Using soft-switching, the efficiency and EMI performance can be improved in power inverters for drive and grid applications. An advantageous topology is the well-known auxiliary resonant commutated pole (ARCP) inverter. The novel single shared inductor S²I-ARCP is a modification of the conventional ARCP which saves two resonant inductors in the auxiliary circuit in case of a three-phase inverter application. This paper compares the use of SiC MOSFETs with Si IGBTs as main switches and the possible gain in efficiency compared to hard-switched implementation. The S²I-ARCP topology is implemented with a suitable control algorithm and tested at up to 15 kW with an 800 V dc-link. It is shown that at a switching frequency of 30 kHz, soft-switching can reduce losses by approximately 50% for configurations using either SiC MOSFETs or Si IGBTs as main switches. For both cases, the efficiency peaks at 99.65% and 98%, respectively.
