Technology

Semiconductor power switches are critical components in power conversion for a wide variety of applications including electric vehicles, electric vehicle charging, renewable energy, energy storage, UPS / data center, solid-state circuit breakers and motor drives. Improving the efficiency and performance of semiconductor power switch components can have wide benefits, improving the efficiency, economics and accelerating deployment of these applications.

Ideal Power has a broad global patent estate covering the topology, method of operation and control, and applications of a new kind of semiconductor power switch, which we call a Bidirectional Bipolar Junction Transistor (B-TRAN®). B-TRAN® can reduce conduction and switching losses by 50-90% compared to conventional power switches such as IGBTs. In addition to significantly improving energy efficiency, B-TRAN® is inherently a bidirectional device enabling the use of one device to form a bidirectional switch in lieu of two conventional IGBTs and two diodes.