This article will focus on the application advantages of silicon carbide materials and silicon carbide power devices in photovoltaic inverters. In photovoltaic systems, photovoltaic inverters are the core components of photovoltaic power generation systems, which can convert the variable DC voltage generated by photovoltaic (PV) solar panels into mains frequency alternating current (AC) for feedback back to commercial transmission systems or for use in off-grid power grids. With the continuous improvement of power level and the increase of overall volume, photovoltaic inverters have increasingly high requirements for power device specifications and heat dissipation. Compared to traditional silicon materials, silicon carbide has superior performance, so silicon carbide power devices are increasingly used in photovoltaic inverters. Among them, silicon carbide Schottky diodes have no reverse recovery current and are widely used in MPPT circuits in photovoltaic inverters, significantly reducing losses, optimizing heat dissipation, and reducing costs.

Introduction to characteristics and advantages of silicon carbide materials

As one of the representative materials of wide band gap semiconductors, silicon carbide has many advantages over silicon in terms of intrinsic properties. Take the 4H type silicon carbide material, which is most suitable for power semiconductor at present, as an example, its band gap is 3 times that of silicon material, its thermal conductivity is 3 times that of silicon material, its electron saturation drift rate is 2 times that of silicon, and its critical breakdown field strength is 10 times that of silicon. When the performance of silicon based semiconductor devices has entered a bottleneck period, the excellent characteristics of silicon carbide materials make it an ideal raw material for the next generation of power semiconductor devices.

When the performance of silicon based semiconductor devices has entered a bottleneck period, the excellent characteristics of silicon carbide materials make it an ideal raw material for the next generation of power semiconductor devices. Taking the photovoltaic industry as an example, silicon carbide power devices can bring higher conversion efficiency and lower energy loss to photovoltaic inverters, effectively reducing system volume, increasing power density, extending device lifespan, and reducing production costs.

Application advantages of silicon carbide Schottky diodes in photovoltaic inverters

Compared to silicon fast recovery diodes, silicon carbide Schottky diodes have great advantages in the application of BOOST circuits. Because silicon carbide Schottky diodes are Schottky structures and are mostly carrier conductive devices, there are no minority carrier lifetime and reverse recovery issues. Therefore, silicon carbide Schottky diodes can reduce switching losses in corresponding commutation circuits and work in higher frequency environments, And has higher efficiency at the same working frequency.

In photovoltaic inverters, silicon carbide Schottky diodes are mainly used in BOOST circuits. The topology shown in Figure 2 is Single Boost, which is a widely used topology in photovoltaic inverters. When using silicon carbide Schottky diodes in the topology, D1 can reduce the switching losses of the corresponding switching tubes in the converter circuit, reduce temperature rise, and thus reduce the volume of the heat sink, increase frequency, reduce the volume of magnetic components, and reduce costs.

With the increasing power of photovoltaic inverters, the application advantages of silicon carbide Schottky diodes have been unanimously recognized by major mainstream photovoltaic inverter manufacturers, and the photovoltaic industry has become one of the largest markets in which silicon carbide Schottky diodes are used.

The advantages of silicon carbide power devices make them widely used in photovoltaic energy storage, electric vehicles, rail transit, industrial control, smart grids, and other fields. With the rapid development of the photovoltaic industry, the application of silicon carbide devices in photovoltaic inverters is not only limited to silicon carbide Schottky diodes, but also increasingly used in the inverter part of photovoltaic inverters.