Magnetic Components in

Solar Inverter

Qingdao Yunlu Energy Technology Co., LTD

Gerald Zheng Ph.D/RD Director

2018. MAY
QDYL
Agenda QDYL

• Qingdao Yunlu Introduction

• Magnetic Components in Solar Inverter
• Magnetic Materials Choosing
• Coil Design Considerations
• The Noise of Magnetic Components
• Half Turn Problem
Qingdao Yunlu Introduction QDYL
 Qingdao Yunlu: Founded in 1996
 Employees : More than 3000
 Main Products:
 Magnetic components(transformer, inductor, EMI filter and so on)
 Magnetic materials(Fe-Based Amorphous tap and core for power transformer and power choke, nanocrystalline tap and core
for CM choke, Amorphous powder core, FeSi and FeSiAl atomized powder for power core)

 Plants:
• 4 plants in Qingdao , Plant 1 in Chengyang focus on industry transformer and choke, Plant 2 in
Chengyang focus on new energy transformer and choke, Plant 3 in Jimo Focus on household
appliances transformer and inductor, Plant 4 in Jimo focus on magnetic material.
• 1 Plant in Hefei focus on new energy transformer and inductor
• 1 plant in Zhuhai focus on household appliances transformer and inductor
 R&D Centers:
• Qingdao , focus on magnetic material
• Shenzhen, focus on new energy magnetic components and application
 Marketing advantages:
• Microwave oven transformer is the No.1 in the market from 2008, marketing share is more than 60%
• Fe-Based amorphous tap is the No.1 in the market from 2017, market share is more than 35%
Qingdao Yunlu Introduction QDYL

Qingdao 4 Plants and

1 R&D Center

Hefei Plant

Shenzhen R&D Center

Zhuhai Plant
 Qingdao Yunlu Introduction QDYL

Company History

Mar. 1996 Nov. 2008 Dec. 2015

Amorphous Department Independent，
Qingdao Yunlu Electric Co., Ltd Capital increase by AVIC Qingdao Yunlu Advanced Materials
Technology Co., Ltd

Qingdao Yunlu Energy Technology Qingdao Yunlu Juneng

Sounthern Subsidiary Set Up
Co.,LTD Electric Co, Ltd

Dec. 2007 August. 2010 Dec. 2017

 Qingdao Yunlu Introduction QDYL

Qingdao Yunlu

Household
Industry BU New Energy BU Material BU
Appliances BU
• Central Solar INV Choke • UPS Choke • Fe-Based Amorphous • Air-condition PFC
• Wind power generation choke • VFD DC Reactor tap Choke
• Water-cooling Choke • Solar INV Choke • Nanocrystalline tap • Microwave Oven
• High-voltage choke • CM Choke • Amorphous powder Transformer
•Saturation reactor •EV Charger transformer core • EMI Filter
• Medical transformer and inductor • FeSi and FeSiAl •……..
• Phase-shifting transformer •EV Power Choke(OBC& Amotizd powder
• …….. DC/DC) •……..
•……
Qingdao Chengyang Qingdao Chengyang Qingdao Jimo Plant 4 Qingdao Jimo Plant 3
•…….. Zhuhai Plant 5
Plant 1 Plant 2
Hefei Plant 6
The total sales is 349 Million USD in 2017
Qingdao Yunlu Introduction QDYL

Yunlu Sales Revenue (Million USD)

400
349
350

300
273
250 238
210 215
190 195
200
160
150

100

50

0
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
 Qingdao Yunlu Introduction QDYL

Yunlu Products:
New Energy BU: Industry BU:

Material BU: Household appliances BU:

Qingdao Yunlu Introduction QDYL

Main Customers in The World： Solar Inverter

Customers：
SUNGROW
TBEA
SINENG
SMA
ABB（Power One）
Growatt
GOODWE
GINLONG
SAJ
SOLAX POWER
Kstar
Kehua(KELONG)
MOSOEC
OMNIKSOLAR
TRANNERGY
Magnetic Components in Solar Inverter Q D Y L
Magnetic Components Application in PV Inverter
MPPT Choke
INV Choke

String PV Inverter
Yunlu’s typical chokes for PV Inverter:
Magnetic Component Loss QDYL

Magnetic material’s development is based on the requirement of lower loss.

