Wolfspeed announced it has received funding of $750 million to establish their new silicon carbide (SiC) wafer factory in Siler City, North Carolina, producing 150mm SiC bare and epitaxial wafers.
US market leader for SiC substrates and epiwafers has taken steps to compete with power semiconductor industry for electric vehicle fast charging applications; but is this strategy sustainable?
Högspänning
Wolfspeed is the premier supplier of silicon carbide (SiC) wafers and epiwafers, producing up to 200mm substrates with both n-type conductive SiC substrates with epitaxy options, offering both n and p type epitaxy options. Later this year they will open their new materials factory in Siler City, North Carolina which will increase production capacity ten-fold.
Wolfspeed’s expansion allows them to provide high voltage power semiconductors required for fast charging of electric vehicles (EV) as well as applications requiring greater efficiency and durability, such as faster battery replacement solutions or applications requiring higher-efficiency semiconductors. This also supports their strategy for increasing market scalability through design simplification – helping reduce manufacturing costs and development times compared with legacy bus bar solutions.
Two-level SiC modules enable industry to adopt two-level power architecture, which reduces component count and simplifies system design compared to three-level topologies that were commonly employed previously. Yole highlights that these SiC modules result in reduced gate driver complexity as well as lower overall system costs than IGBT-based three-level inverter designs.
SiC MOSFETs feature lower switching losses than IGBTs, enabling power designers to achieve up to 30 percent energy savings and increased power density in industrial Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPSs) and motor drives. This enables lighter and smaller UPS systems that still offer backup power while being more energy-efficient, reliable and safe than before – not to mention cost reduction due to system-level losses and operating expenses being reduced as a result.
High Power
As society moves toward alternative energy systems, power handling and dissipation become ever more critical. Wolfspeed’s SiC devices offer an effective solution, equipping system designers with tools needed to increase system efficiency while minimising design complexity, costs and reliability issues.
Wolfspeed’s wide bandgap silicon carbide semiconductors can help enhance the performance of industrial power converters and inverters by providing more efficient switching frequencies in a smaller package than traditional IGBTs, helping systems meet IE4 or IE5 efficiency standards while still fulfilling stringent power density requirements.
At EON Power we have an impressive portfolio of 650 V, new 750 V and 1200 V MOSFETs available in different package options that enable you to evaluate the advantages of SiC technology for your application. When combined with SiC Power modules and GaN RF products you can design cutting edge power and wireless systems that help ensure energy efficiency into the future.
2300 V modules enhance system efficiency by minimizing passive components, eliminating costly bus bars, and supporting a two-level topology design to simplify system creation. They also provide 15% greater voltage headroom with consistent temperature stability for enhanced dynamic performance and system design.
Hög effektivitet
Wide-bandgap Silicon Carbide (SiC) high-power devices improve efficiency while decreasing system size and weight for various industries that rely on an abundance of power. Boasting larger current capacity, higher switching frequency and lower operating temperature requirements than ever before, SiC semiconductors are revolutionizing industries including electric vehicle (EV), industrial motor drive and renewable energy sectors.
Wolfspeed’s silicon carbide MOSFETs have been developed to meet IE4 and IE5 efficiency standards and help designers increase the efficiency of their power supply designs without increasing costs. Wolfspeed facilitates a better, more sustainable world through offering an expanded selection of high-power semiconductors with greater reliability and lower total costs.
Wolfspeed’s multi-billion dollar wafer material facility in Chatham County, North Carolina will produce 200mm (8 inch) SiC wafers; this size provides more usable die and reduces die costs significantly. Furthermore, this production site will boast state-of-the-art ion beam etching technology to meet growing demands for high performance power semiconductors using SiC.
Engineers can easily test and optimize SiC MOSFET power-daughter card configurations using Wolfspeed’s LTspice(r) software. This simulation platform features a baseboard with DC bus, current sensing for power module current sensing and gate driver outputs; as well as daughter card gate driver cards configured as half bridge totem pole PFC stages with bidirectional isolated CLLC DC/DC stages for gate driver outputs and gate driver gate outputs.
Låg kostnad
Wolfspeed specializes in providing superior silicon carbide (SiC) power devices to enable designers of energy-efficient, compact and long-lasting electrical systems for electric vehicles (EV), fast charging stations, renewable energy installations, industrial capacities and artificial intelligence applications. Wide bandgap SiC offers significant advantages compared to silicon, such as higher efficiency, reduced switching losses, better operating temperatures and resistances, faster response times as well as quicker response times.
Wolfspeed recently marked its recent milestone of topping out of the John Palmour Manufacturing Center for SiC (JPMCC), located in Chatham County, North Carolina and comprising of 200mm SiC wafer production lines that will significantly expand materials capacity while meeting growing demands for next-generation semiconductors used to facilitate energy transition and artificial intelligence (AI).
The JPMCC is a joint endeavor among Wolfspeed, North Carolina state government, Siler City municipality and local businesses and organizations. Alongside being home to Wolfspeed’s fabrication facility, it also houses research and development centers dedicated to power electronics, solar cells, LEDs and automotive technology research and development.
These 2300V devices, created to complement WolfPack’s existing SiC power modules, provide system designers with a building block approach for powering systems with either kilowatts or megawatts. In addition to their superior power handling capacities and 77% lower switching losses compared to legacy silicon IGBTs that have long dominated their respective landscapes, designers will benefit from up to 15% greater voltage headroom from these baseplate-less 2300V devices.
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