News: Microelectronics
12 June 2024
Transphorm demos bidirectional SuperGaN power supply with new reference design for e-mobility and energy/industrial markets
Transphorm Inc of Goleta, near Santa Barbara, CA, USA — which designs and manufactures JEDEC- and AEC-Q101-qualified gallium nitride (GaN) field-effect transistors (FETs) for high-voltage power conversion — has released a new 300W DC-to-DC GaN reference design for 2- and 3-wheeled electric vehicle (EV) battery chargers. The TDDCDC-TPH-IN-BI-LLC-300W-RD design uses TP65H150G4PS 150mΩ SuperGaN FETs in a robust TO-220 package to power a high-performing, high-efficiency energy harvesting and distribution battery charging system.
The new board demonstrates “one of the most anticipated value propositions of a GaN power supply” — bidirectionality — indicating that a single power system can deliver power in two directions, from input (AC) to output (DC) and output (DC) to input (AC), depending on system needs, with GaN enabling energy efficiency in both conversions.
“The first value proposition of GaN in high-power applications was realized by the highly efficient operation of the bridgeless totem-pole power factor correction [PFC] circuit. This subsequently led to the next level of benefits across a variety of topologies, including overall smaller and lower-cost power systems across the full power conversion spectrum, from 30W to over 10kW,” says president & CEO Primit Parikh. “In higher-power applications, we have now demonstrated bidirectional power conversion that can be used by vehicle on-board chargers for e-mobility, renewable energy and backup power systems, and other power supply applications requiring highly integrated, interchangeable input and output terminals.”
Bidirectionality is a core capability required to advance V2X (vehicle-to-everything) infrastructure for e-mobility applications that comprise V2L (vehicle-to-load), V2H (vehicle-to-house), and V2G (vehicle-to-grid) scenarios, which represent a projected overall V2X system market size ranging from a conservative $9bn to an aggressive $70bn by 2030.
In EV systems, renewable energy systems and other applications within the V2X model, design and performance flexibility will be critical to innovation and wider deployment, says Transphorm. The high power density and bidirectionality is a key enabler for this area. The V2X applications are prime use-cases that can leverage all the SuperGaN technology’s value proposition, the firm adds.
TDDCDC-TPH-IN-BI-LLC-300W-RD reference design specifications
The TDDCDC-TPH-IN-BI-LLC-300W-RD board is a fully analog implementation without complex firmware development for the power stage. This design configuration enables simpler and faster power system development, says Transphorm.
The board is suitable for high-power-density applications such as the DC-to-DC power stage of bidirectional DC-to-AC inverter power supplies used in energy harvesting applications with solar-, battery- and/or grid-tied solutions as well as AC-to-DC power supplies used in 2-, 3- and 4-wheeler battery chargers.
Transphorm releases two battery charger reference designs for two- and three-wheeled EVs
