OUTLOOK Power electronics trends: What to expect in 2024?

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The year 2023 presented the power electronics industry with the success of aluminum nitride wafers, new tech IGBTs, solar cell efficiency, BESS, and whatnot! The dream of LK-99 being a room-temperature superconductor ran through half of the year. The article lists five power electronics trends that will rise in 2024.

In our recap article about power electronics in 2023, you can check last year’s power electronic advancements. The below-mentioned future trends in Power electronics are based on the growing market, needs, and industrial perspective.

1. WBG (Wide Band Gap Semiconductors)

Wideband semiconductors have a band gap energy in the range of 2 to 4 eV. In 2023, an AlN (Aluminium Nitride) wafer was invented. Even in early 2024, the new semiconductor SEG (Semiconductor Epi Graphene) started to make headlines. The developments in WBG semiconductors are all set to decrease reliance on silicon-based chips with low fabrication cost and high efficiency.

The current industry focus is SiC (Silicon Carbide) and GaN (Gallium Nitride) such that manufacturers have released FETs made from them. SiC and GaN have a band gap energy of about 3 eV. WBG semiconductors have high switching frequency, and breakdown voltage, enhanced power density, broader bandwidth, and more efficiency than silicon. Applications of WBG semiconductors include switch-mode power supplies, RF signal processing, and high-temperature power systems.

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2. Electrification

Electrification is the process of replacing technologies that use fossil fuels with electricity-based technologies. The main source of power in the device or technology becomes electricity. Electrification is an initiative towards climate change to preserve unreplenishable fossil fuels and reduce hazardous emissions. Besides boosting greener technologies, electrification reduces the cost of the system compared to costly fossil fuels. An EV (Electric Vehicle) is among the most common electrification practices.

The significance of power electronics in electrification can be seen in EVs and their chargers. Power electronic components are used to deliver electrical energy to the propulsion unit in the powertrain. Components like motor drivers, controllers, and converters play an active role. A few other examples of power electronics in electrification are smart grids, HVDC transmission lines, and renewable energy systems.

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3. Power and data line integration

Experts in power electronics believe that the integration of power electronics and data lines will be trending in 2024. Our article about frequency hopping in power electronics mentioned a new term “Talkative power”. Talkative power is the transmission of electric power with an information signal on a channel. The transfer takes place through ripples generated by the DC converter in the power system.

The power and data transfer can be done together only in a wired network. The main use case of PoE (Power over Ethernet) and PoDL (Power over Data Line) is to eliminate the need for deploying multiple cables in the infrastructure. The technology PoE follows IEEE standards to transmit power and data together. The process drastically decreases the cost of unified communications for an enterprise.

4. Hardware for AI

AI is trending in all domains of technology across the globe. AI software, especially generative AI, has been the talk of the industry after ChatGPT’s launch in 2021. The transition of AI into hardware is not something a human can notice. A special type of hardware is required to support AI capabilities that consume large power and require cooling systems.

The main chips that maximize workloads are called AI semiconductors. AI operations overload CPUs with workload. Innovation in power supply distribution and voltage regulation is a critical aspect of physical AI workloads. The need for GPUs is increasing to meet the demands of the ever-growing AI industry. The market for AI semiconductors is gaining momentum with contributions from NVIDIA, Microsoft, Google, and many big organizations.

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5. Superconducting circuits

The viral LK-99 has given high hopes to quantum technology. However, the failure to exhibit superconductive properties at whichever temperature ended the game for LK-99. The race to room temperature superconductivity continues through 3D flatbands to achieve lossless power transmission lines and better quantum computers someday.

Superconducting circuits are based on Josephson’s junction to offer zero power dissipation. Another method to implement a superconducting circuit is through quantum dots. A quantum dot is a nanoscale semiconductor crystal that emits light as the output.

Superconductive circuits are used in quantum computing for qubit realization. In simple words, superconductive circuits behave like qubits in quantum computing. Similar to a bit in computing, a qubit is a “quantum bit”. Qubit has two states interdependent through the laws of quantum mechanics.

Conclusion

The power electronics market stands at a valuation of USD20.83 Billion as of 2023. A study predicts growth at a CAGR of 5.1 % up to 2032. The start of 2024 brings SEG (Semiconductor Epi Graphene) as a contender to silicon. The industry can hope for the introduction of newer technologies, reduced power dissipation, compact devices, and more efficiency to deliver efficient power in 2024.

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