Patent ID: 8269451

Claim:
A power conversion device comprising: an inverter that includes a plurality of switching elements to be on/off-controlled and drives an alternating-current motor by converting a direct-current voltage into an alternating-current voltage of an arbitrary frequency; an alternating current disconnecting switching unit that is connected between the inverter and the alternating-current motor; a current detector that detects an output current of the inverter; and a controller that performs on/off-control of the switching elements in the inverter and switching control with respect to the switching unit, based on at least a current detected by the current detector, wherein the controller includes: a fault determining unit that determines which one of the switching elements is in a short-cut fault state or remains in an on-operation state, based on a current value detected by the current detector, and outputs a signal indicating a determination result; and a gate signal generator that outputs a control signal to the inverter according to the signal from the fault determining unit, and the gate signal generator outputs to the inverter an on-control signal of setting all the switching elements to an on-operation state when the signal from the fault determining unit indicates that any of switching elements belonging to an upper arm connected to a positive electrode side remains in a short-cut fault state or an on-operation state, and also indicates that any of switching elements belonging to a lower arm connected to a negative electrode side remains in a short-cut fault state or an on-operation state.