EPC Releases 5kW GaN 3-Phase Inverters for Robotics and Light EVs

Efficient Power Conversion introduced the EPC9186HC2 and EPC9186HC3 evaluation boards, two high-performance 3-phase BLDC motor drive inverter platforms designed for applications including robotics, industrial automation, light electric vehicles, electric scooters, forklifts, agricultural machinery, battery-powered mobility systems, and high-power drones. Supporting motor drive systems up to 5 kW, the boards enable engineers to evaluate compact, high-efficiency inverter architectures based on 100 V EPC2361 eGaN^® FET technology.

The EPC9186HC2 and EPC9186HC3 are based on the EPC9186 platform that was released earlier and have the same hardware architecture. They have a new power stage made up of EPC2361 GaN devices that improves conduction performance and allows for higher-current and lower cost operation in motion-control environments that are very demanding. Compared with conventional silicon MOSFETs, EPC2361 eGaN FETs offer lower gate charge and output capacitance, enabling faster switching with reduced losses and supporting higher efficiency, smaller passive components, and improved motor-control bandwidth.  The EPC9186HC2 integrates two EPC2361 eGaN FETs in parallel per switch position, while the EPC9186HC3 uses three devices in parallel, further reducing equivalent on-resistance and improving efficiency at higher load currents (more info).

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