A Novel High Density 100kW Three-Phase Silicon Carbide (SIC) Multichip Power Module (MCPM) Inverter

The complete design strategy (mechanical and electrical) of a three-phase 100 kW power converter utilizing silicon carbide (SiC) and silicon-on-insulator (SOI) electronics is presented. The design philosophy focuses on size reduction through high temperature operation (200+ °C junction temperature). A low power, proof-of-concept prototype operating at 4 kW has been built and tested. The preliminary work renders the 100 kW module 75 % the size of comparable state-of-the art Si converters of the same voltage and power levels. The design approach makes use of the unique advantages of SiC devices while incorporating the necessary passive (capacitive and magnetic) technologies in order to complete a fully functional power module. High power density is obtained through high density integration of the control and power stages using multichip power module (MCPM) technology. The scaling of the low power module to the fully fledged three-phase 100 kW prototype SiC MCPM converter is analyzed in detail.