Indirect On-State Voltage Estimation Using a Voltage Sensitive Electrical Parameter through the Gate Driver

Conference: PCIM Europe 2019 - International Exhibition and Conference for Power Electronics, Intelligent Motion, Renewable Energy and Energy Management
05/07/2019 - 05/09/2019 at Nürnberg, Deutschland

Proceedings: PCIM Europe 2019

Pages: 6Language: englishTyp: PDF

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Authors:
Alonso, Luis Maria; Brandelero, Julio; Ewanchuk, Jeffrey; Mollov, Stefan (Mitsubishi Electric R&D Centre Europe, France)

Abstract:
Knowing the SOH (state of health) of a system is critical to organize an effective maintenance program to reduce cost and to prevent spontaneous failures of a power system. In this paper, an indirect method for estimating the on-state voltage in a multichip power module is presented. This method is based on the variation of the input capacitance and does not require any connection to the power terminals of the power module. The on-line developed method is described and implemented within the gate driver circuitry. Due to the temperature sensitivity of the gate-emitter voltage measurement, the same circuit also is used to determine the junction temperature of the semiconductor. The experimental results obtained during a calibration phase are shown and the feasibility of the presented technique for SOH estimation is discussed.