Mitsubishi Electric launches SiC power semiconductor modules

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (TOKYO: 6503) announced today the launch of three types of silicon carbide (SiC) power modules for home appliances, industrial equipment and railcar traction systems. The modules, which use schottky-barrier diodes (SBD) made with SiC, are expected to reduce the size, lower the weight and raise the efficiency of inverters in power electronics devices.

The hybrid SiC DIPPFCTM* for home appliances and hybrid SiC modules for railcar traction system will be exhibited at Power Conversion Intelligent Motion Europe 2013, which will be held in Nuremberg, Germany from May 14 to 16. *DIPPFC: Transfer-mold-type IPM with for power-factor correction (PFC) circuits.

In recent years, inverters have come to be used in a wide variety of applications, including home appliances such as air conditioners and refrigerators, as well as industrial equipment and railcar traction systems. Power semiconductors utilizing SiC can dramatically decrease power loss and enable high-speed switching, which is raising expectations from the point of view of energy efficiency.

Source: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation