Comparison performance of Si-IGBT and SiC-MOSFET used for high efficiency inverter of contactless power transfer system

This paper deals with investigation on electrical characteristics of both conventional Si-IGBT and next generation power semiconductor device SiC-MOSFET for high efficiency inverter of contactless power transfer system. This system has an issue that the power conversion efficiency is lower than that of conventional charging system using a plug. Since a proto type contactless power transfer system that we evaluated before adopted Si-IGBT, higher power conversion efficiency has been required. Thus, an attempt is made to improve the inverter efficiency using SiC-MOSFET. The performance of Si-IGBT and SiC-MOSFET are evaluated by conducting a switching test and experiment of static characteristics. Furthermore, inverter loss is calculated and discussed using experimental results of Si-IGBT and SiC-MOSFET. As a result, the inverter efficiency is found to increase by 0.48% using SiC-MOSFET. Additionally, it is suggested that ringing of the voltage and current should be suppressed when SiC-MOSFET is applied to an inverter for high frequency application like a contactless power transfer system.