Fast Inverter Loss Simulation and Silicon Carbide Device Evaluation for Hybrid Electric Vehicle Drives

This paper presents an integrated framework for modelling inverter performance and evaluating power devices in hybrid electric vehicle drives. Based in MATLAB/Simulink, it uses a novel method of decoupling the device and inverter simulation to maintain high accuracy of power losses and devices temperatures, and achieve faster than real time inverter simulation. An illustration is given for a full hybrid vehicle for different driving cycles. Device models are included for silicon carbide Schottky diodes as well as silicon IGBTs and PIN diodes, allowing evaluation of the new material devices. The simulation framework offers the potential to rapidly improve the inverter and powertrain design process, and to evaluate device selection quickly.