Why SiC in low power solar applications

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User17668
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Hello Infineon Team,

I am working as an engineer in the solar industry. Now I saw that you recommend SiC instead of Si for low power solar applications. Can you please explain why? Where do you see the benefits?

Thanks….
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electricuwe
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Hi Melli,

using SiC in low power applications can enable to move from forced cooling to natural cooling due to lower losses. As the fan is not only expensive, but also limited in lifetime and reliability, this is a step to meet customer expectations on longevity better.


On the devices itself you should consider the following: it is extremely important to distinguish between reliability and lifetime. The first term describes the bottom of the bathtub curve, the second one the steep increase in failure rate at the right end. Solar application has high requirements on both. Customers neither want high repair effort due to statistical failures nor they want replace a complete fleet in the field prior to the projected target lifetime due to premature wearout.

When we started development of our SiC-Mosfet our target was to achieve IGBT-like reliability and lifetime. There are several publications available on this topic and much more information cn be shared individually in a project. One of the publications you can find here:

https://www.infineon.com/dgdl/Infineon-1200V%20CoolSiC%20MOSFET-ART-v01_00-EN.pdf?fileId=5546d4625d5...


Best regards,
electricuwe

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YUAN
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What is the low power solar meaning for you? We do see a lot of benefit in string inverter of using SiC.
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User17668
Level 2
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Hi Yuan, thanks for your reply. Yes, I mean string inverter. What kind of benefits do you see specifically? Thanks
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User17668
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5 replies posted 10 questions asked 5 questions asked
There is another topic that I am interested in:
How do you actually address the 20-25 year warranty requirement in the solar industry?
Can you share FIT rate information?

Thanks in advance.
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electricuwe
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Hi Melli,

using SiC in low power applications can enable to move from forced cooling to natural cooling due to lower losses. As the fan is not only expensive, but also limited in lifetime and reliability, this is a step to meet customer expectations on longevity better.


On the devices itself you should consider the following: it is extremely important to distinguish between reliability and lifetime. The first term describes the bottom of the bathtub curve, the second one the steep increase in failure rate at the right end. Solar application has high requirements on both. Customers neither want high repair effort due to statistical failures nor they want replace a complete fleet in the field prior to the projected target lifetime due to premature wearout.

When we started development of our SiC-Mosfet our target was to achieve IGBT-like reliability and lifetime. There are several publications available on this topic and much more information cn be shared individually in a project. One of the publications you can find here:

https://www.infineon.com/dgdl/Infineon-1200V%20CoolSiC%20MOSFET-ART-v01_00-EN.pdf?fileId=5546d4625d5...


Best regards,
electricuwe
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