Power Electronics Europe February/March 2022

32 SIC POWER MODULES www.wolfspeed.com/products/power/sic-power-modules Issue 1 2022 Power Electronics Europe www.power-mag.com The SiC-based AFE also has 40 % lower losses than the IGBT-based system. For a system that runs continuously — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week — this leads to 26 MWh in annual energy savings. Beyond the green credentials, at a cost of $0.10/kWh, SiC can lower the annual operational cost by $2,591. Looking beyond performance, passive BOM costs, and operational costs, the SiC- based system is much smaller in size and weight. It effects a system volume reduction of 42 % over the IGBT version (Figure 7). Conclusion A side-by-side comparison of best-in-class IGBT EconoDUAL® and Wolfspeed XAB400M12XM3 SiC-MOSFET power modules in similarly rated AFE systems reveals that SiC technology makes the aforementioned designer’s wish list come true. Wolfspeed’s XM3 platform helps significantly increase efficiency throughout the system, boost overall system response and performance, cut the system-wide volume to achieve much higher power density, and increase competitiveness by shaving off overall passive BOM costs. Figure 6: The SiC-based AFE uses inductors (left) and capacitors (right) that are much smaller than those needed by the IGBT-based design Figure 7: A side-by-side AFE system comparison shows the SiC system’s fractional size compared with IGBT To receive your own copy of Power Electronics Europe subscribe today at: www.power-mag.com