Selection of three-level low voltage inverter circuit topology for a high speed electric drive

The article presents the results of the three-level low voltage inverter circuit topology selection for a high speed electric drive. The main inverter requirements for the high speed application are a high frequency of output voltage, low power losses and low negative impacts in the motor. There are comparable inverters based on fundamental three-level and two-level topologies. The high power switching devices based on fast switch silicon carbide metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors (SiC) are taken into consideration. The power losses were calculated for modules of the 12
^th
class of the world's leading manufacturers for a rated current of 300-400 A. The trends demonstrate the efficiency superiority of SiC devices. However, a high price and requirements of an output filter makes this solution unattractive at this time. Finally, the T-type three-level inverter circuit topology is selected as a compromise between the power losses, the price and the size for a pulse width modulation frequency of 16 kHz.