PRESENTATION

The Value of GaN BDS in Next-Generation Power Electronics

We will describe how Renesas GaN offering supports the requirements of different power applications, across sectors such as AI Infrastructure, Solar Energy, OBC and DC/DC in Electric vehicles. The power conversion within each of these sectors is shifting towards more power dense, efficient, modular, and intelligent power architectures, with trends toward high-voltage buses, bidirectional energy flow, and fewer conversion stages. There are many inherent benefits to the technology in terms of manufacturability in standard silicon fabs, and thus its scalability, also, in its high power density due to high switching frequencies with efficiency enabled by key material properties, and massive system integration through embedded features such as bidirectionality (novel to GaN) and where applicable control, protection, sense, drive, and more. GaN at high voltage covers dramatic advantages and enabling factors in these new topologies and architectures, both with unidirectional and bidirectional switches. We will provide specific examples in infrastructure and renewable energy, with detailed results of power architecture and solutions built to demonstrate the value of GaN in these applications. We will show how Renesas GaN can solve main challenges, like controlling switching times, protecting the device from events like overvoltage and short circuit, in critical customer systems. GaN at low voltage is coming to offer the density improvement vs silicon at comparable of eventually better cost structure, as soon as the supply chain will be comparably in place with standing silicon. Supply chain of a new technology is always key to enabling its large volume spread in the market, on top of all the system advantages. It will be described how is Renesas going to support the transition to a significant volume increase that market is requiring.