Measuring dc link capacitance in power conversion systems

Abstract

A component includes a power suspension module that suspends providing power from a DC source to a DC link capacitor and from the capacitor to a load. A bleeding resistor is connected in parallel with the capacitor and an auxiliary power supply draws power from the capacitor. The component includes a measurement module that measures a first, second and third capacitor voltage at a first, second, time, and third time in response suspending power between the DC source and the load. The component includes a capacitance module that uses bleeding resistor resistance, the voltages and the times to determine a current capacitance of the capacitor, a capacitance comparison module that compares the current capacitance with an initial capacitance of the capacitor, and an alert module that sends an alert in response to determining that a difference between the current capacitance and the initial capacitance is above a capacitance degradation threshold.