Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Liyao Wu
• Jiangchao Qin
• Saeedifard, Maryam
• Wasynczuk, Oleg
• Shenai, Krishna

Titel

Efficiency Evaluation of the Modular Multilevel Converter Based on Si and SiC Switching Devices for Medium/High-Voltage Applications

Ist Teil von

• IEEE transactions on electron devices, 2015-02, Vol.62 (2), p.286-293

Ort / Verlag

IEEE

Erscheinungsjahr

2015

Link zum Volltext

• IEEE_Xplore

Quelle

IEEE Electronic Library (IEL)

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• The modular multilevel converter (MMC) is the most promising converter topology for medium- and high-power applications. One of the main concerns in the operation of the MMC, particularly for high-power applications, is its efficiency, which should be maximized. Silicon Carbide (SiC)-based devices have the potential to provide significant efficiency improvement compared with silicon devices. However, the possibility and impact of using SiC-based devices instead of silicon devices for high-power conversion have not been thoroughly explored. This paper reports on the results obtained from a detailed study to evaluate the performance of MMCs based on medium-voltage SiC MOSFETs and diodes with hybrid MMCs that employ silicon IGBTs and SiC diodes. The results are based on detailed circuit simulations that use simple physics-based circuit models. The study suggests the potential for significant efficiency gain for MMCs based on SiC power devices.