SatCon Technology has announced that it has been awarded a Phase I Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) contract with the U. S. Navy to develop insulation technology for advanced propulsion motor designs for future "all-electric" ships.
New motor winding insulation techniques are necessary to balance the increasing voltage and thermal stresses associated with the drive to higher power application of pulse width modulation (PWM) driven electric machinery, particularly with permanent magnet machinery. As a result of this research, the Company expects to develop new motor design solutions that will enable higher power density, affordable manufacturing capability, and increased reliability compared with current practices.
SatCon has been a leader in technology development and solutions for the advanced electric machinery market for the past 20 years. This award underscores the Company's motor design capabilities and is expected to yield advanced motor insulation solutions for multi-megawatt propulsion scale electric machinery.
The results of this research will have direct commercial applicability to SatCon's electric drive and generation systems for the alternative energy market wherever power density and efficiency of the electromechanical power conversion process is a key driver. This includes hybrid and electric vehicle traction drives, mobile generator sets, and aerospace electric propulsion and power generation systems.
SatCon's President and Chief Executive Officer, David Eisenhaure, stated "SatCon continues to push the state of the art in electric power conversion technology, and this development effort is expected to deliver power density improvements across the range of our machinery products."
