Robust solid-state circuit protection apparatus

A solid-state circuit protection system, comprising:

• a first resonant capacitor cell having a positive-side input connected to a positive voltage source and a positive-side output connected to a positive-side output terminal, the first resonant capacitor cell including plurality of positive-side semiconductor devices configured to deliver a first drive current to the positive-side output, and at least one positive-side controllable inductor configured to selectively limit a level of the first drive current flowing through at least one of the positive-side semiconductor devices;
• a second resonant capacitor cell having an negative-side input connected to a negative voltage source and a negative-side output connected to a negative-side output terminal, the second resonant capacitor cell including plurality of negative-side semiconductor devices configured to deliver a second drive current to the negative-side output, and at least one negative-side controllable inductor configured to selectively limit a level of the second drive current flowing through at least one of the negative-side semiconductor devices;
• and
• an electronic circuit breaker control module in signal communication with the positive-side resonant capacitor cell and the negative-side resonant capacitor cell, the circuit breaker control module configured to monitor a current level of at least one of the first and second drive currents, and to initiate at least one of the positive-side and negative-side controllable inductors from a passive mode into a full inductance mode in response to a current level of the first and second drive current, respectively, exceeding a current level threshold.

A method of interrupting current flow between a voltage input and a load, the method comprising:

• delivering a source voltage to an input of at least one resonant capacitor cell and delivering drive current from the source voltage to a load connected to an output of the at least on resonant capacitor cell;
• detecting a short-circuit fault condition or an overload condition between the source voltage and the load, and adjusting a variable voltage applied to the at least one resonant capacitor cell in response to detecting the short-circuit fault condition or the overload condition;
• and
• limiting the drive current flowing through the at least one resonant capacitor cell in response to adjusting the variable voltage.