Improved Power Density of a 6 kV, 1 MW Power Electronics Building Block Through Insulation Coordination

Abstract

In this work, key aspects of the insulation coordination in a 6 kV, 1 MW power electronics building block (PEBB) is presented. Each PEBB can be stacked in various series-parallel configurations as part of a modular multilevel converter sustaining at least 30 kV common mode. Ansys Maxwell 3D and COMSOL Multiphysics were used for electric field analysis to aid in the design of component and system level insulation. Design and analysis of a PCB-based bus with capacitor daughtercards and high voltage considerations for the cooling system are presented. Insulation integrity of key systems were verified to be partial discharge free at their maximum voltage rating.