Energy storage and circuit breaker

How solid state circuit breakers are transforming power systems?

With material science advancements, solid-state technology is now playing a crucial role in the modern power systems transformation. After revolutionizing the semiconductor industry, the technology is now penetrating the power systems protection, in the form of Solid State Circuit Breakers (SSCBs), which we cover in this article.

Why is a solid-state circuit breaker important?

Energy efficiency is a crucial aspect for all electrical installations, including those operating on islanded grids such as vessels with an onboard DC grid. Compared to other semiconductor technologies, ABB’s solid-state circuit breaker guarantees 70% less power losses during the conduction phase.

How are solid-state circuit breakers classified?

First, we categorize solid-state circuit breakers based on key features and subsystems, including power semiconductor devices, main circuit topologies, voltage clamping methods, gate drivers, fault detection methods, and commutation methods for power semiconductor devices.

How does a solid-state breaker work?

The ABB solid-state breaker concept works by replacing the traditional moving parts of an electro-mechanical circuit breaker with power electronics and advanced software algorithms that control the power and can interrupt extreme currents faster than ever before.

How fast can a solid state circuit breaker detect a short circuit?

ABB’s solid-state circuit breaker can detect and respond to a short circuit fault 100 times faster than a mechanical circuit breaker. Energy storage systems and their corresponding electrical grid services are strongly affected by the downtime in case of an internal fault.

What are the features of a circuit breaker?

Added protection features: In addition to the circuit breaker protection functionalities such as overload, short circuit protection, other protection features such as over/under voltage protection, over/under frequency protection can be added to the circuits, bolstering the safety mechanism to the circuits and loads.