Extending capacitors’ lifetime in power converters
Leopoldo G. Franquelo
Department of Electronics Engineering, Sevilla University, Spain
Chair Professor, Department of Control Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China
Abstract:
In today’s renewable energy systems, power converter role is of paramount importance. One of the most critical components of power converters are the capacitors. The lifetime of the capacitor strongly depends on the hotspot temperature, which is normally not possible to measure. In this way, the capacitor hotspot temperature estimation as well as the overall damage estimation during converter operation are hot topics for industry and academia. In this talk, the basic concepts of capacitor hotspot estimation, as well as the operation of power converters to extend the lifetime of the capacitor will be addressed.
Brief Bio:
Leopoldo G. Franquelo (Life Fellow, IEEE) was born in Málaga, Spain. He received the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in EE from Sevilla University, Spain, in 1977 and 1980, respectively. He is full professor at the Department of EE, Sevilla University, he has also been Chair Professor with the Department of Control Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China. He has authored more than 300 papers, 120 of them in IEEE Journals. His current research interests include modulation techniques for multilevel inverters and application to power electronic systems for renewable energy systems.
Dr. Franquelo is Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE-IES. He was, Co-Editor-in-Chief, and the Editor-in-Chief of the TIE, Vice President for Conferences from 2004 to 2007, and President of the IES from 2010 to 2011. Currently he is a life member of the IES AdCom. In2009 and 2013, he received the prestigious Andalusian Research Award and the FAMA Award recognizing the excellence of his research career. He has received a number of Best Paper Awards from IEEE journals. He was the recipient of the Eugene Mittelmann Outstanding Research Achievement Award and the Antohny J. Hornfeck Service Award from the IES, in 2012 and 2015, respectively.
