| Abstract |
LCL filters are commonly adopted to attenuate the current harmonics produced by Pulsewidth-Modulation Voltage Source Converters. Due to the nature of LCL filters, several combinations of L and C can deliver the attenuation required by the standards. Then, the optimal configuration is generally evaluated also considering power density, costs and filter efficiency. This paper shows that the semiconductor efficiency should also be considered as an important design variable. It is shown that the AC ripple across the converter side inductor can reduce, until a certain extent, the overall semiconductor losses, when commercial IGBTs and the respective anti-parallel diodes are used. Reduced losses have benefits in terms of semiconductor modules lifetime, chip area, cost reduction and lessen the cooling requirements. Higher AC ripple, however, negatively affect filter losses. Nonetheless, inductive components are much less critical in terms of losses dissipation and lifetime than semiconductors. |
