News: Microelectronics
5 December 2024
ROHM’s EcoSiC technology adopted by power supply maker COSEL
Japan’s ROHM Co Ltd says that its EcoSiC products — including SiC MOSFETs and SiC Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) — have been adopted in the HFA/HCA series of 3.5kW output AC–DC power supply units for 3-phase applications made by Japan-based power supply maker COSEL Co Ltd. Incorporating ROHM SiC MOSFETs and SiC SBDs into the forced-air-cooled HFA series and conduction-cooled HCA series achieves up to 94% efficiency. The HCA series has been mass produced since 2023. The HFA series began mass production in 2024.
Many industrial applications that handle high power in the industrial sector, including MRI machines and CO2 lasers, require 3-phase power supplies that differ from the single-phase power supplies used in households. COSEL’s AC–DC power supply units — equipped with ROHM’s EcoSiC technology that is said to excel in high-temperature, high-frequency, high-voltage environments — are compatible with 3-phase power supplies from 200VAC to 480VAC, contributing to improved power supply efficiency across a wide range of industrial equipment worldwide.
The HFA/HCA series are 3.5kW power supplies featuring a wide input range (200–480VAC) that meets global power supply requirements. This allows them to be used anywhere in the world without the need to modify the power supply for each region, contributing to the standardization of application designs. Both forced-air-cooled (HFA series) and conduction-cooled (HCA series) models — selectable based on operating environment — are available in 48V and 65V output voltage variants that can be used as power sources for a variety of high-power applications such as laser generation and MRI.
“The HFA/HCA series achieve high efficiency despite delivering a high power output of 3.5kW by incorporating ROHM’s low-loss SiC power devices,” notes Jun Uchida, general manager, New Product Development Dept. 2, at COSEL. “Operating at high input voltages typically poses a challenge in reducing losses in high-voltage power devices, but using SiC power devices translates to significantly lower losses compared to conventional solutions, resulting in power supplies that maintains high efficiency and power density even under demanding high-power conditions,” he adds.
“Going forward, we will continue to collaborate with COSEL to contribute to a sustainable society by enhancing the efficiency of industrial equipment that handle large amounts of power,” says Akihiro Hikasa, group general manager, Power Devices business unit, in ROHM’s SiC Business Section.
ROHM showcasing EcoGaN and SiC power semiconductors at PCIM Europe
