Wright Electric has demonstrated next-generation inverter technology for transport-category zero-emissions aircraft

ALBANY, NY - Wright Electric, Inc., announced that the company has delivered a key building block towards development and certification of the first commercially viable, zero-emissions single-aisle aircraft.

Whether a future airplane is battery-electric or powered by a hydrogen fuel cell, an inverter is a key component in high voltage aircraft electric systems. Its purpose is to convert the DC power from batteries to the AC power required by the propulsion system’s electric motors. Wright has now demonstrated the first such system for large zero-emissions aircraft. Designed to be scalable from 500 kw to 20 MW systems, the Wright inverter targets the following levels of performance:

• 99.5% efficiency - a 6x improvement in heat loss over current in-production aviation inverters resulting in significantly lower thermal management loads.

• 30 kw/kg power density - in contrast, today’s technology delivers 10-20 kw/kg. On a standard single-aisle aircraft, this would result in a weight savings equivalent to adding an extra 5-10 passengers per flight.

The inverter now proceeds to the next phase of development including integration with an in-house developed 2 MW motor, high altitude chamber testing, and qualification for flight readiness.