Calculation of the losses using IRFP250NPbF switches

1. Switching losses:
To calculate the Switching losses in our MOSFET, we put in place the following circuit using
Ltspice:

Fig1: the circuit used to measure the needed quantities

The values of the components are extracted from the datasheet of the switch, noting
V2=VDD=160V, Id=30A, Rg=3.9Ω, Rd=5.5Ω, Vg=10V (p2p) and Fsw=10 kHz.

After the simulation, we get the results showed in the figure 2, for 𝐼𝑔 the current in the gate, 𝑉𝐼𝑛
the input voltage and 𝐼𝑂𝑢𝑡 the output current:

Fig2: the evolution of the Output current Iout = I(Rd), the gate current I(Rg), the Input voltage V(n002) and
the output voltage V(n001) as a function of the time
With these results we can calculate the Switching losses, due to the following formula:
𝑄𝐺𝑆+𝑄𝐺𝐷
𝑃𝑆𝑊 = 𝑉𝑖𝑛 × 𝐼𝑂𝑈𝑇 × 𝑓𝑆𝑊 × 𝐼𝐺

𝑃𝑆𝑊 = 54, 206 𝑊

𝑃𝑐𝑜𝑛 Switching losses ( 54, 206 W)

𝑉𝐼𝑛 The input voltage (160 V)

𝐼𝑂𝑢𝑡 The output current (20.328A rms )

𝐼𝐺 The gate current (46.794mA rms)

𝑓𝑆𝑊 The switching frequency (10 kHz)

𝑄𝐺𝑆 Gate-to-Source Charge (21 nC)

𝑄𝐺𝐷 Gate-to-Drain Charge (57 nC)

2. Conduction losses:
Now in order to calculate the Conduction losses in our MOSFET, we put in place the following
circuit :

Fig3: the circuit used to measure the needed quantities

After the simulation, we obtain the results showed in the figure4, which will help us in applying
the following formula : 𝑃𝐶𝑜𝑛 = 𝑅𝐷𝑆(𝑜𝑛) × 𝐼𝑄𝑆𝑊 (𝑅𝑀𝑆) × 𝐼𝑄𝑆𝑊 (𝑅𝑀𝑆)
 𝑃𝐶𝑜𝑛 Conduction losses (21. 42 𝑊)

𝑅𝐷𝑆(𝑜𝑛) Static Drain-to-Source On-Resistance (0.075 Ω)

𝐼𝑄𝑆𝑊 (𝑅𝑀𝑆) The current flowing through the switch in root

mean square (16.9A)

3. Junction Temperature:
The idea is to calculate the temperature junction and visualize the effect of the voltage across
the switch on it, therefore a DC SWEEP function was introduced on the simulation to generate
the evolution of the different parameters that contribute in the calculation of the losses and so
the junction temperature.

Fig4: The DC Sweep used to obtain the needed quantities

The figures in function of V2 were exported as a text file, then implemented on Matlab to
calculate the temperature of the junction.

The data exported comes in the form of a text file describing a table of 3 columns (V(n002) the
Voltage source at the input of the switch, I(R1) the current flowing the mesh and Ig(M1) the
current flowing into the switch’s gate), the rows are the image of points to measure. - Noting 181
point as the DC SWEEP goes from 0 to 180 V-
 Fig4: The quantities exported from Ltspice’s simulation

These data can be imported on matlab under this form:

The current of the gate has an impulsive form so

the best solution is to fix its RMS value with the
other non variable parameters.

As for determining Rth’s value, the difference between the maximum thermal operating range of
the switch and the ambient temperature is divided by the power flowing through the switch,
therefore the formula is written as the following:
△𝑇 𝑇𝑗 𝑚𝑎𝑥−𝑇𝑎
𝑅𝑡ℎ = 𝑃
= 𝑃𝑐𝑜𝑛 + 𝑃𝑠𝑤
= 1. 72°𝐶/𝑊

Fig5: Equivalent scheme for the thermal resistance from junction to ambient
Now to describe the blocs in the Matlab program, the program is constituted of 4 major parts :

This part compiles the value of each parameter used in the

formulas to calculate the needed results.

This part takes the values from

the previous table and puts them
as separate vectors in order to
process them later.

The formulas used to calculate

the conduction and switching
losses for Iout and Vin increasing.

This part is responsible for calculating

and drawing the graph of the junction
temperature as a function of the
voltage VDD.

4. Results and Discussion:

Fig-: The evolution of the junction temperature with the increase of the voltage VDD
We observe an exponential increase in the junction temperature due the rise of the voltage
across the Source and Drain terminals of the Mosfet Switch, which is explained by the increase
in the switching losses.
The temperature exceeds the operating range starting from 140V approximately (depending on
the ambient temperature), so in order to attain more voltage and power it is necessary to
introduce a Heat Sink to help dissipate the heat and avoid damaging the components

[1] For further information, you may find the scientific documents attached

EL HADDAOUI Mehdi
Green Energy Park
DEPT. Valorisation et industrialisation