“With TI’s new GaN IPM, engineers can design motor driver systems that deliver all these expectations and operate at peak efficiency.”
Texas Instruments (TI) introduced the industry’s first 650V three-phase GaN IPM for 250W motor drive applications. The new GaN IPM addresses many design and performance compromises engineers typically face when designing major home appliances and heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems. The DRV7308 GaN IPM enables more than 99% inverter efficiency, optimized acoustic performance, reduced solution size and lower system costs. It is on display at the Power Electronics, Intelligent Motion, Renewable Energy and Energy Management (PCIM) Conference.
Texas Instruments Incorporated is a global semiconductor company that designs, manufactures, tests and sells analogue and embedded processing chips for markets such as industrial, automotive, personal electronics, communications equipment and enterprise systems.
Nicole Navinsky, Motor Drives business unit manager at TI said “Designers of high-voltage home appliances and HVAC systems are striving to meet higher energy-efficiency standards to support environmental sustainability goals around the world. They are also addressing consumer demand for systems that are reliable, quiet and compact. With TI’s new GaN IPM, engineers can design motor driver systems that deliver all these expectations and operate at peak efficiency.”
Advantages of the first GaN IPM
- Improves system efficiency and reliability with TI GaN
Worldwide efficiency standards for appliances and HVAC systems such as SEER, MEPS, Energy Star and Top Runner are becoming increasingly stringent. The DRV7308 helps engineers meet these standards, leveraging GaN technology to deliver more than 99% efficiency and improve thermal performance, with 50% reduced power losses compared to existing solutions.
In addition, the DRV7308 achieves industry-low dead time and low propagation delay, both less than 200ns, enabling higher pulse-width modulation (PWM) switching frequencies that reduce audible noise and system vibration. These advantages plus the higher power efficiency and integrated features of the DRV7308 also reduce motor heating, which improves reliability and extends the system’s lifetime.
- Advanced integration and high power density
Supporting the trend of more compact home appliances, the DRV7308 helps engineers develop smaller motor drive systems. Enabled by GaN technology, the new IPM delivers high power density in a 12mm-by-12mm package, making it the industry’s smallest IPM for 150W to 250W motor-drive applications. Because of its high efficiency, the DRV7308 eliminates the need for an external heatsink, resulting in a motor drive inverter printed circuit board (PCB) size reduction of up to 55% compared to competing IPM solutions. The integration of a current sense amplifier, protection features and inverter stage further reduces solution size and cost.
Visitors to PCIM can see new products and solutions from TI are enabling the transition to a more sustainable future with reliable high-voltage technology. TI is also demonstrating a new 800V, 750kW SiC-based scalable traction inverter system for EV six-phase motors, in collaboration with EMPEL Systems.
