Universal, Programmable and Affordable Power Technologies for Underwater Vehicles

The proposed power architecture has a very simple structure owing to reduced device count and direct power conversion, which significantly reduces its cost. That along with high integrated high-frequency planar magnetics (with < 5 nH leakage) and reduced thermal requirement (due to 2X junction-temperature capability of SiC VJFETs and 3X thermal conductivity of SiC as compared to Si) provides very high power density and reliability without a major price tag. Due to these unique characteristics (low-cost, compactness, and reliability) added to the high efficiency owing to very low device capacitance of the VJFETs makes it a viable candidate not only for PV and FC inverter market, but also for V2G, PHEV, low-power UPS, vehicular APU, battery charger markets. This provides a key commercial-viability mechanism for the proposed architecture, which is limited in scope in existing commercial products.