Optimized design of a complete three-phase PWM-VS inverter

This paper introduces and discusses the optimized design of power electronic circuits as a tool for flexible and fast computer-aided design. A design center concept, based on both optimization and design, is defined. The concept is used on a complete three-phase voltage-source inverter (VSI), with a focus on the optimization part. The optimization is performed in order to obtain maximum efficiency by changing the gate-drive conditions, like gate resistances and gate-drive supply. Another optimization is performed, where the thermal characteristic of the diode and insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) is taken into account. A loss model of a complete three-phase VSI is developed. Based on known data for the IGBTs, the diodes and inverter circuit, the outputs of the proposed optimizer are two gate-drive resistances, a gate-drive supply and a load current, which give the inverter the highest efficiency. It is concluded the optimization points of the inverter design are different using the two proposed optimization criteria. The highest load current for the same devices is found for the inverter when the thermal effects are included. Finally, parts of the loss model are verified with experiments.