Research project GaN-HighPower

The photovoltaic sector has been subject to immense price pressure for many years, as falling feed-in tariffs worldwide make low component prices necessary in order to manufacture and operate a PV system economically. At the same time, the demands on the functional diversity of the devices continue to increase (e.g.e.g., universal use in PV and battery applications, grid feed-in, self-consumption, and island operation, provision of grid services).

The GaN- HighPower joint research project aims  to research and test the next generation of cost-effective, resource-saving,  and efficient power converters for photovoltaic applications, with a focus on string inverters with a higher output in the 100 kVA range. In order to achieve this, gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductor modules must be researched and tested with application-oriented, greatly improved inductive components and current sensors. To date, the application of GaN technology has been limited to significantly lower power ranges. The project aims to open up the higher power range for PV through application-oriented research.

In this project, Fraunhofer IEE will investigate how the project partners' newly developed components can be integrated into the overall system of a PV inverter and what requirements result from the combination of high power and high switching frequencies.This includes the development of suitable driver circuits for high-power, fast-switching GaN semiconductors, integrating new inductors into the overall system, and adapting the control system to these components.