Evaluation of 1.2 kV SiC MOSFETs in Multilevel Cascaded H-bridge Three-phase Inverter for Medium-voltage Grid Applications

摘要

A study is conducted to evaluate 1.2 kV silicon-carbide(SiC)MOSFETs in a cascaded H-bridge(CHB)three-phase inverter for medium-voltage applications.The main purpose of this topology is to remove the need for a bulky 60 Hz transformer normally used to step up the output signal of a voltage source inverter to a medium-voltage level.Using SiC devices(1.2-6.5 kV SiC MOSFETs)which have a high breakdown voltage,enables the system to meet and withstand the medium-voltage stress using only a minimal number of cascaded modules.The SiC-based power electronics when used in the presented topology considerably reduce the complexity usually encountered when Si devices are used to meet the medium-voltage level and power scalability.Simulation and preliminary experimental results on a low-voltage prototype verifies the nine-level CHB topology presented in this study.