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AcknowledgmentsSupport has been received from the IEPE and CORPE projects funded by Innovation Fund Denmark and the MV platform project funded by the Obel Family Foundation. AbstractThis paper presents a test bench for lifetime investigation of 10 kV silicon carbide power modules. The test bench subjects high voltage switching operation to the modules while power cycling. Thus both a thermal and electrical operating point is emulated. The power cycling setup features offline measurement of on-state voltages and direct real-time measurement of die surface temperatures, enabled by fiber optical sensors, which are built into the power modules. A thermal model of the module prototypes, based on the temperature measurements, is established. Independent verification steps have been made to validate the performance of the on-state voltage measurement and the thermal model. Issues are revealed in the form of common mode currents in gate drive supply, which should be remedied. Finally a new operating point for power cycling is suggested to better stress the power modules.This paper presents the construction of a test bench, which can power cycle 10 kV SiC power modules at realistic operating voltages and currents, i.e. thermal cycling is obtained through both conduction and switching loss in the semiconductor devices. The test bench features a gate driver, designed for high isolation and low capacitive paracitics and an on-state voltage measurement circuit for state of health monitoring.

Support has been received from the IEPE and CORPE projects funded by Innovation Fund Denmark and the MV platform project funded by the Obel Family Foundation.