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38 EE|Times EUROPE — Power Electronics
ABB’s Radjassamy on the Drivers and Enablers of Next-Gen Power Systems

the right course of action when considering EETE: With the development of intelligent proposed to be used in the electric power
weight, energy density, storage, and more. technologies, many companies are making grid. What are your considerations?
Supercapicitors are another emerging, key contributions to dealing with the Radjassamy: We’re committed to enabling
noteworthy technology; [supercaps] offer global challenge of climate change, and any technology that gets connected to energy
short-term burst-mode energy storage and new materials and efficient chip solutions grids, whether that’s hydro, solar, wind, or
are quickly gaining traction among server and play a central role in this process. What any other renewable source. As I mentioned
data center system designers. resources are available for engineers above, it’s imperative to integrate renewable
who are willing to get started with energy energy sources, as well as natural resources,
EETE: Silicon carbide and gallium nitride design? into a cohesive, intelligently managed
semiconductors have advantages Radjassamy: Increasingly, green-field mainframe in order to create a full picture of
over silicon semiconductors for power data centers are built in regions that offer how each is supplying power to the end user
applications, especially in the power abundant renewable energy sources such as and at what cost.
supply market. What do you think their hydro, wind, and solar. As their contribution Power design should be agnostic of the
role will be as the race continues to serve to this global endeavor, power designers power source input — at the end of the
the market’s rising power requirements? can make a conscious effort to build highly day, we’re looking to power as the ultimate
Radjassamy: We agree that SiC and GaN are efficient products that meet or exceed indus- enabler of everything. It’s up to those at the
emerging technologies in the power industry try [efficiency] standards, such as 80Plus forefront of modern power to build the right
and that they are here to stay. Miniaturiza- Titanium. infrastructure and apply the right technolo-
tion and power density are two of the biggest They can also leverage advanced simula- gies to make the applications as efficient and
key trends for the next decade, and it’s only tion tools to identify an energy-efficient and reliable as possible. ■
through these types of innovations that minimalist set of components in their design
we can save our customers invaluable and and find intelligent energy-saving designs Maurizio Di Paolo Emilio is editor-in-chief of
limited space. that are automated and data-driven. Power Electronics News and EEWeb.
However, it’s important to note that they
aren’t applicable in every use case, due to their EETE: The transition from centralized to This article is based on the keynote address
high cost. Depending on how old the existing distributed energy resources is heavily “Now Playing: Power Supplies Set the Stage for
infrastructure is, we make recommendations fragmented. It’s important to facilitate Future Tech Advancements,” presented by
based on in-depth evaluations of individual the acceleration of the energy transition. Sherrie Clark, CTO at ABB Power Conversion, at
customers’ needs and what’s best for them. Many forms of energy storage are being the electronica 2020 Power Electronics Forum.

POWER ELECTRONICS
GaN Evaluation Board for AC/DC Power Conversion

By Maurizio Di Paolo Emilio

ransphorm has released the TDTTP-
4000W065AN evaluation board for
AC/DC conversion. The board uses its
T SuperGaN Gen IV GaN FET technol-
ogy to convert single-phase AC to DC power
up to 4 kW and employs bridgeless totem-pole
power factor correction (PFC) with traditional
analog control.

Transphorm’s GaN-based
platform provides the

reliability of wide-bandgap
semiconductor physics.

Philip Zuk, vice president of worldwide
technical marketing and NA sales at Trans-
phorm, told EE Times Europe that the
company’s GaN FET technology allows the
board to hit the datasheet specs and achieve
better than 99% efficiency with a high line
input of 230 VAC. It does so without the need (Source: Transphorm)

FEBRUARY 2021 | www.eetimes.eu