Efficiency comparison between SiC- and Si-based active neutral-point clamped converters

This paper presents an efficiency comparison between silicon-carbide technology and silicon technology. In order to achieve this, the efficiency of an active neutral-point clamped converter built up with silicon carbide power-devices is compared with the efficiency of an active neutral-point clamped converter built up with silicon power-devices, under a particular operating mode and a particular selection of devices. Firstly, overall losses of both converters are estimated. Then, experimental tests are carried out to measure their overall losses and efficiency. Finally, experimental results are compared with the estimations to support the analysis. The efficiency of the SiC converter is higher in all the switching-frequency range.