Eddy current loss

Core Eddy current loss formula
Loss Segments

Hysteresis loss(Lower Br,,

loss Hc)

Residual loss Steinmetz equation---Total core loss

Coil DCR loss

Coil
Skin effect loss
loss
Coil eddy
current loss Proximity effect loss
Magnetic Materials Choosing QDYL

Magnetic
Materials

Silicon Steel Powder

Amorphous Ferrite
sheet Core
Magnetic Materials Choosing QDYL

Non-oriented Silicon Steel •High Bs

Silicon Steel（Si） •High μ
•LF Transformer Oriented Silicon Steel •High loss
•LF Choke
•Low Bs
MnZn Ferrite •High μ
Ferrite（Oxide） •Lowest loss
•HF Transformer NiZn Ferrite •Bad temperature
•HF Inductor characteristic
Fe+
•CM Choke Iron Powder Core(Aging Problem)
FeSi Power Core •High Bs
Ni Powder Core（Si,Al,Ni） FeSiAl Powder Core •Low μ
•Power Choke MPP •Lower loss
High Flux •Distributed air gap
Co
Amorphous(Si,B,Ni) Fe-Based Amorphous •High Bs
•LF/MF Transformer Nanocrystalline •High μ
•CM Choke Co-Based Amorphous •Lower loss
Amorphous Powder Core •High noise
•MF Power Choke
Magnetic Materials Choosing QDYL
Magnetic Material Characteristic
DC Bias Characteristic Core Loss Characteristic
 Magnetic Materials Choosing QDYL
Magnetic Material Characteristic
μ=60 A

C
Line1 A C

B Value Along Line1

 Magnetic flux density B value isn’t symmetrical distribution in the toroid type core
 B value’s distribution is based on the magnetic circuit length and magnetic resistance
 Because core’s saturation from inside(Point A) to outside(Point C), therefore the DC bias curve looks
like soft saturation
Magnetic Materials Choosing QDYL

Coil loss =1 Coil loss =0.75 Coil loss =1.1

 The Influence of composite magnetic materials for coil loss.

Magnetic Materials Choosing QDYL

Amorphous core cut surface effect:

Fringing flux

Short on the
cut surface

Eddy current
loss on the
cut surface
Magnetic Materials Choosing QDYL
Amorphous core cut surface effect: Before acid pickling

Core Loss Comparison for Amorphous Cut Core

AMPC160（One cut, two air gaps）
The Core Loss Before Acid The Core Loss After Acid
Samples No.
Pickling(W/Kg) Pickling(W/Kg)
1 0.89 0.52
2 0.64 0.42
3 0.78 0.45
4 0.6 0.44
5 0.73 0.41
Average 0.728 0.448
After acid pickling
AMPC160B（Two cuts, four air gaps）
The Core Loss Before Acid The Core Loss After Acid
Pickling(W/Kg) Pickling(W/Kg)
1 0.97 0.44
2 1.08 0.54
3 1.02 0.51
4 0.81 0.57
5 1.21 0.53
Average 1.018 0.518
Magnetic Materials Choosing QDYL

The choke noise with amorphous cut core

Material Magnetostriction factor x10^-6
Fe-Based Amorphous 27 The other influence
FeNi-Based Amorphous 15 factors for amorphous
cut core choke noise:
Co-Based Amorphous 1 • Annealing treatment
Nanocrystalline 2 for cut core
Ferrite 4 • The assemble craft
for coil and core
Silicon Steel 10 • The strength for
FeSiAl Powder Core 0~0.5 fasten belt
FeSi Powder Core 0~1 • Air gap treatment
• ……
MPP 2

The Comparison of Magnetostriction Factor

Coil Design Considerations QDYL
The high frequency eddy current in coil
H21(t) H21(t)

H11(t) H11(t)
Jeddy Jeddy
Jeddy Jeddy
Jsource I1 Jsource I2
I1 I2

Jeddy: Eddy current from skin effect Jeddy: The eddy current from proximity effect
J
J

H1+H2
H1+H2

i1 i2 H2-H1
i1 i2 H2+H1
H1-H2
H1-H2
20
 Coil Design Considerations QDYL

Fringing flux Main flux Fringing flux Copper foil

Air gap
i

Air gap fringing flux Air gap fringing flux

Air gap fringing flux in
Air Gap Fringing Flux copper foil

Air gap fringing flux has important effect for the coil
 Coil Design Considerations QDYL

The effect of air gap fringing flux

 For high power choke, using copper foil or copper bar, air gap effect is obviously
 For small power choke, suggest using litz wire to reduce high frequency eddy current
 Coil Design Considerations QDYL

Avoiding technology for air gap fringing flux:

Existing technology for copper foil

The special copper foil for avoiding air gap

Patent: CN 100576376C

The special copper foil for avoiding air gap

Coil Design Considerations QDYL

Coil loss(W)
Copper
foil

Air gap numbers

Core  1
coilloss H  n
The coil loss 
n:Air gap numbers
The
from air gap 2
  H
R
Ug IN
Ug 
H  n The coil loss
 R  R 气隙边缘效应损耗  1 / n2
from air gap

