EU PowerizeD project aims to transform power electronics
Multi million euro European research initiative will involve 39 companies and 23 research institutions
A new research initiative called PowerizeD, involving 39 companies and 23 research institutions, aims to transform power electronics in Europe.
Coordinated by Infineon Technologies AG, PowerizeD aims to increase the degree of mechanical and electrical integration of control, driver and switching functionalities in components and to advance the integrated optimisation of all power switch functions, independent of the semiconductor material used. New switching topologies and advanced control strategies involving the application of Artificial Intelligence are expected to improve efficient, robust and reliable operations even further.
The immediate project objectives include: reduction of power loss in power conversion by 25 percent; extension of the service lives of devices and systems by 30 percent;; reduction of chip size by at least 10 percent; and shortening development times by a challenging 50 percent.
The project partners are focusing on applications from the fields energy and mobility. 17 demonstrator paths are concerned among other things with improvement of drives for the rail industry, charging systems for the automotive industry, liquid batteries for the energy industry as well as drives for the manufacturing industries. The research partners will take an interdisciplinary approach with topics including modeling and Digital Twin, Federated Learning as well as reliability and sustainability.
"We have to make highly efficient use of energy if we are to achieve net-zero climate protection goals. Digitalisation can help here as a highly decisive lever for more energy efficiency," says Constanze Hufenbecher, Infineon chief digital transformation officer.
"Power electronics is key to the energy transformation and is used anywhere and everywhere that electricity is generated, transferred and used efficiently," says Dr. Rutger Wijburg, COO at Infineon. "The broad spectrum of power electronics applications makes it very important that we collaborate with partners across the boundaries of corporate entities and organisations to jointly advance Europe as innovation engine."
The European Union is funding PowerizeD with approximately €18 million as part of the joint program for digital key technologies (Key Digital Technologies Joint Undertaking, KDT JU) in its Digital Agenda. The amount will be matched by funding from the national governments of the respective countries involved.
The subsidies from Germany are being provided by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. A summary of all the project partners and supporting organisations is available on the project web site. The project will have a three-year duration and is expected to end in December 2025.
