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Technical Lecture

Solid-State Transformers

T23.3 - Comparative Analysis of Carbon Footprints and Material Usage of Solid-State Transformers and Low-Frequency-Transformer-Based MVac-LVdc Interfaces for High-Power EV Charging

Wednesday, March 19, 2025
2:10 PM – 2:30 PM ET
Location: Level Three, A314
Medium-voltage (MV) ac to low-voltage (LV) dc conversion for, e.g., high-power EV charging can be realized either with a low-frequency transformer (LFT) and a LV ac-dc converter, or, alternatively, as a solid-state transformer (SST). Both solutions achieve similar conversion efficiencies but differ significantly regarding complexity and the types and amounts of employed components and materials. Thus, this paper compares the embodied environmental impacts, in particular the carbon footprint, of an industrial SST demonstrator (400 kW, 13.2 kV MVac to 1 kV LVdc) against that of an equivalent LFT-based solution. Currently, similar values in the order of 14’000 kg CO2eq are found, however, the SST shows much higher potential for future improvements as it is not constrained by the high raw material use of the LFT.