Evaluation and Modeling of SiC Based Power Converter for Low Temperature Operation

Abstract

Cryogenic power electronics is regarded as the next step to improve the power converter efficiency and power density. Thus, investigations on component and converter performances under low temperature operations are of great importance. Silicon carbide (SiC) devices have gradually replaced traditional Silicon (Si) devices in high voltage and high power applications. This is due to their fast switching speed and low switching loss. In this article, the performance of SiC device based power converters are investigated under low temperature operation. Firstly, the individual component performances are evaluated under low temperatures. Then, a 600 W resonant converter based DC transformer was built and tested under low temperatures. The efficiency for the tested converter with ferrite cores drops from 97.86% at room temperature (298 K) to 93.44% at 143 K. The converter power loss model under low temperature operation was developed to facilitate the understanding of converter performance at various operating temperatures.