Power loss evaluation for active and magnetic components in a SiC MOSFET-based power electronic system

This paper introduces a general method to evaluate the power losses of active (power semiconductors) and magnetic (inductors) components in power electronic systems. The bidirectional current conduction of silicon-carbide MOSFETs is analyzed to more accurately estimate the conduction and switching losses. Compared to conventional methods, the core loss of the magnetic components is estimated in a more accurate and generalized way, which is suited to non-sinusoidal flux waveforms. Simulation and experimental results verify the proposed method.

I. Introduction

High power efficiency is a key requirement for many power electronic systems, such as uninterruptible power supplies [1], photovoltaic inverters [2], and electric and hybrid electric vehicles [3]. Power losses in a power electronic system mainly result from two sources: 1) power semiconductors, or called active components, and 2) inductive or magnetic components. In order to facilitate the design and optimization of a power electronic system, an accurate evaluation/prediction of the active and magnetic components' power losses are necessary. However, how to estimate the power losses, especially the magnetic core losses, has not yet been fully understood.