Power electronics design is a critical element in modern engineering and has a profound impact on the efficiency, reliability and performance of many applications. Developing circuits that meet stringent requirements while considering manufacturing process differences and worst-case scenarios requires precise and sophisticated tool support.

The field of power electronics design is evolving rapidly, ushering in a new era of high-speed, efficient components. In this evolution, onsemi has introduced breakthrough simulation tools that are redefining the way engineers conceptualize, design and validate power systems. On’s new Elite Power simulation tool and PLECS Model Self-Build Tool (SSPMG) enable power electronics engineers to reduce time to market. When applied to the EliteSiC family of products, these tools can accurately show the actual operating behavior of the circuit, especially when the EliteSiC technology is operated under boundary conditions.

corcom 6fc10  Figure 1: Elite Power Simulation tool and PLECS model self-generation tool

At the forefront of this innovation is an intuitive and comprehensive simulation platform that enables engineers to visualize, simulate, and optimize complex power electronics topologies with unprecedented ease. This tool provides engineers with a unique digital environment to test and refine designs, thus advancing the state of the art. PLECS models and their accuracy are critical to the effectiveness of Elite Power simulation tools. The simulation tool enables engineers to upload custom PLECS models generated by SSPMG.

The core of this simulation tool is its ability to accurately simulate a variety of power electronics topologies, including AC-DC, DC-DC, and DC-AC converters. The more than 40 topological options offered by On Beauty make it a leader in the industry, giving engineers a rich resource base to explore and optimize their designs. In industrial applications, ON’s Elite Power simulation tools show great value in supporting critical systems such as DC fast charge, uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), energy storage systems (ESS) and solar inverters. Similarly, this tool is also suitable for on-board charger (OBC) and main drive inverter systems in the automotive industry.

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In the past, the industry mainly created PLECS models using measurement-based loss tables with reference to the manufacturer’s data manual. However, this approach faces several major challenges:
• Dependent measurement Settings: Switching loss data is affected by application-specific layout and circuit parasitic parameters, resulting in variations and inaccuracies.
corcom 6fc10  Limited data density: On-off and switching loss data are often not dense enough, preventing accurate interpolation calculations in PLECS and often requiring extrapolation, which can affect accuracy.
Typical semiconductor conditions: Loss data often represent nominal semiconductor process conditions and may ignore variations and real-world scenarios in practical applications.
• Hard switch only: The model built from the double pulse loss data generated from the data book is only suitable for the hard switch topology. When applied to soft-switching topologies or synchronous rectification simulations, the accuracy of these models can be greatly reduced.

By introducing the PLECS Model Self-Generation Tool (SSPMG), ON Semiconductor has solved the problem faced by the traditional method of generating PLECS models based on measurement loss tables. The tool optimizes the model taking into account the impact of specific passive components on energy loss, providing denser and more detailed data for accurate simulations. SSPMG incorporates changes in the semiconductor process to build real-world models and create adaptable models for soft switching topologies to ensure reliability beyond hard switching scenarios. This level of customization ensures that the simulations performed truly reflect the actual working conditions of the user, eliminating the inaccuracies associated with models based on the generic data manual. PLECS models designed with SSPMG can be seamlessly uploaded to the Elite Power simulation tool or downloaded into a standalone PLECS.