Asianometry is a great channel. I have been publicly skeptical of the solid state transformer on The Amp Hour, but mostly due to the outsized claims about them impacting the grid as a whole, as opposed to a more targeted application inside things like data centers. The efficiency differences don’t seem like much (a few percent) until you multiply them times the enormous power throughput of the overall grid.
Data centers are also supply constrained on multiple fronts and I see that they would probably benefit most from something like an SST. The video covers many of the benefits and how things have changed.
Already watched the video and its a good video.
I am sure others have had the same thought in that the term solid state transformer is problematic for a number of reasons. They mention galvanic isolation which by definition implies that on some level a transformer (More than one coil of wire coupled in some way) is still handling the actual current transfer. I know it’s turtles all the way down but it’s an important distinction. Otherwise they are describing a fancy very efficient buck regulator that is using switches to brute force everything. Of course you can simply build two AC to AC converters that use a non line frequency to allow for tiny magnetics which is already common place, but I would like to see more of a distinction between just a very smart, fast, and efficient box of switches using smaller more efficient magnetics and a genuinely new class of devices and not just a box of switches and inductors.
From a practical use point of view one question that immediately came to mind is are they bidirectional. The biggest example these days is grid tied solar. Regular transformers are pretty good about feeding both ways. For grid level stuff that is very important. Also the inductance and reactance of regular transformers have a filtering effect on the waveform that helps balance loads and provides harmonic suppression for essentially free.
