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The Solid-State Shift: Reinventing the Transformer for Modern Grids

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58 points JumpCrisscross | 3 comments | 12 Apr 25 18:23 UTC | HN request time: 0.631s | source
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Calwestjobs ◴[12 Apr 25 18:40 UTC] No.43666910[source]▶
figure no. 1 is missing green color on HVAC transmission line. i do not have ExTwitter and i do not know other way to let them know.

it is interesting to think about human made object in terms of how much materials they use, for example big old transformer contains 2 tons of iron, new solid-state transformer with same capacity uses only 300 kg of silicon (Si), 120kg kg of plastics and 50 kg of copper.

replies(3): >>43666934 #>>43667074 #>>43667453 #
1. mppm ◴[12 Apr 25 19:04 UTC] No.43667074[source]▶
Why do solid-state transformers need so much silicon?
replies(1): >>43667385 #
2. LargoLasskhyfv ◴[12 Apr 25 19:43 UTC] No.43667385[source]▶
Because they contain long cascades of these https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insulated-gate_bipolar_transis... to be arranged into these https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_electronics
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3. mppm ◴[12 Apr 25 20:10 UTC] No.43667567[source]▶
As a sibling comment implies, high-power IGBTs are still built from small and thin silicon dies with most of the module being heat spreader, insulator, interconnect and packaging. Even MW-class modules probably contain a gram or so of Si.