An electrical transient model (ETM) of insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT)-diode switching cell is developed by coupling a temperature-dependent IGBT model with power loss model. The nonlinear behavior of IGBT and the reverse recovery characteristic of the diode are considered in this model to simulate the transient switching waveforms. Based on the transient waveforms of ETM under various operating conditions, the power loss estimation method (PLEM) for IGBT is developed. In addition to traditional modeling techniques that only uses ideal switch, this paper uses the model to replicate the power loss behaviors of semiconductor devices in circuit simulation by looking up tables. The proposed ETM is simulated in PSCAD/EMTDC with nanosecond time step, whereas the overall system application can be simulated with conventional time step in range of microsecond. By this way, the model can promise reasonable accuracy as well as an acceptable fast solving speed. The proposed ETM and PLEM have been implemented in PSCAD/EMTDC simulator and validated by experimental results using a double pulse test bench and boost converter test platform.

Silicon carbide (SiC) mosfets are getting popular in high-frequency power electronic (PE) applications. More and more concerns for system efficiency and reliability are growing due to the increasing switching losses and thermal stress. In this article, an electro-thermal simulation method for SiC mosfets in modern PE systems is proposed. In the device simulation, a behavioral transient model of SiC mosfets is developed and used for generating a multidimensional power loss table in a wide range of operating conditions. The effects of parasitic elements, temperature-dependent parameters, and reverse recovery effect of the diode are taken into account. Furthermore, the power loss look-up table is integrated into the PE system simulation with an additional Cauer-based dynamic thermal model considering heatsink impact. In this way, the instantaneous power losses and junction temperature can be obtained, respectively, with fast simulation speed, reasonable accuracy, and improved simulation convergence. The proposed approach is implemented in PSCAD/EMTDC and further validated by the experimental results of a double pulse test setup and a power factor correction system.

A switching characterization (SC) test of power semiconductor devices (PSDs) gives us significant insight into the dynamic switching behavior of the device under various operating conditions. A double pulse test (DPT) is a widely used method for evaluating switching performance parameters of a PSD such as its switching losses, switching speed (di/dt, dv/dt), turn-on and turn-off times etc. The scientific information obtained from analysis of DPT results of a PSD helps in predicting its thermo-electric performance in a target power electronic converter. A conventional DPT setup is a time-consuming and error-prone approach to manually conduct these tests under several permutations of test parameters and thereafter analyze the experimental data manually. This work presents a newly developed automated SC test system, which can run tests one after another, once the desired test parameters are entered in a graphic user interface. The test-control system also enables recording and systematic processing of the experimental switching data to deliver usable characterization results. Hence, the automatic, compact and modular design allows the proposed system to stand out from the conventional DPT setups. The design principles are experimentally verified by implementing a hardware prototype capable of testing PSDs up to 1000V, 60A, 250°C.

Power factor correction (PFC) converters can be significantly reduced in size by integrating control circuits, sensing circuits, gate drivers, and power switches. However, magnetic components are the main parts that are bulky and prevent further PFC size reduction. Recently, a highly integrated commercial PFC called Gallium Nitride-controller module (GaN-CM) was introduced, which employs a novel controller in discontinuous conduction mode (DCM) to reduce the size of the boost inductor. The question remains, however, of how to quantify the inductor size reduction while maintaining high efficiency. Moreover, the power rating of GaN-CM is up to 240 W with a single-module operation. In this article, steady-state analysis, loss analysis, and inductor optimization of GaN-CM are conducted to show how DCM PFC can lead to a small inductor with high efficiency. Furthermore, GaN-CM interleaving is proposed to increase the power rating of GaN-CM. The proposed interleaved PFC is verified by a 400-W prototype with an advanced GaN transistor.

Modern wide-bandgap (WBG) devices, such as silicon carbide (SiC) or gallium nitride (GaN) based devices, have emerged and been increasingly used in power electronics (PE) applications due to their superior switching feature. The power losses of these devices become the key of system efficiency improvement, especially for high-frequency applications. In this paper, a generalized behavioral model of a switch-diode cell (SDC) is proposed for power loss estimation in the electromagnetic transient simulation. The proposed model is developed based on the circuit level switching process analysis, which considers the effects of parasitics, the operating temperature, and the interaction of diode and switch. In addition, the transient waveforms of the SDC are simulated by the proposed model using dependent voltage and current sources with passive components. Besides, the approaches of obtaining model parameters from the datasheets are given and the modelling method is applicable to various semiconductors such Si insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT), Si/SiC metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET), and GaN devices. Further, a multi-dimensional power loss table in a wide range of operating conditions can be obtained with fast speed and reasonable accuracy. The proposed approach is implemented in PSCAD/ Electromagnetic Transients including DC, EMTDC, (v4.6, Winnipeg, MB, Canada) and further verified by the hardware setups including different daughter boards for different devices.