Comparative thermal performance evaluation of SiC MOSFETs and Si MOSFET for 1.2 kW 300 kHz DC-DC boost converter as a solar PV pre-regulator

Abstract

In this paper a comparative thermal performance evaluation of SiC MOSFETs (SiC MOSFET and SiC Z-FET) and Si MOSFET in a high power density of 1.2 kW DC-DC boost converter as a photovoltaic pre-regulator is presented. The good thermal stability of the converter expected from both SiC MOSFETs at high switching frequency up to 300 kHz and high case temperature of 150 °C has been demonstrated by comparing with Si MOSFET. Faster turn-on switching time for SiC MOSFETs, compared with Si MOSFET leads to reduced turn-on switching losses, and consequently the heat sink temperature at 300 kHz switching frequency reaches only at around 50 °C in natural convection. The experimental results given in this paper show that SiC technologies aid in improving reliability of solar PV inverters by enhancing thermal stability of the system.