A Highly Efficient GaN and SiC Hybrid Active Neutral Point Clamped (ANPC) Inverter for High-Speed Electric Traction Applications

• Published in: IEEE Workshop on Wide Bandgap Power Devices and Applications pp. 1 - 6
• Main Authors: Deshpande, Ankit Vivek, Wang, Shaozhe, Pool-Mazun, Erick I., Garza-Arias, Enrique, Sandoval, Rolando, Gnegy-Davidson, Clint, Byrd, Thomas, Enjeti, Prasad
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 04.11.2024
• Subjects: ANPC; Electric Traction; Gallium nitride; GaN; High Speed Drives; Hybrid power systems; Hybrid PWM; Inverters; MODFETs; MOSFET; Prototypes; Pulse width modulation; SiC; Silicon; Silicon carbide; Temperature measurement; Thermal simulation
• ISSN: 2687-8577
• DOI: 10.1109/WiPDA62103.2024.10773229

In this paper, a hybrid Active Neutral Point Clamped (ANPC) inverter employing commercial off-theshelf (COTS) Silicon Carbide (SiC) and Gallium Nitride (GaN) devices is explored, intended for high-speed electric vehicle traction systems. The proposed solution, alongside a Hybrid PWM scheme elaborated in this study, demonstrates superior efficiency when compared to other device configurations discussed. A trade-off analysis centered on efficiency is performed, examining ANPC inverters with various device combinations, including Si IGBTs, SiC MOSFETs, and GaN HEMTs. The study focuses on an 800 \mathrm{~V}, 50 \mathrm{~kW} design example, utilizing a PLECS thermal model for simulation. A scaled-down prototype of the proposed ANPC inverter was developed and tested. Experimental results for a singlephase Hybrid ANPC inverter tested at 800 \mathrm{~V}, 3 \mathrm{~kW}, and a fundamental frequency of 2 kHz are presented.