Comparison of Medium-Voltage High-Frequency Power Inverters for Aircraft Propulsion Drives

Medium voltage DC (MVDC) is an emerging technology to enable the transmission and distribution systems of electric aircraft to be more lightweight and efficient. In this paper, a performance comparison is presented between three options of megawatt-scale medium-voltage (MV) power inverters based on Silicon Carbide (SiC) power modules. These three options include: two-level MV inverter based on 3. 3kV high-voltage SiC modules, two-level MV inverter based on series connections of 1. 7kVSiC modules, and three-level active neutral point clamped (ANPC) MV inverter based on 1. 7kVSiC modules. Specifically, the efficiency and reliability have been compared and discussed, which will provide a reference for engineers and researchers to develop electric aircraft propulsion drives in the future.