Overvoltage Snubber for a Diode-Clamped 3-level IGBT Inverter

This paper deals with a new overvoltage snubber for a diode-clamped 3-level IGBT inverter. Usually most power converters use snubber circuits to protect the switching devices from voltage spike. However, it is difficult for the diode-clamped multi-level converter to be protected from voltage spike with overvoltage snubber since the series connection of the switching devices. To solve the problem the characteristic of a overvoltage snubber for a DC-DC converter is analyzed, and a new snubber for a diode clamped 3-level inverter is proposed. The performance of the proposed snubber is verified through experiments.