Self-powered DC solid state circuit breakers

摘要

A solid-state circuit breaker for a DC power system which may operate unidirectional and bidirectional and does not require an external power supply to provide current interruption protection during an event of a short circuit fault.

主权项

1. A solid-state DC circuit breaker comprising:
a source and a drain, wherein the drain is connectable to a power supply and the source is connectable to a load; a solid-state static switch including a drain terminal, a source terminal and a gate terminal, the drain terminal connected to the drain and the source terminal connected to the source; a voltage sensing and power supply circuit connected across the drain and the source and comprising a voltage sensing element and an isolated DC-DC converter including input terminals and output terminals; wherein the input terminals of the isolated DC-DC converter are connected across the voltage sensing element of the voltage sensing and power supply circuit; wherein the output terminals of the isolated DC-DC converter are connected between the source and the gate terminal of the solid-state switch; and wherein when the load is shorted, the voltage between the drain terminal and the source terminal of the solid-state switch increases rapidly causing a large voltage across the voltage sensing element and a large reverse biasing voltage between the gate terminal and the source terminal causing the solid-state switch to turn off and block current from the power supply.