A Comparative Analysis of Circuit Interruption between Solid State Circuit Breaker and Mechanical Circuit Breakers

This paper presents a comprehensive comparative analysis of mechanical and solid-state circuit breakers, with a focus on their operational time intervals. The study begins by examining the characteristics and performance of both types of circuit breakers individually. Three different mechanical circuit breakers and a specific solid-state circuit breaker (SSCB) are used and compared. The proposed SSCB consists of two silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFETs arranged in series as the primary switch. Each primary switch is encircled by an active metal-oxide varistor (MOV)-based clamping circuit, which is controlled by a SiC MOSFET. This design effectively reduces the MOV voltage to zero during the off-state, disconnecting the MOV from the power line, and allows the DC bus voltage within the SSCB to increase while mitigating voltage overshoot around the MOV. A testbench system has been developed to evaluate the performance of the three different mechanical circuit breakers (MCBs) and the proposed SSCB under identical testing conditions. Comparative results from this testbench, supported by experimental data, demonstrate the superior performance of the SSCB over mechanical breakers in terms of operational time intervals.