A Power Loss Measurement Method Applied to Static Power Converters

It is very important to be able to predict the amount of the power losses related to the power switches with good accuracy in the design phase of power converters since a poor estimation can considerably extend the time needed for the development of the devices. This paper illustrates a method to calculate with satisfactory accuracy the power losses in power converters, based on the measured switching currents and voltages of semiconductor devices. It represents a further development and an improvement of previous studies and includes an automatic compensation of voltage and current offsets. Experimental measurements of the conduction voltage drops of insulated-gate bipolar transistors and diodes have been performed and compared with manufacturer's data to validate the method. The method was then applied to a power converter chosen as representative, using the experimental data as input. The results are reported and discussed.