Efficiency improvement of AC/DC converter using SiC-based power electronics device

The application of SiC-based power electronics device to large capacity AC/DC converter is studied and its advantages are estimated quantitatively on operational loss of AC/DC converter. As the electrical characteristics of SiC crystallized material is excellent, SiC-based power electronics device has some attractive features of switching element for converter. Concerning operational loss reduction of AC/DC converter, lower on-state resistance of SiC-based power electronics device is the important parameter to decrease conduction loss. In the case of AC/DC converter system of ITER class power supplies, the operational loss of converter using SiC-based power electronics device is compared with that of conventional thyristor AC/DC converter.