GE, NASA Partner to advance the future of electric flight

pgmrdlm writes: Electric flight is becoming a tantalizingly close reality for shorter-range service. But increasing passenger carrying capacity and flight times to economically accommodate longer routes will require a major rethink of crucial components.

One of these is the inverter, which changes the direct current of batteries into alternating current used by the airplane's propulsion system. The problem is there aren't many inverters rated for aviation. Those that exist are big and heavy, two characteristics that don't mix well with electric flight.

Now, GE is partnering with the NASA Advanced Air Vehicles Program (AAVP) on a new generation of inverter using GE's silicon Carbide (SiC) technology. The project aims to deliver a next gen inverter that provides significantly increased power density over existing technology but is small enough to support electric flight.

"We're essentially packing 1 MW of power into the size of a compact suitcase that will convert enough electric power to enable hybrid-electric propulsion architectures for commercial airplanes,"says Konrad Weeber, Chief Engineer of Electric Power at GE Research. "We have successfully built and demonstrated inverters at ground level that meet the power, size and efficiency requirements of electric flight. The next step is to build and demonstrate one that is altitude ready."