Power Losses Reduction of Parallel Connected Power Electronics Devices

Due to the increase in the power rating of power converters’ applications and the limitation of the power electronics devices' capability in terms of voltage and current rating, parallel-connected power electronics devices are one of the solutions to overcome this limitation. In this paper, two control techniques to control parallel connection power electronics devices are presented. The main idea is controlling the active time of each power electronics device according to the load current. The number of connected devices depends on the load current and the current rating of the devices. Therefore, the switching losses of the power electronics devices will be reduced. This offers a reduction in the total power losses and the power electronics devices can be arranged for better thermal management. Simulation results show an 8-10% reduction in power electronics losses and up to 10°C reduction in the temperature of the hot spot point.