Lifetime Estimation and Failure Risk Analysis in a Power Stage Used in Wind-Fuel Cell Hybrid Energy Systems

Abstract

This paper presents a methodology based on the failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) to analyze the failures in the power stage of wind-fuel cell hybrid energy systems. Besides, fault tree analysis (FTA) is applied to describe the probabilistic failures in the vital subcomponents. Finally, the reliability assessment of the system is carried out for a five-year operation that is guaranteed by the manufacturer. So, as the result, the reliability analysis proves that the metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) and electrolytic capacitor are the most critical components that introduce damages in the power circuit. Moreover, a comparative study on the reliability assessment by the exponential distribution and the Weibull distribution show that the B1 lifetime obtained by the Weibull distribution is closer to reality.