Your intrepid reporter, a veritable APEC ingénue, felt compelled to take part in the long-held tradition at APEC: Three concurrent RAP sessions closed out on Day 1. The RAP sessions are composed of a moderator, some apparently famous power panelists, topics that foster lively (geek-bait) debates, and historically large audiences blessed with a beer on their way in. The sessions drew large crowds.
(Or was it the free beer?)
This year’s topics focused on “Facts and Fictions” of wireless power transfer, “Expectations of Power Electronics for Variable Speed Applications” (be still my heart!), and the “Who, What, Where, When, and Why” of wide bandgap semiconductors. How to choose?
Alex Avron, owner of the PointtheGap market research firm, kicked off the wide bandgap semiconductor session with growth estimates of the GaN power market. While admitting that you can get quite different estimates depending upon who has skin in the game, Avron projected the GaN market to reach $600 million by 2020. He expects the SiC market to reach $1 billion by 2019.
Avron also referenced “heavy players” in the space such as RFMD who have yet to announce products, International Rectifier (now part of Infineon), and Sharp and Panasonic, who have announced GaN-based products. The most active startups in this space? Transphorm, Efficient Power Conversion (EPC), and GaN Systems among others.
Panelist Ionel "Dan" Jitaru of Rompower walked through three efficiency experiments involving GaN vs. SiC MOSFETs in power applications. “Replacing GaN with SiC does not necessarily create efficiencies that ‘go through the roof’”, Jitaru said. He concluded by stating that “although GaN may be perceived as marginal in some applications, there are applications wherein GaN has significant advantages.” These include high voltage applications in computing, industrial, telecom, and networking markets. (Technology investors, take note.)
The subsequent Q&A yielded questions about the lack of wide adoption of GaN device construction, limiting switching frequencies, and GaN/SiC MOSFET cost comparisons. Comments varied but Alix Lidow, now with EPC and formerly the CEO of IR, said “…there is no question that GaN will be cheaper than silicon everywhere and half the cost of silicon MOSFETs at 400V and below.”
Learn more about wide bandgap technology at Mouser’s Wide Bandgap Technology site, but BYOB.
Not at the conference but want to get a sense for how technically dense APEC is? Download the full conference program here.
Random scene from APEC, Day 2.
Aimee Kalnoskas