Design Considerations and Performance Evaluation of 1200-V 100-A SiC MOSFET-Based Two-Level Voltage Source Converter

Silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFET is capable of achieving better efficiency and better power density of power converters due to its low on-state resistance and lower switching losses compared to silicon (Si) Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor. Operation of power converters at higher switching frequency using SiC devices allows reduction in filter size and hence improves the power to weight ratio of the converter. This paper presents switching characterization of 1200-V 100-A SiC MOSFET module and compares the efficiency of a two-level voltage source converter (2L-VSC) using SiC MOSFETs and Si IGBTs. Also, various design considerations of the 1200-V 100-A SiC MOSFET-based 2L-VSC including gate drive design, bus bar packaging, and thermal management have been elaborated. The designed and developed 2L-VSC is operated to supply 35 kVA load at 20-kHz switching frequency with dc bus voltage of 800 V and the corresponding experimental results are presented.