IGBT Modules: Types, Selection & China Sourcing

An IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor) is the power switch behind almost everything that converts high-voltage electricity: motor drives, solar inverters, EV powertrains, welders, and rail traction. An IGBT module packages several IGBT dies and their freewheeling diodes into one insulated, baseplate-mounted housing wired as a half-bridge, full-bridge, or six-pack. For a sourcing buyer the hard part is not the physics — it is choosing the right voltage and current class, and buying a genuine module rather than a remarked or refurbished one, which is the most common failure in this category when sourcing from China.

Overview

A discrete IGBT in a TO-247-style package handles low power. Once current passes roughly 50–100 A, or you need an isolated baseplate to bolt onto a heatsink, you move to a module — and the module’s job is to present a ready-made power stage. The common topologies:

• Half-bridge — two switches in series; the building block of everything else.
• Full bridge / H-bridge — four switches, for single-phase inverters and welders.
• Six-pack (sixpack) — three half-bridges, the standard for driving a three-phase motor or pump.

Modules appear in industrial variable-frequency drives, solar string and central inverters, EV onboard chargers and traction inverters, UPS systems, and induction heating. The whole power path depends on getting heat out of the module, which is why the thermal interface material between the baseplate and heatsink is part of the same sourcing decision.

IGBT vs MOSFET vs SiC

The single most common engineering question in this space. Each device owns a region of the voltage/frequency map:

The practical reading: below 200 V use MOSFETs; at 600 V+ with high current and moderate frequency, IGBTs are the cost-effective default; where switching loss or size matters enough to pay for it — EV traction, premium solar — SiC MOSFETs are displacing IGBTs. Many 2026 designs are hybrid, and several Chinese makers now offer both IGBT and SiC lines.

Key Parameters

Module Packages

Package standards are largely set by the foreign incumbents and second-sourced by Chinese makers, so a “62mm” or “EconoDUAL” footprint is broadly interchangeable across vendors — useful for dual sourcing:

• 62mm — the classic industrial half-bridge brick.
• EconoDUAL / EasyPACK — mid-power industrial drives and solar.
• PrimePACK — high-current industrial and central inverters.
• HybridPACK Drive / DC6 — automotive traction, AEC-qualified.
• SOT-227 and TO-247 — low-power discretes and small modules.

Pin-compatibility matters for sourcing: if a design uses a standard footprint, you can qualify a Chinese second source against the incumbent without redesigning the busbar.

Selecting an IGBT Module

• Voltage class: keep the DC bus below ≈60–67% of Vces. A 400–800 V bus → 1200 V module; a string inverter at ≈1000 V DC → 1700 V.
• Current rating: size Ic for continuous load plus overload, then derate for case temperature — a module rated 100 A at 25°C may only carry 60 A at 80°C case.
• Switching frequency: above ≈50 kHz, switching loss dominates and SiC becomes worth its premium.
• Topology: six-pack for three-phase motor drives; half-bridge bricks for high-current paralleled designs.
• Automotive: require AEC-Q101 qualification and a HybridPACK-class automotive module, not an industrial part.

Sourcing from China

China now has a deep domestic IGBT base — StarPower, BYD Semiconductor, CR Micro, Silan, Macmic, and CRRC Times Electric among them — alongside the foreign incumbents (Infineon, Fuji, Mitsubishi, onsemi) that still set the technology benchmark. Domestic modules can run meaningfully cheaper and have caught up for industrial and EV use; we cover who makes what in the companion guide to IGBT manufacturers in China.

The decision that protects you is where you buy, not just who made it. Authorized distributors and audited factories sell genuine, traceable parts. Open-market brokers are where counterfeits live — remarked lower-grade dies, modules pulled from scrapped equipment, or relabeled date codes. The discipline here is the same as for any component authenticity check, applied with extra rigor because a failed traction or solar module takes the whole product down.

Quality Inspection

• Source traceability: require the authorized-distributor chain or factory lot documentation; reject open-market parts without provenance.
• Marking and date-code check: verify laser marking format and date codes against the maker’s published format — remarked parts often get this subtly wrong.
• X-ray: inspect a sample for bond-wire integrity and solder-layer voids under the die; voids are the precursor to thermal failure.
• Curve-trace electricals: measure Vce(sat) and gate threshold voltage against the datasheet on sampled units; refurbished parts drift.
• Thermal cycling: for high-reliability use, power-cycle samples and confirm no parameter shift — see the broader electronics quality control plan.

What to Specify When Ordering from China

• Exact part number and voltage/current class — e.g. “1200 V, 150 A six-pack, EconoDUAL footprint.”
• Generation and topology — die generation and internal configuration, not just “IGBT module.”
• Qualification — AEC-Q101 for automotive; isolation voltage and partial-discharge spec for grid.
• Provenance — authorized distributor or audited factory only; no open-market brokers.
• Inspection — X-ray sampling plus curve-trace Vce(sat) and Vge(th) on the first lot.

Common Issues

Counterfeit and refurbished modules: the dominant risk — remarked, relabeled, or pulled-from-scrap parts sold as new. Prevention: authorized supply chain, marking/date-code verification, X-ray, and curve-trace sampling.

Thermal interface neglect: even a genuine module fails early if the baseplate-to-heatsink joint is wrong. Prevention: specify and verify the thermal interface material and mounting torque.

Paralleling mismatch: modules paralleled for higher current share poorly if Vce(sat) is mismatched, overloading one device. Prevention: matched-batch selection and symmetric busbar layout.

Voltage class too tight: switching overshoot exceeds Vces and the module fails. Prevention: keep the bus below ≈60–67% of the rating and check turn-off overshoot on the bench.

How this shows up in our work

On any power-electronics review involving IGBT modules, our standing practice is to treat provenance as the first gate: we require the authorized-distributor chain or audited factory lot records before electricals, because a genuine-but-mishandled part and a counterfeit fail the same way on a test bench but for different reasons. We then X-ray a sample for bond-wire and void defects and curve-trace Vce(sat) and gate threshold against the datasheet. The principle we hold to: in this category, verify where the part came from before you trust what the label says.

Related Resources

• IGBT Manufacturers in China — who makes modules domestically and how to choose
• Thermal Interface Materials — getting heat out of the module
• GaN Charger ICs — the wide-bandgap device at lower power
• EV Onboard Charger — where traction-class modules are used
• Electronics Quality Control in China
• Power Electronics Sourcing
• Quality Inspection Services