Modeling semiconductors and application to the losses of chopper and inverter type converters

Abstract

Static converters of the power electronics have recently undergone a significant technological evolution, particularly to enhance their low efficiency and compactness resulting from the increase of the speed of semiconductor power components, which allows reducing the switching losses constituting a large part of the losses in static converters. However, the choice of precise geometrical layout and a specific technology to design converters using modern components usually produces some dimensioning problems due to heating, (dv/dt) and (di/dt). For this reason, after a functional design phase, a technological design phase should be followed for the final development of a converter. It is, therefore, essential to use accurate models to evaluate switching losses and to predict possible problems caused by the employment of other constraints such as heating. In this context of predicting switching and conduction losses, other performances of static converters can be useful. In this paper, we introduce a precise model to calculate losses in a converter and quickly estimate them with a good precision.