Proposal of the Autonomous Isolated Regenerative Snubber Circuit and Evaluation of its Effect on DC/AC Power Conversion System

Abstract

We have developed a low-loss method for suppressing the switching surge voltage, which is an issue in power electronics systems. Conventionally, resistance snubber circuits have been used to suppress the switching surge voltage, however, they increase the system loss because of the loss of switching surge energy due to the resistance thermal loss. We have developed an “Isolated regenerative snubber circuit” that suppresses the switching surge voltage by regenerating the surge energy to the system without consuming the surge energy. This paper describes the operation evaluation of the regenerative snubber circuit through prototype evaluation.