Integrating 10-kV SiC MOSFET Into Battery Energy Storage System With a Scalable Converter-Based Self-Powered Gate Driver

In the hardware design of battery energy storage system (BESS) interface, in order to meet the high-voltage requirement of grid side, integrating 10-kV silicon-carbide (SiC) MOSFET into the interface could simplify the topology by reducing the component count. However, the conventional gate driver design is challenging and inextensible in BESS, since the high-voltage rating and high dv/dt bring the requirements of high-voltage isolation and low common-mode capacitance. Therefore, in this article, a scalable converter-based self-powered (SCS) gate driver is further proposed. A 5-kV input power extracting converter based on a voltage-balanced SiC MOSFET stack is constructed to self-power the gate driver, which exhibits simplification of basic topology and sufficient gate driver power handling capability regardless of the switching requirement of main loop power device. Besides this, the power extracting converter is designed to act as a clamping resistor-capacitor-diode (RCD) snubber circuit, which makes the SCS gate driver scalable to the series connection of power devices. Analysis and design consideration are given in detail, followed by the experimental verification using 10-kV/10-A SiC MOSFETs.