www.ferroxcube.com Ferroxcube ferrites in renewable energies have ferrites Ferroxcube achieved great penetration in renewable energies market thanks to its leadership in materials and shapes. The constant adaptation to the latest technologies is one of our main assets. Power generation from the sources such as solar and wind power, as well as hybrid technologies. This application note shows what type of Ferroxcube materials and shapes are suitable for each part of the inverter, and some of their features. source to the mains, or power conversion, implies the use of different types of ferrites, especially in the case of solar inverters. Besides, we are working to offer outstanding solutions for the forthcoming development and expansion of renewable energy Diagram of a solar inverter involving ferrites DC/DC boost PV panel DC/AC inverter Australia: Contact Ferroxcube Taiwan Tel. +886 3 599 5886, Fax: +886 3 599 5882 Philippines: Contact Ferroxcube Singapore Tel: +65 6244 7815, Fax: +65 6449 0446 Austria: Contact Ferroxcube Germany Tel: +49 40 52728 302, Fax: +49 40 52728 308 Poland: Ferroxcube Polska, SKIERNIEWICE Tel: +48 46 834 00 07, Fax: +48 46 834 00 35 Benelux: Contact Ferroxcube Germany Tel: +49 40 52728 302, Fax: +49 40 52728 308 Portugal: Contact Ferroxcube Hispano Ferritas S.A., SPAIN Tel: +34 949 247 153, Fax: +34 949 247 146 Bosnia: Contact Ferroxcube Italy Tel: +39 02 660454 69, Fax: +39 02 612917 39 Romania: Contact Ferroxcube Poland Tel: +48 46 834 00 07, Fax: +48 46 834 00 35 Brazil: Richardson Electronics, Sao Paulo Tel: +55 11 5186 9672, Fax: +55 11 5186 9678 Russia: Contact Ferroxcube Poland Tel: +48 46 834 00 07, Fax: +48 46 834 00 35 Canada east: Contact Ferroxcube, USA Tel: +1 (915) 599 2328, Fax: +1 (915) 599 2555 Serbia: Contact Ferroxcube Italy Tel: +39 02 660454 69, Fax: +39 02 612917 39 China: Ferroxcube South of China Tel: +86 769 87382420, Fax: +86 769 87339561 Ferroxcube Suzhou Tel: +86 512 68095048, Fax: +86 512 68097128 Singapore: Ferroxcube Singapore, SINGAPORE Tel: +65 6244 7815, Fax: +65 6449 0446 Colombia: Richardson Electronics Tel: +57 1 636 1028, Fax: +57 1 636 1005 EMI filter Mains Croatia: Contact Ferroxcube Italy Tel: +39 02 660454 69, Fax: +39 02 612917 39 Czech Republic: Contact Ferroxcube Poland Tel: +48 46 834 00 07, Fax: +48 46 834 00 35 Denmark: Contact Ferroxcube Germany Tel: +49 40 52728 302, Fax: +49 40 52728 308 Finland: Contact Ferroxcube Germany Tel: +49 40 52728 302, Fax: +49 40 52728 308 France: Ferroxcube France, SURESNES Tel: + 33 (0) 1 46 14 87 91, Fax: + 33 (0) 1 46 14 87 92 Maximum power point tracker Germany: Ferroxcube Germany, HAMBURG Tel: +49 40 52728 302, Fax: +49 40 52728 308 Greece: Contact Ferroxcube Italy Tel: +39 02 660454 69, Fax: +39 02 612917 39 Hungary: Contact Ferroxcube Poland Tel: +48 46 834 00 07, Fax: +48 46 834 00 35 FERROXCUBE shapes and materials used in solar inverters Slovak Republic: Contact Ferroxcube Poland Tel: +48 46 834 00 07, Fax: +48 46 834 00 35 Slovenia: Contact Ferroxcube Italy Tel: +39 02 660454 69, Fax: +39 02 612917 39 South-Africa: Contact Ferroxcube Germany Tel: +49 40 52728 302, Fax: +49 40 52728 308 Spain: Ferroxcube Hispano Ferritas, GUADALAJARA Tel.: +34 (949) 247 153, Fax: + 34 (949) 247 146 Sweden: Contact Ferroxcube Germany Tel: +49 40 52728 302, Fax: +49 40 52728 308 Switzerland: Contact Ferroxcube Germany Tel: +49 40 52728 302, Fax: +49 40 52728 308 Taiwan: Ferroxcube Taiwan, HSINCHU Tel: +886 3 599 5886, Fax: +886 3 599 5882 Turkey: Contact Ferroxcube Italy Tel: +39 02 660454 69, Fax: +39 02 612917 39 United Kingdom: Contact Ferroxcube Germany Tel: +49 40 52728 302, Fax: +49 40 52728 308 