Mainstream Engineering Awarded Contract from the Department of Defense to Develop GaN-based Bi-directional Battery Isolator Unit

ROCKLEDGE, FL – December 29th, 2015 – Mainstream Engineering Corporation, a 29-year-old Brevard County research and manufacturing company, has been awarded a contract from the Department of Defense to develop a GaN-based bi-directional battery isolator unit.

Military vehicles now use battery-isolating diodes to transfer current between two sets of battery banks, which are heavy, inefficient and only allow current flow from the higher charged battery to the other. Replacing the diodes with active switching devices allows smart power management and better use of energy storage. Further, because of the high currents, advanced wide-bandgap devices are used to increase the device switching frequency, thus enabling volume reduction of the converter’s passive components.

Mainstream’s converter is built around a modular power architecture so increases in power are easily achievable by simply placing multiple units in parallel. The complete 500 A converter system has a target system efficiency of >94% and a power density of 18 W/in3. This configuration allows for easy installation on future military vehicles.

About Mainstream Engineering
Mainstream Engineering Corporation® is a solutions-oriented research, development, and manufacturing small business with a history of leading-edge research and development that has resulted in advanced, lean-manufacturing, cost-competitive products, which are all made in the USA. Founded in 1986, Mainstream’s mission is to transition advanced thermal control, energy storage, and energy conversion technology into high-quality, cost-effective, environmentally safe green, commercial products. Products include lightweight diesel/JP8-fueled engines (including generators and hybrid vehicle drive trains), advanced thermal control units, advanced biomass conversion technologies, refrigerators/freezers for shipping containers, and the QwikProducts™ line of heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration (HVAC/R) products. Areas of advanced research include thermal control, energy conversion, engine and emissions research, turbomachinery, chemical technology, and materials science.

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