Power electronics semiconductor devices –

Filières IEE 3rd Year – SGB M2–

Simulation: Semiconductor losses determination using the opposition method

Objectives: illustrate another method to estimate the losses in power semiconductor devices.

In a classical measurement system, the characterization of a converter C1 necessitates the

implementation of an electrical power source that delivers a power P1 and a resistive load that
dissipates the power at the output of C1 (Fig. 1). This configuration has several issues:
- In the case of high power systems, the price and volume of both the power source and the resistive
load can be very high.
- If the efficiency of the system is very high, it is difficult to estimate the losses Ploss1 inside the
converter because Ploss1<<P1. Therefore, the efficiency of the converter cannot be determined with a
good accuracy.
- The energy consumption is large during the characterization of the converter. This issue is
particularly important when the measurement duration is long, as it is the case for ageing tests.

P1 P1-Ploss1
Power Resistive
Converter C1
source load

Fig. 1. Classical system for the characterization of a converter

Thus, another characterization method, called opposition method is widely used today. As explained in
[1], the opposition-method principle, applied to electrical systems, consists in the connection between
two identical systems, the first one operating as a generator and the second one as a receptor, with the
aim to circulate a high power through the two systems while consuming on the line only the losses of
both systems. As shown in Fig. 2, if a converter C2 is used as the load of converter C1, the power P1
minus the losses inside C1 and C2 can be reinjected at the input of C1. Therefore, the power delivered
by the source is only the sum of the losses in both converters; with this method, there are no more any
resistive load and the power delivered by the source is largely decreased.
P1-Ploss1-Ploss2

Ploss1+Ploss2 P1 P1-Ploss1
Power
Converter C1 Converter C2
source

Fig. 2. Principle of the opposition method

Another application of the opposition method is the estimation of losses in power semiconductor
devices as shown in [2]. The objective of this labwork is to illustrate this method to evaluate the losses
in a simple switching cell. It is based on the use of the software PSpice Student that you already used.
[1] F. Forest et al., "Use of opposition method in the test of high-power electronic converters," in IEEE
Transactions on Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no. 2, pp. 530-541, April 2006, doi: 10.1109/TIE.2006.870711.
[2] B. Cougo, H. Schneider and T. Meynard, "Accurate switching energy estimation of wide bandgap devices
used in converters for aircraft applications," 2013 15th European Conference on Power Electronics and
Applications (EPE), Lille, 2013, pp. 1-10, doi: 10.1109/EPE.2013.6634338.
 1. Loss estimation with voltage and current waveforms
Use in PSpice the schematic given in Figure 3 (files simple_cell.sch + diode.sch). For integrating the
diode model in simple_cell.sch, select the block HBA and go to “edit/views” and define the path of
your directory.

Fig. 3. Simulated schematic of section 1

Question: from the current and voltage waveforms across both devices, give the values of the
conduction and switching energies of both the transistor and the diode. The current in the diode can be
measured from the current in the MOSFET: iDiode=10-iMOSFET. Also, you can use the function S(I*V) to
calculate integrals in the waveform windows of PSpice.
Question: introduce a 40 nH stray inductance in the switching cell and do the same measurements.
Question: compare and justify the results of both previous questions
Question: the experimental measurement of losses with this method necessitates the use of voltage
and current sensors. Which problems can be induced by these sensors for the loss estimation of high
switching speed devices?
As it will be seen later, the use of the opposition method allows a global estimation of losses without
these sensors and is therefore well fitted for the characterization of losses of wide band gap devices.

2. Global estimation of losses with the opposition method

In this section, you will use the PSpice schematic given in Figure 4 (files opposition.sch + diode.sch).
The switching cell in the left hand side will be used as a buck converter (generator) and the one in the
right hand side will be used as a boost converter (receptor). The link between both converters is made
with an inductor that acts as a current source.
 iin

iL1

vL1

Fig. 4. Simulated schematic of section 2

The control strategy is the following one on a switching period Tsw:
- M1 is switched-on during [0 ; Tsw/2]
- M2 is switched-on during [Tsw/2-to ; Tsw+to]
to
vGS1

Tsw 2Tsw t
vGS2

vL1

iL1, perfect

iL1,loss

Fig. 4. Waveforms

Question: Before the simulation work, give the theoretical waveform of vL1, the voltage across the
inductor L1 (see Fig. 4). Then give the waveform of iL1 (iL1,perfect), the current in L1 if all the devices are
perfect (no loss) and considering that iL1(0). Finally, give the waveform of iL1 (iL1,loss), the current in L1
if the devices are real and the steady-state is reached.
Remarks:
- The value of to is used to modify the average value of iL1; to is generally fixed by a closed loop
control system. This closed loop system will not be implemented in this labwork to limit its
duration: an initial current value is thus given in the simulation file.
- If to<<Tsw, it can be considered that the conduction losses are the same in both devices;
Question: Import the schematic files from Chamilo. Run the simulation and check the control voltages
V1 and V2. Then verify that iL1 has the good shape. Finally verify that the switching waveforms across
MOSFET M1 are the same than in the previous section. What can be concluded about the values of
the losses in the semiconductor devices?
Question: Give the expression of the average power delivered by the power source as a function of Vin
and iin and show that the power measurement could be done by a simple DC amp meter at the input of
the converter. Then estimate approximatively the total losses in the devices and compare them with the
expected results (section 1, calculated energies without stray inductance) – you can plot the average
current using AVG().
Question: Decrease the switching frequency (Tsw=80 µs) and calculate the total losses in the devices.
You can directly modify the parameters of the simulation as:

You can also change the simulation duration to have more periods and obtain a better average
measurement.
Question: Knowing that switching losses are proportional to frequency and switching energies,
propose a method to estimate the total switching energies and the total conduction losses by only
measuring the input power at different frequencies. Then implement this method and compare with the
results of section 1.

Question: As a conclusion, give the advantages and drawbacks of the opposition method to estimate
the losses in power semiconductor devices.

3. Separation of switching energies

For the study of ZVS or ZCS converters, it can be interesting to obtain the switching energies during
the turn-off of the MOSFET separately from the switching energies during turn-on. To do that, it is
possible to change the control strategy of both MOSFETs:
to
vGS1

Tsw 2Tsw t
vGS2

vL1

iL1, perfect

Question: Give the waveforms of vL1 and iL1,perfect (ideal devices and iL1,perfect(0)=0).
Question: Give the conduction sequences of each semiconductor device and show that, in this
configuration, switching losses only occur during turn-off of the MOSFETs. Propose a method to
estimate these turn-off losses.