News: Microelectronics
18 March 2025
Navitas exceeds new 80 PLUS ‘Ruby’ certification for highest level of efficiency in AI data-center power supplies
Gallium nitride (GaN) power IC and silicon carbide (SiC) technology firm Navitas Semiconductor Corp of Torrance, CA, USA says that its portfolio of 3.2kW, 4.5kW and 8.5kW AI data-center power supply unit (PSU) designs exceed the new 80 PLUS ‘Ruby’ certification, focused on the highest level of efficiency for redundant server data-center PSUs.
The 80 PLUS certification program assesses and certifies the energy efficiency of internal PSUs in computers and servers. The ‘Ruby’ certification was announced in January by 80 PLUS’s administrating body CLEAResult following its endorsement by the Green Grid consortium.
‘Ruby’ is the most rigorous PSU efficiency standard since the ‘Titanium’ certification was released 14 years ago. In comparison, Ruby sets an additional 1% system efficiency across all load conditions, except at 50% load (which requires a 0.5% increase), to achieve a new benchmark of 96.5% efficiency.
Navitas says that this new standard offers the industry a clear path to enhanced energy efficiency, helping data centers address the evolving needs of cloud storage, commercial sectors, and the increasing pressure on the grid from AI computing. For example, every Ruby-certified 3.2kW CRPS185 PSU can save up to 420kW-hrs during a three-year lifetime (equivalent to over 400kg of CO2 emissions).
Navitas exceeds both Ruby and Titanium certifications on their portfolio of AI data-center PSU reference designs, ranging from 3.2kW to 8.5kW, and are powered by high-power GaNSafe ICs and GeneSiC Gen 3 ‘Fast’ SiC MOSFETs.
In August 2023, Navitas introduced a high-speed, high-efficiency 3.2kW CRPS, achieving a 40% smaller size than best-in-class, legacy silicon solutions for power-hungry AI and Edge computing, it is reckoned. This was followed by the world’s highest-power-density 4.5kW CRPS, achieving 137W/in3 and efficiency of over 97%. In November 2024, Navitas released the world’s first 8.5kW AI data-center power supply powered by GaN and SiC that could meet 98% efficiency, complying with the Open Compute Project (OCP) and Open Rack v3 (ORv3) specifications. Additionally, Navitas created IntelliWeave, a patented new digital control technique that, when combined with high-power GaNSafe and Gen 3-Fast SiC MOSFETs, enables PFC peak efficiencies of 99.3% and reduces power losses by 30% compared with existing solutions.
“Compared with Titanium, Ruby cuts the allowable PSU losses significantly and will be critical in enabling the data-center industry to reduce its carbon footprint and cut operational costs,” says CEO & co-founder Gene Sheridan. “With the industry set to consume 1000TWh annually by next year, every percentage point improvement in efficiency represents a reduction of 10TWh, or approximately 3.5 million tons of CO2. Advances in our GaNFast and GeneSiC products enable these targets to be met and significantly exceeded.”
Navitas’ AI power roadmap and 80 PLUS Ruby-compliant demos can be viewed at the ‘Planet Navitas’ booth #1107 during the IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference & Exposition (APEC 2025) in Atlanta’s Georgia World Congress Center (16–20 March).
Navitas presents first 8.5kW AI data-center power supply powered by GaN and SiC
