Comparison of 4500 V State-of-the-Art XHP3 IGBT and Conventional IHV IGBT for 3300 V, 3-Level ANPC Medium-Voltage Drives

Abstract:
The 3-level active neutral point clamped (3L-ANPC) topology is a commonly used inverter topology for medium-voltage drive (MVD) inverters. This topology has been extensively researched. It offers a flexible commutation loop and can reduce the uneven distribution of power losses among IGBTs. This paper presents the flexible 4500 V, high-power platform (XHP3) with insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) devices as an alternative to the conventional industrial high-voltage (IHV) IGBT module for constructing the scalable and modular 3L topology for the 3300 V 3L-ANPC MVD. We provide an overview of the 4500 V XHP3 and IHV IGBT products and carry out a quantitative comparison of the devices in terms of conduction losses, switching losses, thermal resistance and junction temperature based on the datasheet of the 450 A XHP3 and 800 A IHV IGBT. Furthermore, we present the recommended layout of the XHP3 IGBT for the 3L-ANPC power stack and analyze its advantages over the IHV IGBT solution. A thermal simulation study is conducted for these devices under the typical operating conditions of a 3300 V MVD system. The results demonstrate that with XHP3, the system benefits from a much higher power density and lower power dissipation.