Solar panels produce the most electricity during the day when people are out of the house, and when people return home, the sun is starting to set. This mismatch between supply and demand is a fundamental problem for solar energy, and other renewables such as wind also face similar situations. The question is how to achieve higher performance while reducing energy losses. Solving these challenges requires semiconductor-based technology solutions that increase the energy storage efficiency of batteries and optimize the overall system to balance the demand and actual supply of solar and wind energy.

Improving the efficiency of renewable energy generation is a key task in the global plan to reduce carbon emissions and increase overall energy efficiency. Wind and solar energy in particular are a major part of climate protection efforts. Both resources are naturally renewable and have unlimited supply, so they can help meet growing global demand while reducing carbon emissions at the same time.

Solar, wind and other renewable energy sources have grown significantly in recent years. Meanwhile, renewable energy sources have reached cost parity with fossil fuels, making them a key player in the ambitious drive to a greener planet. From the beginning, semiconductors have been essential to making renewable energy sources commercially viable by continuously increasing their efficiency. And renewable energy sources are a key element in the goal of zero-emission electric mobility.
In a wind turbine, power semiconductors convert electricity and connect the generator to the grid. In addition to transmitting power, the wind turbine's wind power converter controls several essential functions, requiring the highest quality power semiconductors. Wind turbine designs must provide maximum availability to ensure grid stability. Grid stability therefore relies on power semiconductor devices that provide dynamic performance, superior functionality, and excellent reliability.

Infineon 's power modules PrimePACKTM support a variety of activities in the wind turbine engine room during efficient wind power generation. They feed the generated electricity into the grid, ensure grid stability, align the wind turbine and rotor blades to the wind, protect the wind turbine against overheating or freezing, and stop the wind turbine in case of an emergency.

The 1700V PrimePACK™ IGBT5 with .XT interconnection technology is the future leader in the wind power market, achieving longer life with industry-leading power cycling performance. PrimePACK™ 3+ is an advanced power module package ideal for wind power applications. The PrimePACK™ 3+ housing increases the permissible current with the EiceDRIVER™ isolated gate driver for wind power converters. In addition to the IGBT5 .XT, there are also EconoDUAL™ and EconoPACK™ with IGBT4 chip technology with the EiceDRIVER™ isolated gate driver for wind power converters.

Solar power systems are modularly installed from single-family homes to plant-level power generation. However, like wind power, the use of solar energy presents a major challenge of balancing supply and demand. Because the power supplied by photovoltaic (PV) modules fluctuates greatly depending on weather conditions, the efficient combination of solar panels and energy storage systems using semiconductor technology is one effective way to match supply and demand.

Another technical challenge is that solar modules supply power in the form of direct current (DC), which must be converted to alternating current (AC) before it can be fed into the grid and used or transmitted to the point of use. Power semiconductor and solar inverter technologies must convert DC to AC and transmit power with minimal loss.

Depending on where exactly the inverter is used (PV cells or batteries, etc.), these inverters are classified as microinverters, power optimizers, string inverters, or central inverters. For example, batteries require a certain voltage level to charge, which means that the voltage of the PV modules must be lowered or increased without losing energy. In this case, a special microchip acts as a switch to provide the correct voltage to the battery.

The Infineon portfolio comprises a wide range of inverters from a few watts and kilowatts for the residential market to several megawatts for the commercial and utility-scale markets. It includes industry-leading discrete OptiMOS™, CoolMOS™ and CoolSiC™ MOSFETs and IGBTs as well as highly integrated 3-level Easy 1B/2B modules, functionally integrated EiceDRIVER™ gate driver ICs and XMC™ microcontrollers. Infineon's comprehensive application expertise enables chip combinations to achieve the highest power density levels and industry-leading efficiency.

For more information, please visit https://www.infineon.com/cms/en/about-infineon/energy-efficiency-technologies/ .

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Infineon Technologies Korea