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The Institute for Power Electronics and
Electrical Drives (ISEA) of RWTH Aachen
University has been working on Power
Electronics, Power Semiconductor De-
vices, Electrical Drives and Electrochemi-
cal Energy Storage Systems for more than
45 years. Under the supervision of insti-
tute director Prof. Dr. ir. Dr. h. c. Rik W.
De Doncker and the head of the Electro-
chemical Energy Storage Systems Group
Prof. Dirk Uwe Sauer, the focus of ISEA is
on research and development activities in
close co-operation with national and in-
ternational companies, as well as on pub-
lic funded research projects. In addition,
ISEA offers engineering services.
One of the main research areas of the in-
stitute are power electronics, drives and
batteries for electric, hybrid and conven-
tional vehicles. Researchers work on elec-
trical architectures and drive trains on the
system level and investigate, for example,
the effect of different voltage levels and
the utilization of DC/DC converters on
the overall efficiency or the integration of
the energy storage into the grid, as well
as on the component level, for example
designing highly efficient converters or
investigating the aging behavior, diag-
nostics, and energy management of bat-
tery packs. Drive inverters including sen-
sorless and highly dynamic torque control
are also a major topic. A special focus lies
on the design and realization of switched
reluctance drives, which feature a low-
cost robust design and are very suitable
for compact high-speed drives. Also the
acoustic behavior of drives is investigat-
ed and optimized. Device level research is
conducted, too, such as specific package
design for semiconductors for automo-
tive applications.
Another main research area is sustainable
energy. Also here, power electronics and
storage systems are key technologies to
enable a largely renewable energy gen-
eration while maintaining a stable grid.
As an example, ISEA works on highly ef-
ficient converters for solar applications
and has developed a test bench for the
characterization of commercially available
photovoltaic inverters.
Furthermore, the institute is also active
in the research fields of traction applica-
tions, home appliances and industrial ap-
plications.
Currently, more than 70 scientists and
engineers jointly research and study at
ISEA together with more than 50 stu-
dents. The close cooperation of experts
for power electronics, drives and battery
systems enables highly optimized systems
for all the applications described above.
Aachen University of Technology (RWTH)
Integrated Power Unit (DC-DC converter and drive
inverter) for hybrid electric vehicle, Europa-PlugIn
project
Bi-directional charger for electric vehicle, Smart-
Wheels project
Macro battery cell, ePerformance project
