Experimental verification of energy efficiency enhancement in power electronics at partial load

In this paper two arrangements for reducing the power losses in power electronics of an electric drive are verified in a test bench. Firstly, it is proven that the chip area of the transistors and diodes has an impact on the switching losses and has to be adapted to the requirements of the electric machine in order to operate at maximum efficiency. Secondly, it is demonstrated that a variation of the conducting chip area of the IGBTs during operation also leads to a reduction of the switching losses. This additional degree of freedom can be used to optimize the total power losses of the power electronics with the effect of higher energy efficiency especially at partial load.