Comprehensive comparison of a SiC MOSFET and Si IGBT based inverter

Abstract

The investment which is necessary to replace Si IGBTs with SiC MOSFETs in medium to high power DC-AC inverters needs to be balanced carefully against the advantages SiC offers. This paper compares a 20 kW Si IGBT inverter with a 20 kW SiC MOSFET inverter. The power semiconductor components are operated identically in a modular half bridge module to ensure comparability. Thereby the measurement of the switching losses is explicitly not the focus but the overall efficiency while taking volume, current ripple, switching frequency and inductance into account. The limits of reasonable operating range shall be evaluated and an overview on the benefits of SiC on system level will be given.