Effective ecodesign implementation in power electronics: a method based on functional blocks

Figures & data

Table 1. Eco-design approaches developed and applied in PE design research (Fang and Romano et al., 2023).

Approaches	Study location	Environmental impact consideration	Life cycle approaches	Case study
Energy efficiency (η = Pout / Pin)^1	Global	Energy consumption	Gate to gate during the use stage Cradle to grave from raw material extraction to end of life treatment	Electronic component level: power transformers in the electric power system (Popescu et al., 2017). Converter level: inverter for AC Drives (Popović-Gerber, Ferreira, et al., 2011); Converter system using SiC MOSFET for EV (Kim et al., 2021)Inverter for AC Drives (Popović-Gerber, Ferreira, et al., 2011); converter system using SiC MOSFET for EV (Kim et al., 2021). System level: drive system (Kampen & Burger, 2016) (other references not listed among the 2,465 publications from 2021 to 2022 in the database IEEE).
Eco-sizing PEC and environmental performances sizing	France	Global primary energy and material mass	Cradle to grave from raw material extraction to end of life treatment	Electronic Component level: single-phase transformer connected to a fixed-frequency tension network (Multon et al., 2012a) Planar Transformer in a Dual Active Bridge (de Freitas Lima et al., 2021). Converter level: self-oscillating DC-DC flyback converter (Jaouen et al., 2011); electro-mechanical energy converters connected to three-phase squirrel-cage induction machine (Debusschere et al., 2007).
Eco-reliability Achieve the balance between environmental and reliability requirements	Germany	Toxic potential indicator, Resource Availability and Risk Indicator (RARI), Cumulated Energy Demand (CED), CO2eq.-Emissions during primary and secondary metal production stages, masse	Cradle to grave from raw material extraction to end of life treatment and recycling	Material level: Bonding wires in power electronics (Middendorf et al., 2015)
Design for Multi usage life cycle Integrate circularity constraints in PEC design	France	Multi-impact analysis, ISO 14040 LCA impact indicators	Cradle to cradle from raw material extraction to multi usage life cycle	Converter level: Multi-Cell PEC (Rahmani et al., 2021; Rio, Khannoussi, et al., 2020)

¹η: Efficiency, P_out: Output power, P_in: Input Power.

Table 2. Profiles of interviewees (adapted from [Fang et al., 2023]).

Code	Enterprise size	Role	Expertise	Sector	Power Range
INT1	∼5	PE designer	Power Electronics Converter product development	Aerospace Automotive Renewable energy	Low and medium voltage
INT2	∼30	PE designer	Power Electronics Converter product development	Consumer product	Low voltage
INT3	∼6000	PE designer	Power Electronics Converter product development	Electronic component	All power range
INT4	Academia	PE professor	Power Electronics Converter product development	Academia	All power range
INT5	∼6000	PE designer	Power Electronics Converter product development	Renewable energy	Low and medium voltage
INT6	∼50	PE designer	Power Electronics Converter product development	Defense Heavy electric mobility Renewable energy	All power range
INT7	∼6000	PE test engineer	Power Electronics Converter product bench test	Heavy electric mobility	High voltage
INT8	∼6000	PE designer	Power Electronics Converter product development	Aerospace	Medium voltage
INT9	∼ 10 000	PE designer	Power Electronics Converter product development	Industrial motor	Medium voltage
INT10	∼ 10 000	PE designer	Power Electronics Converter product development	electronic component	Medium and high voltage

Figure 1. Generic product development process of power electronics converters.

Figure 2. Topology circuit diagram (example of a boost converter).

Figure 3. Deliverable of hardware selection (Example of a boost converter).

Figure 4. Deliverable of 3D routing (Example of a boost converter).

Table 3. Requirements for ecodesign support for integrating the specific ecodesign working and decision-making steps to the PCB-based PEC PDP.

#	Functional Requirement	Eco-Design support
1	Support the definition of functional structure and technical solutions by considering environmental impacts generated all along life cycle, from manufacturing, transport, use, repair, end-of-life	Parameterized LCA model, integrating specification of: - Functional Block based LCA model -LCA model for circularity scenario
2	Support the technology sizing and hardware allocation by indicating the primary design parameter for optimisation	Sensitivity analysis model for ranking component design parameter’s sensitivity to environmental impacts
3	Support the identification of circularity guidelines for ensuring PCB design’s compatibility to circularity	Design’s compatibility to circularity scenario index
4	Support quantitative evaluation of potential environmental gains and loss for analysing and visualizing trade-offs	Eco-design space and secondary effects analysis model
5	Support operational ecodesign implementation	Application method for the LCA models and circularity guidelines

Figure 5. FB-LCA model architecture proposed in this research.

Table 4. Parameters in Block Definition Diagram proposed in the FB-LCA parametric model developed.

Technical Block

Technical profile

Functional constraints

Hardware reference

Technical characteristics

Circularity profile

Planned circularity scenario

Design’s compatibility to circularity

Environmental profile

Linked flow in LCI database: manufacturing, transport, use, circular scenario, end-of-life treatment

Economic profile

Economic cost

Figure 6. Ecodesign application method for PCB-based PEC.

Figure 7. Functional requirement of the boost converter.

Figure 8. FAST analysis of the boost converter.

Table 5. Example of hardware ecodesign database content (block definition diagram).

<Block>
Transistor
Functional constraints	Value
Maximun current	ITmax = 1.75
Minimun current	ITmin = 1.583 A
Medium current	IT = 0.833 A
Efficient current	ITeff = 1.179 A
Maximun voltage	VTmax = 24.6 V
Hardware reference	MOSFET FDS5680 (Oversized)
Technical characteristics	Value
Maximum drain-source voltage	VDSS = 60 V (Oversized)
On-state resistance	RDSon = 0.02 Ω
RDSon correction coefficient in temperature (Tj = 125◦C)	αRDS = 1.4
Rise time	tr = 8 ns
Fall time	tf = 32 ns
Junction-ambient thermal resistance	RT thJA = 50◦C/W
Maximum junction temperature	TT Jmax = 150◦C
Circularity profile	Value
Estimated lifetime	10 years (Fragile)
Connector type	Soldering by SMD
Repair tool	Soldering iron
Repair environment	Workshop environment
Repairer skill	Generalist
Environmental profile	Value
Linked Flow in LCA database (CODDE^®, based on the EIME LCA software)	Transistor (Small outline transistor, low power, SOT23 - SOT89 - SOT223)
Mass	0.224g
Soldering type (SMD or TH)	SMD
Soldering point	8
Economic cost	Value
Cost	12 euro

Figure 9. Heat map representation of manufacturing environmental impact tracking in converter’s functional structure.

Figure 10. Example of systematic evaluation of design changes during PDP iterations.

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Data availability statement

The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article and its supplementary materials. The corresponding author, Li Fang, agree to share the data upon reasonable request.