Page 3 - PowerUp 2021 Conference Proceedings for PEN

VIEWPOINT

Introduction

By Maurizio Di Paolo Emilio, EE Times and Power Electronics
News Editor

A greener future has become one of the most important concerns in recent years. As the amount
of people living on our planet increases, the need for a new approach on energy is pushing toward
more sustainable perspectives. Power electronics is playing an increasingly important role in various

markets such as automotive, industrial, and consumer. It is an enabling technology for a wide range
of new functions that enhance vehicle and smart-grid performance, safety, and functionality. Power
devices will improve system performance in energy-saving applications, as well as in all high-
voltage industrial applications. Gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC) technologies may
provide a path to efficient power supply and motor control across industrial environments while
also complementing the expansion of the renewable energy segment.

For several years, the growing need for power quality in distribution systems, together with the
large-scale integration of renewable energy sources, has increased the demand for new technologies
driven by the advent of new devices. Energy storage life and power consumption are two important
topics in several markets. Estimating them at the beginning of a design process can be quite
challenging. Wide-bandgap semiconductors, smart and renewable energies, and motion control
have been significant topics covered by the PowerUP Virtual Conference 2021.

SiC and GaN will obviously continue to compete, but their advantages are pretty clear to everyone,
and 2022 will mark an important phase in the market. There have been high production volumes and

increased demands in the market for both technologies over the last year. There is no doubt that
the future is bright for SiC and GaN. The robust SiC growth experienced in 2021 will have a pivotal
role in 2022. It will drive the energy market in the process of electrification and electrical grids,
despite the complications related to the pandemic. All of this has driven down costs, and of course,
we will see challenges regarding the supply chain. In 2022, we will see an even more significant
increase in demand for and adoption of GaN-powered products than in 2021. The technology has
already been proven, and leading companies have adopted it.

In this proceeding, we condense the information offered in the event’s keynotes, panel discussions,
and technical presentations. To allow you to explore the topics further, we’ve added links to the
presentations’ video recordings and slide decks.

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