In 2012, all semiconductor devices (discrete, modules and ICs) dedicated to the power electronics industry will reach $20 billion in market size. With applications as diversified as hybrid cars, PV inverters, lighting, energy, and voltage range as wide as a few volts to a few thousands volts, power electronics is and will remain one of the most attractive branches of the semiconductor industry for the next decade.
This report provides a complete breakdown of market forecasts and player shares depending on the application, the voltage range and the geography for power discrete and modules, as well as wafers used for power semiconductor device manufacturing.
The power electronics industry now deals with conversion and motion and needs lighter/smaller, cheaper and more efficient systems. This evolution starts with improvements at the semiconductor level and there are four technologies which are the best candidates to handle new system requirements: silicon IGBT, Super Junction (SJ) MOSFETs, Gallium Nitride (GaN) and Silicon Carbide (SiC) based devices.
Already well established onto the market, IGBTs account for $1.6 billion in the medium to high voltage market. In this report, analysts describe a trend to decrease voltage range in order to target consumer applications such as TVs, computer adapters and cameras in order to access more segments. At the same time, SJ MOSFETs present on those applications present faster switching frequencies and competitive cost. We estimate the SJ MOSFET market to reach $567 million by the end of the year.
GaN and SiC also look promising to overpass silicon performance and enhance inverter capabilities. However, materials are still expensive and the technology is not ready yet. On the other hand, both of these materials can benefit from their developed status in the LED industry and we have seen plenty of LED players paying attention to the opportunity that power electronics represent.
Each technology faces strong developments
In this report, the needs to use those four main technologies are clearly identified. Nevertheless, all of them still have issues in bringing ideal solutions for every application at every power/voltage range. There are two consequences:
- GaN and SiC are not mature yet for the power electronics market: the first one requiring technological enhancement of the manufacturing process, especially for the Epitaxy thickness and the second one being an expensive material that does not allow implementation within consumer-like businesses.
- A segmentation between technology and the power/voltage range will take place, therefore some segments will only accept one "best" technology.
While SJ MOSFETs see new players and Foundry service suppliers, the IGBT dies’ industry is getting consolidated by the presence of large players involved in many applications, such as Infineon, Mitsubishi Electric and Fuji. However, IGBT (and SJ MOSFET) modules business is increasing and we see new players entering to provide solutions for cooling, interconnections, substrates, packaging, and gel.
On the other hand, the SiC industry, which has been led by CREE, is now an interesting playground for newplayers. With access to lower cost material, the SiC industry now has the possibility to ramp up and get organized. However, apart from the PFC business, technological capabilities of SiC show that it will surely be dedicated to high power/voltage applications. Last but not least, SiC companies have appeared in China, which will definitely provide competition and tougher access to local markets.
At this point in time, the GaN industry is mostly a US business. International Rectifier, EPC, Transphorm, Microsemi or GaN Systems now propose fully off-the-shelf or customized products. However, some pioneers like MicroGaN, NEC or Powdec, are showing there is a trend to globalize the GaN manufacturing industry. At the same time, the market is still soft and LED players are considering using their technological platform to enter this power electronics market, which will be very much low power/voltage oriented.
In this report, analysts describe how each industry is doing, how they interact between each other and how they will evolve in the future, and what type of market we will see. In addition, supply chain questions and how business will be segmented are answered. The power electronics industry has great growth potential, mostly driven by energy (production, distribution, consumption) which is open and accessible, even for small players.
Technological & cost requirements imposed to power semiconductors are driven by the inverter industry
Because power semiconductors are “just a piece” of the power electronics industry, the power semiconductor industry has to answer requirements from a bigger system: the inverter. For example, some expensive solutions are still not implemented even if device and module performance are much higher than current output.
Researchers provide their analysis of the inverter market and players, as well as the industry evolution in order to illustrate the role of power semiconductors and analyze which drivers will be key for which applications. In addition, this report underlines the expected technical developments of an inverter – depending on the applications – and how power semiconductors will among contribute to these improvements. Indeed, power devices ameliorations will be useful only if they fit with passive and connective devices, defined by inverter needs.
Geographical positioning is also critical in the power electronics area, especially with the boom in China and other emerging countries, but also because several applications (PV, wind, electric vehicles) are supported by local governments.
Yole provides a geographical and supply chain analysis for the power electronics industry, from semiconductors and passive devices to inverter levels.
Details of the new report, table of contents and ordering information can be found on Electronics.ca Publications' website. View the report: Status of the Power Electronics Industry
