Fast surge-overvoltage protection tunable circuit

A method of protecting switches in a power conversion apparatus from an overvoltage event, comprising:

• controlling a plurality of switches in an input stage of the power conversion apparatus into conductive and non-conductive states for power conversion according to a predetermined power conversion strategy;
• sensing at least one voltage level corresponding to a node voltage level on at least one node in the input stage;
• determining when the sensed at least one voltage level exceeds a threshold voltage level indicative of an overvoltage condition on the at least one node and asserting a disable signal;
• rendering the plurality of switches into non-conductive states in response to and while the disable signal is asserted.

A power conversion apparatus, comprising:

• an input stage having an input configured to be connected to receive an direct current (DC) voltage, the input stage including a plurality of switches electrically coupled to the input and arranged in accordance with a power conversion topology;
• a sensing circuit coupled to a monitored node in the input stage and configured to assert a disable signal when a sensed voltage level, corresponding to a node voltage level at the monitored node, exceeds a selectable threshold voltage level indicative of an overvoltage condition, the sensing circuit including a latch configured to maintain assertion of the disable signal until a release event occurs;
• and
• an electronic controller configured to control the plurality of switches into conductive and non-conductive states for power conversion in accordance with a predetermined power conversion strategy, the controller being further configured to control the plurality of switches into respective non-conductive states in response to and while the disable signal is asserted.