Mitsubishi Electric Europe and Siemens Mobility have recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to work together in silicon carbide (SiC) traction power technology.

As per reports, JR Central’s next-generation N700S Shinkansen trains, that came into service on the Tokaido Shinkansen by July 2020, were the only trains across the world to have a traction system containing SiC devices.

JR Central stated that the main concept for the N700S was to leverage the qualities of SiC devices, having higher frequency, low power loss, and an increased current than Si devices, in the power convertor as well as the complete traction system.

Since then, SiC devices have often been used in Japanese trains. For instance, 17,000 trains of the Tokyo Metro series, which began operating in February 2021 are fitted with permanent magnetic synchronous traction motors along with a control device that makes use of SiC elements to limit the power consumption.

Moreover, JR Central’s series 315 EMUs, launched in March, have SiC devices in their traction system.

According to sources, Munich City Authority (SWM) and Siemens Mobility completed a one-year trial in August 2021 with the help of semiconductor technology based on SiC devices attached to a three-section Avenio LRV.

Reportedly, the trial, conducted as part of the Shift2Rail Pinta project, discovered that the vehicles were quieter and utilized 10 per cent less energy.

Siemens quoted that Mitsubishi Electric’s SiC devices have showcased big-time reliability in the most demanding applications like traction inverters in trains.

Furthermore, Siemens mentioned that the potential for energy savings via the use of Mitsubishi’s Electric SiC power devices in railway technology exists especially in the area of traction drives. Particularly, the complete SiC 3300V power module adds to energy saving and the reducing use of traction inverters.

Siemens claims that the SiC chipset for fast-speed switching is used in the standardised LV100 package which offers easy paralleling capabilities and low stray inductance.

Source Credits: - https://www.railjournal.com/technology/siemens-and-mitsubishi-electric-to-cooperate-in-sic-traction-technology/