ORNL Develops Fast Medium-Voltage DC Circuit Breakers

The Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory announced the development of medium-voltage semiconductor-based circuit breakers for direct current grids.

• Developed circuit breakers interrupt current at 1,400 volts in less than 50 microseconds, four to six times faster than previous thyristor-based devices, with testing up to 1,800 volts and plans to scale to 10,000 volts.
• The technology uses affordable thyristors and external circuits to enable fast, safe interruption of DC faults, supporting expanded use of DC grids for efficient, flexible power delivery in transportation, manufacturing, and data centers.