@energy.aau.dk, Assistant Professor Ariya Sangwongwanich ars@energy.aau.dk,
Lecturers: Assist. Prof. Ariya Sangwongwanich, Aalborg University
ECTS: 2
Date/Time: 08/06/2023 – 09/06/2023
Deadline 17 May 2023
Price: 6000 DKK for PhD students outside of Denmark and 8000 DKK for the Industry excl. VAT
The Danish universities have entered into an agreement that allows PhD students at a Danish university (except Copenhagen Business School) the opportunity to free of charge take a subject-specific course at another Danish university.
Payment: A Online link for payment will be annonced after deadline for registration
Place: AAU Energy, Aalborg (only physical attendance)
Max no. of participants: 30
Important information concerning PhD courses: We have over some time experienced problems with no-show for both project and general courses. It has now reached a point where we are forced to take action. Therefore, the Doctoral School has decided to introduce 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 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. This can hopefully also provide new students a chance to register for courses during the year. We look forward to your registrations.
- Teacher: Frede Blaabjerg
- Teacher: Ariya Sangwongwanich