Thermal Study of Inverter Components

Author

Sorensen, N. Robert ; Thomas, E.V. ; Quintana, M.A. ; Barkaszi, Stephen ; Rosenthal, Amir ; Zhen Zhang ; Kurtz, S.

Author_Institution

Sandia Nat. Labs., Albuquerque, NM, USA

Volume

3

Issue

2

fYear

2013

fDate

Apr-13

Firstpage

807

Lastpage

813

Abstract

Thermal histories of inverter components were collected from operating inverters from several manufacturers and three locations. The data were analyzed to determine thermal profiles, and the dependence on local conditions, as well as to assess the effect on inverter reliability. Inverter temperatures were shown to increase with the power dissipation of the inverters, follow diurnal and annual cycles, and have a dependence on wind speed. An accumulated damage model was applied to the temperature profiles, and an example of using these data to predict reliability was explored.

Keywords

invertors; photovoltaic power systems; power generation reliability; thermal management (packaging); accumulated damage model; annual cycle; data analysis; diurnal cycle; inverter components; inverter reliability; inverter temperature; local conditions; power dissipation; temperature profiles; thermal profiles; wind speed; Capacitors; Heat sinks; Inverters; Reliability; Temperature dependence; Temperature distribution; Temperature measurement; Photovoltaics; reliability; temperature;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Photovoltaics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

2156-3381

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JPHOTOV.2013.2244162

Filename

6476624