Performance Comparison of 4-SiC and 2-SiC Hybrid Three-phase Three-level ANPC Inverters

Abstract

The hybrid application of SiC devices and Si devices can take into account both high performance and low cost, and has been widely used in single-phase applications. A three-level active-neutral-point-clamped (3L-ANPC) converter is taken as an example for comparing two hybrid schemes in terms of conversion efficiency and thermal balance characteristics. An experimental prototype was built for verification. Experimental results show that although the efficiency of the 4-SiC hybrid three-phase 3L-ANPC inverter is slightly lower than that of the 2-SiC hybrid three-phase 3L-ANPC inverter, it can not only achieve a better loss balance effect but also extend the life of switching devices. Both of them have higher efficiency than the full-Si three-phase 3L-ANPC inverter.