TECHNICAL CONFERENCE

KEYNOTE SESSION:
APPLICATIONS OF TRANSFORMERS IN ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

Dr. Kevin McGivern is currently Director of Research and Development for Bicron Electronics and is widely considered to be one of the world’s foremost experts on corona-free transformer design. He joined Bicron in 1998 and is responsible for several key developments in materials, design and manufacturing techniques that have enabled the company to increase its maximum isolation voltage from 8,000 Vrms to 22,000 Vrms, with BIL ratings of 92,000 V.

Dr. McGivern leads Bicron’s collaborative engineering process with customers, playing a central role in system and application evaluations, modeling, design and testing. He specializes in corona-free transformers that achieve MTBF of 25 years or more. He also developed proprietary software tools used by Bicron to guide the design of corona-free magnetics and to simulate the designs both as discrete magnetic devices and as elements of a system.

Dr. McGivern holds a BSEET, an MSEE and a DSEE.

The Alternative Energy Industry offers new and expanding horizons for multiple industries for the engineering community. The area that is most often overlooked is the Magnetics Industry. The term Magnetics Industry is used in place of Transformer Industry to mark that this Industry includes many components besides transformers. These new opportunities will stretch the capabilities of the magnetics industry.

As voltage differentials increase and the operating frequencies are increased in alternative energy applications the didt and dvdt seen by switching devices and systems will become more severe. This will not only tax the designs of the magnetic devices, it will also tax the insulations systems and longevity of them and the systems themselves.

This presentation will outline the types of magnetic devices used in Alternative Energy systems, their applications, and their pitfalls. Covered in this will also be the various types of testing that are done to ensure the operation of the magnetic device. During the process a roadmap will be outlined from where the Alternative Energy industry is today to the requirements that will be required in the future.