Advanced Control Strategy for Solid State Power Controllers (SSPC) 2011-01-2622

There is a clear trend to increase the use of electrical systems in aircrafts, leading to a growing demand for electrical power in the aircraft. This increasing power consumption has resulted in increasing DC voltage levels, to reduce energy losses and the size of wiring, as a result of the reduced current levels. However, traditional protections such as circuit breakers are not adequate for the protection of the new systems in high DC voltage, and consequently it is necessary to introduce new technologies in the field of protection devices. One of these is the Solid State Power Controller (SSPC), which combines the functions of connecting loads to the busbars and protecting electrical installations against overload and short circuits.

On the other hand, within these electrical systems, the connection of certain loads, such as very capacitive ones, implies the need to develop new control strategies to improve the connection process by SSPCs. This paper presents and analyzes a new advanced control strategy that optimizes the connection of very capacitive loads using SSPCs.