| Abstract |
The paper presents an accurate “universal” power losses estimator for Low Voltage IGCTs (3.3kV) switching cells useful to evaluate their operation within different topologies. The proposed estimator is based on the ideal switches simulation approach, and it considers relevant factors than influence the losses of high power converters such as output current ripple, DC link voltage fluctuations, over-modulation and closed loop operation. Also, the principle of this estimator can be applied to other semiconductors such as IGBTs. This tool can help to compare the suitability of different power converter topologies and/or semiconductor technologies for their use into a specific application, leading to the final selection of the system. Here, as an application example of the universal power losses estimator, a LV IGCTs based reactive power compensator for single-phase system is presented. |
