Tiny Power Box

In the project "Tiny Power Box", the focus is on optimizing the power density of built-in chargers in electric cars, so-called onboard chargers. The aim is to reduce weight, save components and space while at the same time increase power density by a factor of 4, achieve highest efficiency for fast charging, and increase environmental compatibility.

The project aims to develop a highly compact, bidirectional 7 and 11 kW inverter as an onboard charger for e-mobility applications.

Project Objectives

  • Design of two demonstrator variants for an onboard charger:
    • one optimized for power density with water cooling at 7 kW for automotive applications,
    • one optimized for efficiency with passive/air cooling at 11kW with 3-phase input voltage for electric forklift applications.
  • Exploit benefits of system optimization via simulation for power density and efficiency for power electronic applications, and show the benefits of PCB embedding by comparing demonstrators to an embedded spin-off
  • Use the design of these converters as a “vehicle” for developing a system-level, holistic design-by-simulation workflow

The main challenges and topics of investigation are:

  • Development of a combination of circuit and control design that sets a new benchmark in power density - while meeting industrial standards
  • Establishment of a demonstrator using the latest components and integration technologies, based on the expertise of the industrial project partners representing the entire value chain of power electronics
  • The new simulation-based development methodology is intended to fill remaining gaps by embedding critical physical effects such as temperature, EMC or lifetime effects into the simulation process
  • Development of an efficient data exchange between the individual software packages of the co-simulation workflow and use of the same also in future projects and with industrial partners

Project facts

Title: High power density onboard charger designed using new holistic simulation workflow

Program: SAL Cooperative Research (SCR)

Project leader: Christian Mentin

Duration: 3 years 5 months

Your contact person

Christian Mentin, PhD

Senior Scientist | Packaging & Multiphysics

e-mail: christian.mentin@silicon-austria.com

Research program

Power converter from low to high power classes

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