Patent ID: 8351224

Claim:
A power conversion apparatus in which a main circuit is provided with a plurality of switches, and power conversion is performed to generate power for supply to an AC load from a three- or single-phase AC power supply, wherein at least some of the plurality of switches are configured, using a bidirectional switch including a normally-on device that is turned OFF when a gate circuit is provided with either a positive or negative voltage, and including a normally-off device that is turned ON when the gate circuit is provided with either a positive or negative voltage, to provide only a specific unidirectional current flow when the gate circuit is not activated, and to provide a bidirectional current flow and control the current flow to direct only in an arbitrary unidirectional way when the gate circuit is activated, the power from the AC load is circulated between the power conversion apparatus and the AC load without using a component element for energy storage inside of the power conversion apparatus, the main circuit is configured by two three-phase full-bridge circuits, an input end of the main circuit is provided with a filter configured by a three-phase inductor and a three-phase capacitor, a first switch section provided in all legs of one of the three-phase full-bridge circuits on a load side and in one of legs of a remaining three-phase full-bridge circuit on a power-supply side is configured, using the normally-off device including a first gate section that turns OFF a channel section when the gate circuit is not activated and the normally-on device including a second gate section that turns ON the channel section when the gate circuit is not activated, to provide only the specific unidirectional current flow when the gate circuit is not activated, and to provide the bidirectional current flow and control the current flow to direct only in an arbitrary unidirectional way when the gate circuit is activated, and a second switch section provided in two of the legs of the three-phase full-bridge circuit on the power-supply side is configured, using a bidirectional switch that cuts off a current flow when the gate circuit is not activated, not to provide the bidirectional current flow when the gate circuit is not activated, and to provide the bidirectional current flow and control the current flow to direct only in an arbitrary unidirectional way when the gate circuit is activated.