Small power device, great helper for energy saving and carbon reduction

Small power device, great helper for energy saving and carbon reduction

Photovoltaic / wind energy storage systems, electric vehicles and charging piles, industrial frequency conversion control systems... Many energy-saving and carbon reduction applications have become powerful tools to achieve the goal of carbon peak and carbon neutralization. Small power semiconductor devices play a role in power consumption control in the above-mentioned electronic power systems.

Small size, great effect

Power semiconductor is the core device to realize electric energy conversion. It can effectively control the application of voltage and current. Through the change of switching state, it can realize inverter, rectifier, frequency conversion and other functions, control the energy output of the electronic power system, and control the energy consumption of the entire electronic power system within the minimum range, so as to achieve reasonable energy management, reduce energy consumption and reduce carbon emissions.

The different structures of power semiconductor devices determine their different switching frequency, power level and breakdown field strength, so they also determine the use scenarios of different types of power semiconductors. IGBT and MOSFET are the most common power semiconductor devices in the market. Due to the small driving power and fast switching speed, silicon-based MOSFETs occupy the mainstream in applications below 600V. Due to low conduction loss, fast switching speed, high voltage withstand level, high operating junction temperature and convenient driving, silicon-based IGBT occupies the 600v~6500v high-voltage application market.

Based on its structural and functional characteristics, power semiconductors have become the core devices in many fields, such as power generation, transmission and distribution, power consumption and so on. For example, power semiconductors play a prominent role in photovoltaic inverter, wind power converter and other equipment for power generation, DC converter valve, AC / DC circuit breaker and other equipment in the field of power transmission and distribution, electric vehicle drive, electric locomotive drive, charging pile, energy storage converter, industrial frequency converter or converter and other equipment in the field of power consumption.

In addition, power semiconductors also bring new development space for energy conservation and carbon reduction. Xiang Jie, chairman of Saijing Technology Group Co., Ltd., said in an interview with China Electronics News: "Power semiconductors can create new ways of electric energy production and application, such as electric vehicles, wind power generation, photovoltaic power generation, and electrification in industrial and civil fields, so as to reduce the use of fossil energy; the use of power semiconductors can improve energy efficiency, such as frequency conversion energy conservation and DC transmission, so as to save energy consumption."

IGBT becomes mainstream

IGBT has many advantages, including high input impedance, low control power, simple drive circuit, fast switching speed, large on state current, low on voltage, low loss, etc., so it has absolute advantages in the current market environment.

IGBT is a non on-off switching device. Its off state is controlled by the change of gate source voltage. It can adjust the voltage, current, frequency, phase, etc. according to the signal command to achieve the purpose of accurate regulation. Therefore, IGBT has become the most mainstream device in the current power semiconductor market. It is widely used in many fields, such as new energy power generation, electric vehicles and charging piles, electrified ships, DC transmission, energy storage, industrial electronic control and energy saving.

However, the overseas leading manufacturers, Infineon, Mitsubishi and Fuji, still hold the global IGBT share. The three giants have nibbled away 70% of the IGBT market share. Although domestic IGBT manufacturers have already made layout, there are still great challenges to realize the further transition of technology and market. Teng ran, head of CCID Consulting integrated circuit center, said in an interview with China Electronics News that Infineon has always guided the technical route of IGBT. Currently, Infineon's products have developed to the seventh generation, while domestic IGBT technology can only reach the level of Infineon's fourth and fifth generation.

In order to shorten the gap with overseas advanced level as soon as possible, domestic power semiconductor manufacturers have stepped up the layout of IGBT track, and are trying to improve their product performance and expand their market space. Among the domestic power semiconductor enterprises, BYD semiconductor, China Resources Microelectronics, Shilan microelectronics, star Peninsula and other enterprises are more prominent.

BYD semiconductor has laid out the whole industrial chain products of IGBT, and performed well in the automotive field, accounting for 18%~20% of the domestic new energy vehicle market share. Jiaxing star semiconductors started early and started in 2008 with a relatively high technical starting point. At present, it has various specifications of IGBT module products such as 600v/650v/1200v/1700v/3300v, as well as MOSFET, IPM, frd/ rectifier module, thyristor and other types of products. The types of products are relatively rich. In addition, CRRC Zhuzhou Times has made plans in the fields of smart grid, automobile, new energy electronic control and so on. Its market accounts for about 1% of the whole automobile market and has great development space. In addition, Cr micro and Shilan micro also take IGBT as a branch of the product line for layout.

Optimized packaging and application of two wheel drive wide band gap semiconductor

China has the largest power semiconductor market in the world. In the global power semiconductor market of about 50billion US dollars, the domestic market has contributed 35%~40% of the share. During the "14th five year plan" period, the evolution of a new generation of information technology represented by cloud computing, mobile Internet, big data and artificial intelligence will generate greater demand for power management products. With the proposal of "carbon peak" and "carbon neutral" goals, many fields such as new energy power generation, electric vehicles and charging piles, and industrial electronic control have entered rapid development, which will drive the growth of IGBT and MOSFET industries.

For domestic enterprises, the expanding domestic market undoubtedly provides a broader space for their development. As for how to seize the market growth opportunity, how to take advantage of the situation to achieve industrial breakthrough and how to improve product performance, tengran believes that the two wheel drive mode of device structure optimization and substrate material innovation can be used, which is a development opportunity for domestic enterprises.

Yangqinyao, deputy general manager of BYD Semiconductor Co., Ltd., said in an interview with China Electronics News: "higher power density, switching frequency, smaller conduction voltage drop, switching loss, chip size and module volume are the technical development direction of IGBT in the future." On the way to improve the performance of power semiconductor products, silicon-based devices are facing the rising limit. Due to the limitation of silicon-based materials, the power level and switching frequency of semiconductor devices cannot be further improved. At this time, wide band gap semiconductor materials such as SiC and Gan have become a new track to further improve the performance of power semiconductors.

At present, wide band gap semiconductors are difficult to prepare, with low production capacity and high price. They will be mainly used in vehicles and other high value-added products with high reliability requirements. These products are highly consistent with the development of new energy power generation, electric vehicles and charging piles, industrial electronic control and other fields brought about by the "double carbon" goal. Such industries have high requirements for power management stability and power semiconductor frequency, which will become the core direction of wide band gap semiconductor layout. Domestic IGBT industry will have the opportunity to realize "lane changing overtaking" with the help of wide band gap semiconductor.

At present, wide band gap semiconductors are difficult to prepare, with low yield and high price. For those products that are sensitive to product price fluctuations and have low added value, the performance of power semiconductors can be improved by optimizing the packaging method. Adopt more advanced modular packaging, optimize the packaging by optimizing the heat dissipation performance and improving the junction temperature, so as to improve the use efficiency of the module.

Gongruijiao, consultant analyst of trendforce Jibang, also believed in an interview with China Electronics News that domestic enterprises have the possibility to overtake in advanced packaging, wide band gap semiconductors and other new materials. He said: "from the perspective of industrial characteristics, power semiconductors are featured process products, which focus more on manufacturing process, packaging design and new material iteration, rather than pursuing Moore's law. Therefore, domestic enterprises have a great opportunity to catch up." (reporter jixiaoting)