Design for Reliability in Power Electronic Systems

In recent years, the automotive and aerospace industries have brought stringent reliability constraints on power electronic converters because of safety requirements. Today customers of power electronic products expect up to 20 years of lifetime and they also want to have a “failure free period” - all with focus on the financials. The renewable energy sectors are following the same trend, and more and more efforts are being devoted to improving power electronic converters to account for reliability with cost-effective and sustainable solutions. This presentation will introduce the recent progress in the reliability aspects of power electronic converters for power electronic applications with special focus on renewables. It will cover contents like: the motivations for highly reliable electric energy conversion in renewable energy systems; the reliability requirements of typical renewable energy systems and its implication on the power electronic converters; failure mechanisms and lifetime models of key power electronic components (e.g., power semiconductor switches, capacitors, and fans); long-term mission profiles; reliability analysis methods and improvement strategies of power electronic converters for renewable energy systems. A few case studies on will also be given.