Autonomous active current balancing method for parallel-connected silicon carbide MOSFETs

In medium and high-power applications, where Silicon Carbide (SiC) MOSFETs are usually used and their parallelization is quite often required, the performance of power switches is affected by an inevitable current unbalance which may occur not only during turn-on and turn-off transients but during o...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Giannopoulos, N., Ioannidis, G. Ch, Vokas, G. A., Psomopoulos, C. S.
Format: Conference Proceeding
Language:English
Subjects:
Balancing
Current sharing
Electronic devices
Industrial applications
MOSFETs
Parallel connected
Power consumption
Screening
Silicon carbide
Steady state
Switches
Transient current
Unbalance
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Summary:In medium and high-power applications, where Silicon Carbide (SiC) MOSFETs are usually used and their parallelization is quite often required, the performance of power switches is affected by an inevitable current unbalance which may occur not only during turn-on and turn-off transients but during on steady state, as well. Over the last decade, several researchers have proposed numerous techniques capable of suppressing one or even both of the aforementioned current unbalances for a number of discrete parallel SiC MOSFETs. Some of these techniques deal with the problem by continuously inspecting the current sharing state between the parallel devices and eliminating their transient current unbalance. However, in order for these kinds of techniques to be realized, screening of power devices is required, but being a time-consuming process, it adds extra cost to the system. In this way, the implementation of such a technique becomes difficult, reducing its possibilities of being implemented in power electronics applications. In this paper, a differential Active Current Balancing technique is presented. The proposed method is capable of sensing and eliminating current unbalance not only during transient states but also during on steady state automatically, actively and independently of the cause, requiring no device screening. These merits make the proposed method more realistic and increase its potential to deal with the requirements of the industry applications. The performance of the proposed technique is verified through simulations, proving its feasibility and effectiveness.
ISSN:0094-243X
1551-7616
DOI:10.1063/5.0035177