Silicon Carbide (SiC) Power Processing Unit (PPU) for Hall Effect Thrusters

APEI, Inc. has identified two key applications where the proposed technology is also applicable namely, high voltage hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) battery packs, and photovoltaic energy systems. These two applications open up a path to non-military commercialization of the technology which can mean huge dividends for APEI, Inc. Other applications include Energy Exploration, Industrial Motor Drives, Electric Vehicle Motor Drives, and Military Systems.

There are a wide range of applications within NASA on which SiC ultra-lightweight power converters could make a significant impact, including: Satellite & spacecraft power management systems SiC converter technology that is more efficient than silicon and offers reduced weight and volume would find application in nearly every power management system in space. Satellite & spacecraft motors and actuators Most spacecraft contain a multitude of actuators and motors to perform various functions, such as opening and rotating solar array panels, controlling robotic arms, aligning communications arrays, pointing cameras and instruments, etc. Extreme environment exploratory vehicles While one advantage of SiC technology is to achieve higher power densities through high temperature operation, the other utilization of the technology is to operate in high temperature environments. More »