Infineon claims efficiency gains for solar converters

With heightened interest in producing renewable energy, Infinion has developed a power converter semiconductor component called the EasyPack 2B.

The module handles the heavy lifting of taking DC current produced from solar cells and converting it into AC current used by most electrical systems. Since the light received by solar cells is variable, the module flips the variable DC into a consistent AC feed.

The EasyPack 2B in the 1200 volt family is a hybrid module. It combines a metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) with a silicon insulated gate bipolar transistor. The hybrid design reduces the size of the solar string inverter designs and requires a smaller heat sink than inverters that use only silicon devices. It also uses an advanced neutral point clamped inverter design to provide an even loss distribution.

It supports a switching frequency up to 48 KHz and is well suited for new generation 1500 V photovoltaic and energy storage applications, the company said. It weighs significantly less than other inverters made with pure silicon components and measures 68 mm x 48 mm. It is based on a 3-level design, which is designed to be less complex than the 5-level topology. PressFIT technology reduces the assembly time for mounting the device.

Evaluation quantities are available now for just over $200.

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