United States: Ferroxcube USA, EL PASO (TX) Tel: +1 915 599 2328/2533, Fax: +1 915 599 2555 Indonesia: Contact Ferroxcube Singapore Tel: +65 6244 7815, Fax: +65 6449 0446 For all other countries apply to closest regional sales office: FERROXCUBE shapes & materials Gapped cores Toroids 3E5 3E25 U cores E cores Distributed gap assemblies Toroids 3E25 Ireland: Contact Ferroxcube Germany Tel: +49 40 52728 302, Fax: +49 40 52728 308 Israel: Arrow\Rapac Ltd., PETACH TIKVA Tel: +972 3 9203480, Fax: +972 3 9203443 3E5 3C92 3E27 3E6 3C95 3B7 3E10 3P1 3E10 3E12 3E12 4A11 Italy: Ferroxcube Italy, CINISELLO BALSAMO (MI) Tel: +39 02 660454 69, Fax: +39 02 612917 39 Korea: Contact Ferroxcube Taiwan Tel: +886 3 599 5886, Fax: +886 3 599 5882 CURRENT SENSOR REACTOR COMMON MODE CHOKE • EL PASO (TX), USA Tel: +1 915 599 2328/2533, Fax: +1 915 599 2555 e-mail: [email protected] • HSINCHU, Taiwan Tel: +886 3 599 5886, Fax: +886 3 599 5882 e-mail: [email protected] Malaysia: Contact Ferroxcube Singapore Tel: +65 6244 7815, Fax: +65 6449 0446 © Ferroxcube International Holding B.V. 2010 Mexico (excl. Baja): R.V. Componentes, Guadalajara, MX. Tel: +52 (33) 3165-5570 Fax: +52 (33) 3165-4663 All rights are reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part is prohibited without the prior written consent of the copyright owner. The information presented in this document does not form part of any quotation or contract, is believed to be accurate and reliable and may be changed without notice. No liability will be accepted by the publisher for any consequence of its use. Publication thereof does not convey nor imply any license under patent- or other industrial or intellectual property rights. Montenegro: Contact Ferroxcube Italy Tel: +39 02 660454 69, Fax: +39 02 612917 39 Visit our web-site for the latest information on new products, application info as well as updated phone- and fax numbers New Zealand: Contact Ferroxcube Taiwan Tel: +886 3 599 5886, Fax: +886 3 599 5882 Internet: www.ferroxcube.com Norway: Contact Ferroxcube Germany Tel: +49 40 52728 302, Fax: +49 40 52728 308 Applications • HAMBURG, Germany Tel: +49 40 52728 302, Fax: +49 40 52728 308 e-mail: [email protected] Printed in Spain 9930 030 00011 Date of Release: March 2010 FERROXCUBE FERRITES IN RENEWABLE ENERGIES: SOLAR INVERTERS The DC/DC converter supplies a continuous and stable voltage to the inverter in order to guarantee the minimum voltage level required to make the conversion possible. This implies to step up the voltage level provided by the cells. An energy storage element such as an inductor is required at this point. If galvanic isolation between the grid and the panels is needed, the DC/DC implements a transformer as a part of the boost converter. The other inductive element of the power conversion process is the reactor, whose function is to smooth the output of the DC/AC module in order to provide the AC power signal to the grid. Inverter inductors must withstand high current and require large inductance. Consequently, the key parameter of reactors is their energy storage capability (dependent on the inductance and the current through the inductor), defined by W = LI2 = BsatHsatVe Energy In order to optimize the energy, two types of materials are suggested: • Ferrites: large cross section with gap, preferably distributed along the magnetic path length; in this way the Hsat is increased. 3C92 is optimal. 