Towards Switching Cycle based Holistic Accurate Estimation and Simulation of Power Losses of Components in Power Electronics Converters

This paper presents a switching cycle-based power loss estimation approach that accurately assesses power losses of both passive and active components in power electronics converters, enabling precise estimation at both component and system levels. Estimating power loss for passive components, such as inductors and capacitors, is more challenging than for active components like MOSFETs due to their non-linear characteristics. There is a notable gap in the literature regarding the characterization of power loss in passive components at the switching cycle level. To fill in this gap, this paper develops a loss map approach based on a triple pulse test (TPT) for passive components, analogous to the double pulse test (DPT) used for active components. Moreover, a power loss estimation and simulation software tool is developed that can obtain the input parameters needed to calculate the loss. The tool integrates power loss maps based on both the DPT for active components and the triple pulse test for passive components, allowing for real-time simulation of component power losses on a switching cycle basis with the input parameters obtained from the simulation. A single-phase two-level converter is used as an example to verify the power loss estimation method and the software tool. The results show that the developed software can accurately estimate the power loss of the component.