ViTA-LE is a research project funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action aimed at improving the prediction of the lifespan of power electronics used in renewable energy generation.

In the sub-project at the University of Rostock, research is focused on developing lifespan models for IGBT modules, where the weakest points in power cycling are no longer the bond wires and chip solder joints. These models will be applicable to the system design of converters in wind turbines. To achieve this, the thermal behavior of these modules is modeled to determine the stresses in the interconnection layers, which cannot be directly measured through temperature-sensitive parameters of the IGBTs. These models are then used to simulate load cycles to determine the fatigue life of the critical connections. Finally, a design guideline is developed that can be utilized in the system design of converters for wind turbines.