ROHM Semiconductor India (RSI), a subsidiary of ROHM, Kyoto, has recently announced an array of power solutions like SiC, IGBT, and gate drivers, for improving the power conversion efficiency.
The new products are intended to meet the harsh condition of India’s rapidly growing power infrastructure.
Daisuke Nakamura, managing director of Rohm Semiconductor India, said, “Silicon Carbide power devices with trench structure that leverage industry-leading technology is a product which will be able to contribute ‘affordable renewable energy’. It would help not only the improvement of energy conversion but also the implementation of smaller and stronger in renewable energy application like a solar inverter or high input voltage power supply.”
The growth of urbanization and manufacturing has increased the demand for power plants based on renewable energy like solar, wind energy, besides other not so popular biomass, tidal etc. According to the National Electricity Plan drafted by the Central Electric Authority, the country will see a rapid increase in non-fossil fuels based renewable energy, like nuclear or hydro-electric power to 56.5 percent by 2027. This will serve to decrease the country’s reliance on fossil fuels while establishing renewable energy as a viable new source for the future, while clamping on the trade deficit owing to the import of oil and coal.
In India, as much as 30 percent of the electric energy is lost in the process of generation, transmission and distribution. This loss along with the loss in power conversion is believed to exceed 35 percent. In response, RSI proposes power solutions centered on cutting-edge SiC power devices that achieve higher efficiency in the power conversion. The trench SiC-based inverters can reduce power loss by as much as ~2 percent compared to the conventional devices like IGBT, Si MOSFET etc., while contributing towards miniaturization owing to reduced heat dissipation.
The improvement in size and efficiency owing to the adoption of the power solutions from RSI, like gate drivers, trench SiC MOSFETs, and IGBTs, play a vital role in enabling small scale and distributed power plants for tapping solar and wind energy, the company said.
A ~2 percent increase in efficiency along with the reduced cooling requirements can bring in a considerable cost saving for the end customers, besides improving the reliability of the power converters. This will help bridge the demand supply gap, which is “more from less, for more”, thus reaching more people. The distributed power generation, besides reducing a huge burden on our grid, reduces the transmission and distribution losses.