Comparison of Si and SiC Power Semiconductor Devices in Power Electronics Converters to Be Used in Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles

摘要

With the fast development of silicon carbide (SiC) technology, SiC-based power semiconductor is ready to overtake Si in transportation applications. In this paper, Si and SiC-based power electronics converters for plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) applications are designed and analyzed. Conduction and switching losses, efficiency, junction temperature, and the volume and weight of heat sinks of converters are calculated for a Si and SiC solution of a 65 kW three-phase inverter and of a 2.5 kW DC/DC converter. Comparison of the parameters mentioned above gives that SiC-based technology shows better performances than Si power semiconductor devices in the investigated converters. Finally, an economical evaluation shows that the SiC components can cost almost 2.5 times more in order to have the same total cost as for a Si solution for a 15 years operation.