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In this paper, a novel dv/dt filter is presented targeted for 100-kW to 1-MW voltage source converters using silicon carbide (SiC) power devices. This concept uses the stray inductance between the power device and the converter output as a filter component in combination with an additional small RC-link. Hence, a lossy, bulky, and costly filter inductor is avoided and the resulting output dv/dt is limited to 5-10 kV/mu s independent of the output current and switching speed of the SiC devices. As a consequence, loads with dv/dt constraints, e.g., motor drives can be fed from SiC devices enabling full utilization of their high switching speed. Moreover, a filter-model is proposed for the selection of filter component values for a certain dv/dt requirement. Finally, results are shown using a 300-A 1700-V SiC metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET). These results show that the converter output dv/dt can be limited to 7.5 kV/mu s even though values up to 47 kV/mu s weremeasured across the SiC MOSFET module. Hence, the total switching losses, including the filter losses, are verified to be three times lower compared to when the MOSFET dv/dt was slowed down by adjusting the gate driver., QC 20180516

In this paper, a new low-loss turn-ON concept for the silicon insulated-gate bipolar transistor (Si-IGBT) in combination with silicon p-i-n diode is presented. The concept is tailored for two-level motor converters in the 100 kW to 1 MW range under the constraint that the output voltages slopes are limited in order to protect the motor windings. Moreover, analyses of the IGBT turn-ON and diode reverse recovery voltage slopes are presented concluding that the diode reverse recovery is the worst case. The concept includes a low-cost measurement of the free-wheeling diode current and temperature by the gate driver without necessity of acquiring this information from the converter control board. By using this concept, the output dv/dt at the diode turn-OFF can be kept approximately constant regardless of the commutated current and junction temperature. Hence, the switching losses could be decreased for the currents and temperatures where the voltage slopes are lower when using a conventional gate driver optimized for the worst case. Moreover, results are shown for one such power semiconductor, showing a total switching loss reduction of up to 28% in comparison with a gate driver without current and temperature measurement. Finally, this concept is particularly suitable for high power semiconductor modules in half-bridge configuration which are recently proposed by several suppliers., QC 20171121

QC 20170531

QC 20170531