Active voltage balancing control for multi HV-IGBTs in series connection

The series connection of insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) allows the operation at voltage levels higher than the rated voltage of one IGBT. However, the technology has not been widely applied due to transient voltage unbalance. Asynchronous gate drive signals, which cause series-connected IGBTs not to turn-on and turn-off at the same time, result in serious unbalanced voltage sharing. This paper presents an active voltage balancing control for multi series connected HV-IGBTs including the active voltage balancing control (AVBC) circuit integrated in the gate driver and the control for multi series connected IGBTs. The effectiveness of the control has been experimentally validated in a 10 kV dc-link voltage converter using four 4.5 kV HV-IGBTs in series connection.

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