Power electronics design for a 50 PAX hybrid-electric regional aircraft

The transition to sustainable aviation plays a crucial role and can be managed by power electronics. The Clean Sky 2 project GENESIS addresses the environmental sustainability of hybrid-electric 50-passenger (PAX) aircraft systems in a life cycle perspective to support the development of a technology roadmap for the transition to sustainable and competitive electric aircraft systems. This article has emerged from the GENESIS research and describes different options for power electronics in a hybrid-electric aircraft. Possible solutions and estimates for the power electronics for 2030, 2040, and 2050 are proposed. This paper presents the required power electronics components for a regional aircraft with a possible range of 1500 km. The power distribution system of the whole aircraft, the HV DC voltage, and the power electronic converters are analyzed. These converters are presented, calculated, designed, and specified. Particular reference is made to the converters' power density and efficiency. The wide band gap materials silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) are discussed for the design of the converters.