Vincotech announced the release of a new member of the flowPIM 1 product family. The P589-A31, consisting of an input rectifier and an inverter circuit, matches the requirements of fast switching motor drives. These are often seen in audible noise sensitive environments, such as air conditioning, fans, and pumps. A common feature of all these application areas is a switching frequency of >16kHz, above the audible range. Further application areas include high dynamic motor drives, e.g. servo drives.

The disadvantages of fast switching are the increased switching losses and therefore lower energy efficiency. In times of increasing energy costs and the growing importance of environmentally conscious behaviour, energy efficiency is becoming increasingly important. The new power module P589-A31 is the perfect solution. It uses special semiconductors, which have significantly lower switching losses compared to the standard components. The module features the “phantom speed” IGBTs.

These components have much lower switching losses at higher frequencies than standard IGBTs. For switching frequencies >8kHz, the 25A phantom speed chips are more efficient than 35A IGBT4 chips. At 20 kHz, the power loss is lower by 24%, making an output power of 10kW possible, which could only be achieved using 50A to 75A standard IGBT4 components. Because the power losses are much lower, the heat sink can also be sized down. By choosing the P589-A31, the application will not only have much higher energy efficiency, but can also save component costs.

The P589-A31 is part of the flowPIM 1 product family and is mechanically fully compatible to all other family members. This means the module can be used in existing applications, designed with other flowPIM 1 products, without the need for a mechanical redesign. Mass production of the P589-A31 has just started, samples are available.