Power converters with Silicon Carbide devices

Abstract

The paper discusses power electronic converters built with the use of new Silicon Carbide power devices: diodes and transistors. At first a discussion of SiC material properties is presented as a background to overview of currently available power transistors. Then, parameters of the devices are discussed with respect to Si counterparts and design possibilities are analyzed using example of a three-phase AC/DC converter with SiC MOSFETs. Moreover, various prototypes of the power converters are shown in this paper to illustrate high-frequency and high-efficiency designs. Presented examples reach frequencies of hundreds kHz to reduce passive components but a three-phase inverter with efficiency above 99.5% is also shown. Finally, the interleaved DC/DC boost converter having high efficiency (close to 99%) at high switching frequency (4×125kHz) is discussed in this paper.