SDAA518 September   2026

 

  1.   1
  2.   Abstract
  3.   Trademarks
  4. 1Introduction
  5. 2Why GaN for Solar Inverters?
    1. 2.1 TI GaN Module Description
    2. 2.2 GaN Versus IGBT Cost Comparison
  6. 3Measured Performance of a 3.6kW GaN String Inverter
    1. 3.1 DC/DC Boost Performance
    2. 3.2 DC/AC Inverter Performance
    3. 3.3 Thermal Performance
    4. 3.4 System Efficiency and Power Density
  7. 4Summary
  8. 5References

1 Introduction

Residential solar inverters need to balance high efficiency, compact size, and competitive cost. Traditional IGBT-based designs often restrict switching frequency to reduce switching losses, which increases the size of magnetics, capacitors, and thermal-management hardware. Integrated GaN power stages enable efficient 100kHz operation, reducing passive component size while maintaining good conversion efficiency. This combination allows designers to improve power density and lower overall system BOM cost compared with traditional silicon-based implementations.