Lower Power Loss RC-IGBT for Hybrid Electric Vehicles
Established in 1963, the R&D 100 Awards is the only S&T (science and technology) awards competition that recognizes new commercial products, technologies and materials for their technological significance that are available for sale or license. The R&D 100 Awards have long been a benchmark of excellence for industry sectors as diverse as telecommunications, high-energy physics, software, manufacturing, and biotechnology. This 2021 R&D 100 winner is listed below, along with its respective category.
Category: IT/Electrical
Developers: Toyota Motor Corporation
Co-Developers: Toyota Central R&D Labs., Inc., DENSO CORPORATION
Japan
Product Description:Environmentally conscious hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), which are driven partly by an electric motor controlled by a power control unit (PCU), are currently increasing in popularity. Toyota’s research efforts have led to downsizing the power cards and reducing the power loss of the PCU. On the power card, an insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) and a free wheel diode (FWD) are placed in parallel. A power device that integrates an IGBT and an FWD is called a reverse conductive (RC) -IGBT. The RC-IGBT is well known to be effective for device chip and power card size reduction. Toyota’s research efforts have led to the first reported development of a low power loss RC-IGBT with operating current of 400 A for use in the PCUs of HEVs. Toyota’s RC-IGBT achieves a 25% smaller device chip. Moreover, 13% reduction of power loss was also achieved. The developed RC-IGBT reduced 40% power loss of the HEV PCUs than that of prior generations. The RC-IGBT contributes to expansion of the HEV line-up, thereby reducing CO2 emissions.
Developers: Toyota Motor Corporation
Co-Developers: Toyota Central R&D Labs., Inc., DENSO CORPORATION
Japan
Product Description:Environmentally conscious hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), which are driven partly by an electric motor controlled by a power control unit (PCU), are currently increasing in popularity. Toyota’s research efforts have led to downsizing the power cards and reducing the power loss of the PCU. On the power card, an insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) and a free wheel diode (FWD) are placed in parallel. A power device that integrates an IGBT and an FWD is called a reverse conductive (RC) -IGBT. The RC-IGBT is well known to be effective for device chip and power card size reduction. Toyota’s research efforts have led to the first reported development of a low power loss RC-IGBT with operating current of 400 A for use in the PCUs of HEVs. Toyota’s RC-IGBT achieves a 25% smaller device chip. Moreover, 13% reduction of power loss was also achieved. The developed RC-IGBT reduced 40% power loss of the HEV PCUs than that of prior generations. The RC-IGBT contributes to expansion of the HEV line-up, thereby reducing CO2 emissions.
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