Distributed air gaps could reduce coil loss

 Coil Design Considerations QDYL

H  J H   J

  
E   B   J   j  H 2
t B  H  H  j H  0
J  E
 B  0 Dowell Model
    H  (  H )  2 H  H  2 H


y H  H y ( x)
Hy(t)
H 1 sinh[ k (d  x )]  H 2 sinh( kx )
 2 H y ( x) H y ( x) 
2
 j H y ( x )  0 sinh( kd )
H1 H2 x  x H 1 cosh[ k ( d  x )]  H 2 cosh( kx )
0 J y ( x)  k 
With H y ( x  0)  H1 sinh( kd )
I
H y (x  d )  H2 k j  j 2 f

d P
MLT  A d 2

2 0 J y ( x ) dx
 Coil Design Considerations QDYL
The results from Dowell model:
0.05 0.03 0.005

0.04 0.025 0.0047

P 0.03 0.02 0.0044

Coil loss

0.02 0.015 0.0041

0.01 0.01 0.0038

0 0.005 0.0035
6 6 6 6 7 0 20 40 60 80 100 4 4 4 4
2 10 4 10 6 10 8 10 1 10 10 4 10 6 10 8 10
3 fs 3 3 w 3
f H d
Frequency Magnetic field strength Coil diameter or foil thickness

Frequency increase, Coil AC loss increase

Magnetic field strength increase, Coil AC loss increase

Existing a optimal point for the coil diameter or foil thickness

 Coil Design Considerations QDYL

euro  i wi i _ rating  0.035%  0.0610%  0.1320%  0.130%  0.4850%  0.2100%

(k 1)  Pinductor
euro  i wi i _ rating i wi  (1  )
i _ rating  Pin _ full

0.97

0.96
N=10

EU Efficiency
The relationship between 0.95

copper foil thickness and 0.94

Europe efficiency
0.93
10
1 220 330 40
4 550
10 k 50
Foil thickness (mm)
 Coil Design Considerations QDYL

Vertical type winding:  .A 1

C E  C.U 2
L 2

Advantages：
• Good for cooling（More cooling channel and Disadvantages：
radiating area） • Difficult for winding, need special machine
• Decrease MLT and coil loss • Higher requirement for enameled wire
• Good for coil high frequency loss(Less layers) • Higher cost for coil
• Higher window factor
• Smaller parasitic capacitance（Good for EMI）
• Good for high current application
 Coil Design Considerations QDYL

Coil structure optimization

Coil loss =1 Coil loss =0.75

 Coil Design Considerations QDYL

The Simulation Case for Coil Loss Optimization:

6.5

• Ferrite core
• Current=5A
10 22 18.2 • N1=N2=18 Turns
• Lg=1.2mm
• Fs=10KHz
2 3 1*6 • Foil：1*6mm
6.5

20
 Coil Design Considerations QDYL

The Simulation Case for Coil Loss Optimization:

Coil loss=249.24W Coil loss=201.4W

Lg=1.2mm Lg=1.2mm

Coil loss=121.19W
Coil loss=82.54W
Lg=0.6mm*2
Lg=0.6mm*2
 Coil Design Considerations QDYL

The Simulation Case for Coil Loss Optimization:

5.8mm

7.8mm

Coil loss=47.6W Coil loss=48.09W

Lg=0.3mm*4 Lg=0.3mm*4

The critical factors for air gap optimization:

• Distributed air gap
• Avoiding end effect
• Coil avoiding air gap
• Using shielding layer
• Using Litz wire for small power
Coil loss=42.69W • Air gap in the coil is better for
Lg=0.3mm*4
 Coil Design Considerations QDYL

Coil in parallel and current-sharing

X √

• Symmetrical magnetic field strength is better

for AC current-sharing.
• Only use a small hall current sensor in one
strand if the coil could achieve current-
sharing .
The Noise of Magnetic Components QDYL

All the noise come from vibration

Coil Coil

Core

20~20KHz（Avoiding frequency range）

Air gap
Noise come from：
 Magnetostriction factor λ for core
Core
 The air in the air gap（filling）
 Electromagnetic force for
coil(impregnation)
 The electromagnetic force for metal things
around magnetic components by fringing flux
λ↓  Control loop caused unstable
Vibra on↓----Noise↓
ΔB↓  Resonant with the system
 Half Turn Problem QDYL

Loop 1 Loop 1

Loop 0
Flux superposition
Flux counteract
!
The temperature difference is 20℃ at two legs。

• Because of no air gap in the side pillar, the magnetic circuit resistance
in the leg is very small, it’s easy achieve saturation by 1 turn
magnetizing.
• Make sure the outlets at the same side for symmetrical winding.
• Add air gap in the side pillars could relieve saturation.
Gerald Zheng
Mobile：+86-13480915912
Email：Zhengqingjie@yunlu.com.cn
zhengqj2005@163.com