SiC power modules save 40 percent Power in Mitsubishi Traction Inverter
Mitsubishi Electric has announced that an all-SiC traction inverter installed in a 1000 series urban train operated by Odakyu Electric Railway in Japan, have been verified to achieve an approximate 40-percent savings in power consumption compared to a train using conventional circuitry.
The traction inverter, which is rated for 1,500V DC catenaries, was tested over a four-month period.
The verification compared a car retrofitted with an all-SiC traction inverter and another car fitted with a conventional gate turn-off thyristor traction inverter, both of which were put into actual commercial service. The test measured power consumption and electric power regeneration ratio of the two cars' main circuits, which comprise traction inverters, high-efficiency main motors and filter reactors.
The following results are average values measured between January 17 and May 8, 2015: 17 percent power savings during powered operation; an increase from 34.1 percent to 52.1 percent in power regeneration ratio, calculated as power from regenerative brakes to catenaries divided by total electric power to drive the rail car; and 40 percent power savings overall