3C95, 3C97 are also possible. • High saturation materials: new 3P1 material, with very high Bsat and Hsat. The advantage of ferrites over 3P1 is that losses are significantly lower, thus the efficiency of the equipment is improved. On the other hand, 3P1 has very high Bsat, and the size of the core can be much smaller, hence cheaper and lighter. The final choice depends on the design conditions and preferences. Shapes Optimal shape must be chosen to optimize: • Ease of winding • Core manufacturability • Cooling • Performance » • Low power losses at a wide range of temperature • High Bsat materials 3C92: 500 -20ºC -100ºC B(mT) Taking all these factors into account, Ferroxcube provides designers with the most suitable shape for each application, as well as support for new custom designs. 550 3C92 300 3C92 3C95 500 450 400 200 350 100 300 0 -25 0 25 150 50 0 250 50 100 » • Core stacking to increase Ae • cores, E cores, • Uassembled cores, Different gapped shapes customized shapes 150 T ( º C) H( A/m) Fig. 1: Typical B-H loops Fig. 2: T. Saturation flux density with temperature for different Ferroxcube power materials. 3C95: Stability with temperature and the lowest power losses 10000 mi 3C95 8000 6000 [Z](W) 35 3E25 30 25 20 The perfect combination of high saturation and low losses 400 FLEXIBILITY OF SHAPES VARIETY OF MATERIALS Common mode chokes Material characteristics for reactors Bsat( mT) Materials 120 P v ( mW/cc) Energy storage inductors 4000 3C92 3C95 100 The inverter requires protection against EMI noise coming from the long lines connecting the generators. At the same time it has to comply with EMC regulations, delivering a clean noise free power signal, and removing the switching harmonics. The core shape used for this function is a big high permeability toroid. It requires high permeability because the harmonics are low frequency, in the range of 10 kHz to several hundreds. The size is big so as to allow winding with thick wire and withstand high currents. The higher the permeability and the bigger the core, the lower the number of turns in the winding, and thicker wires are possible, thus lower level of Copper losses. Ferroxcube supplies large quantities of these cores to inverter manufacturers winding houses. Preferred materials are 3E5, 3E6, 3E25 for lower frequencies, and 4A11 for high frequency noise. New materials 3E10 and 3E12, with higher permeability and tighter tolerance are also recommended for this part of the inverter. 15 10 5 0 10 100 1000 f(kHz) 10000 Fig. 8: Impedance as a function of frequency measured on a coated toroid of Ø36xØ23xh15mm [Z](W) 14 3E5 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 10 100 1000 f(kHz) 10000 Fig. 9: Impedance as a function of frequency measured on a coated toroid of Ø36xØ23xh15mm [Z](W) 25 3E6 20 80 Typical materials for common mode choke 60 40 15 10 20 2000 0 0 -50 0 50 100 50 100 T ( º C) Fig. 3: Initial permeability versus temperature 150 T ( º C) -250 The following charts show impedance versus frequency for different materials. Material selection should be done based on the aforementioned application parameters. Fig. 4: Power losses with temperature, measured at 25 khz, 250mT 3P1: The lowest €/(Tesla·kg) in the market 5 0 10 4A11 10000 3E10 3E12 [Z](W) 40 110 7.3 1.45 5.5 f(kHz) 30 60 50 Permeability Density (g/cc) Saturation flux density (T) €/(T kg) 1000 Fig. 10: Impedance as a function of frequency measured on a coated toroid of Ø36xØ23xh15mm [Z](W) 3P1 features 100 20 30 Material Amorphous Sendust High flux Ferrite 3P1 €/(T kg) 9 17 44 13 5.5 20 10 10 0 10 Fig. 5: Main 3P1 features 100 1000 f( kHz 10000 Fig. 6: Comparative of €/T with other materials Fig. 7: Impedance as a function of frequency measured on a coated toroid of Ø36xØ23xh15mm 0 10 100 1000 10000 f( kHz) Fig. 11: Impedance as a function of frequency measured on a toroid of Ø25Ø15xh10mm