Analytical and Simulation Fair Comparison of Three Level Si IGBT Based NPC Topologies and Two Level SiC MOSFET Based Topology for High Speed Drives

Jelena Loncarski, Vito Giuseppe Monopoli, Riccardo Leuzzi, Leposava Ristic and Francesco Cupertino
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Jelena Loncarski: Department of Electrical and Information Engineering, Politecnico di Bari, 70125 Bari, Italy
Vito Giuseppe Monopoli: Department of Electrical and Information Engineering, Politecnico di Bari, 70125 Bari, Italy
Riccardo Leuzzi: Department of Electrical and Information Engineering, Politecnico di Bari, 70125 Bari, Italy
Leposava Ristic: Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Belgrade, 11120 Belgrade, Serbia
Francesco Cupertino: Department of Electrical and Information Engineering, Politecnico di Bari, 70125 Bari, Italy

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 23, 1-16

Abstract: Wide bandgap (WBG) power devices such as silicon carbide (SiC) can viably supply high speed electrical drives, due to their capability to increase efficiency and reduce the size of the power converters. On the other hand, high frequency operation of the SiC devices emphasizes the effect of parasitics, which generates reflected wave transient overvoltage on motor terminals, reducing the life time and the reliability of electric drives. In this paper, a SiC metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) based two level (2L) inverter is systematically studied and compared to the performance of Si insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) based three level (3L) neutral point clamped (NPC) inverter topologies, for high speed AC motor loads, in terms of efficiency, overvoltages, heat sink design, and cost. A fair comparison was introduced for the first time, having the same output voltage capabilities, output current total harmonic distortion (THD), and overvoltages for the three systems. The analysis indicated the convenience of using the SiC MOSFET based 2L inverter for lower output power. In the case of the maximum output power, the heat sink volume was found to be 20% higher for the 2L SiC based inverter when compared to 3L NPC topologies. Simulations were carried out by realistic dynamic models of power switch modules obtained from the manufacturer’s experimental tests and verified both in the LTspice and PLECS simulation packages.

Keywords: SiC devices; Si devices; three level NPC inverter; three level T-NPC inverter; two level SiC MOSFET inverter; overvoltages; heat sink volume (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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