Sequential Operating Simulation of Solid State Transformer-Driven Next-Generation 800 VDC Data Center

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel SST-driven 800 VDC architecture for data centers, demonstrating improved efficiency and stability through real-time simulation and realistic operating profiles, advancing power delivery for AI workloads.

Contribution

Develops a detailed SST-based 800 VDC system with control strategies and validation workflow, addressing implementation gaps for next-generation AI data center power supplies.

Findings

Achieves tight 800 VDC regulation with reduced energy consumption.

Demonstrates stable power quality and control robustness.

Provides practical design guidelines through sensitivity analysis.

Abstract

Artificial-intelligence (AI) workloads are driving rapid growth in data-center electricity use and rack power density, increasing demand for power-delivery systems that are efficient and robust to fast load transients. Conventional uninterruptible power supply (UPS) based AC distribution chains involve multiple conversion stages and line-frequency transformers, which compound losses and are less compatible with dynamic AI power profiles. Although solid-state transformers (SSTs) and 800 VDC distribution architecture are widely discussed, implementable topology/control details, and long-horizon validation with realistic operating profiles remain limited. This paper develops an SST-driven 800 VDC architecture that converts 10 kV MVAC to an 800V LVDC bus using a three-phase H-bridge AC/DC stage cascaded with a dual-active-bridge (DAB) DC/DC stage. A coordinated closed-loop control scheme, combining rectifier voltage/current regulation and DAB phase-shift control, is designed to maintain DC-bus voltage stability. The proposed system is implemented on the real-time digital simulation (RTDS) platform and evaluated via sequential simulations using real-world day- and month-scale operating profiles of data centers, benchmarked against a UPS supply chain. Numerical studies demonstrate tight 800 VDC regulation, reduced input-side energy consumption compared with the UPS baseline, and satisfactory power-quality performance. A capacitance sensitivity test quantifies tradeoffs between DC-bus ripple and low-frequency input-power oscillations, yielding a practical capacitance range for design. Overall, the work provides a reproducible evaluation workflow and actionable guidance for next-generation AI data centers.