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Infineon Technologies AG announced that Infineon and Honda Motor Co., Ltd. have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to build a strategic collaboration. Honda selects Infineon as semiconductor partner to align future product and technology roadmaps.
The two companies also agreed to continue discussions on supply stability, as well as to encourage transferring mutual knowledge and collaborate on projects aimed at accelerating the time to market of technologies.
“Infineon’s system understanding, our broad product portfolio and outstanding quality have made us an appreciated partner to Japan’s automotive industry,” said Peter Schiefer, President of the Automotive Division at Infineon. “We are honored to be the semiconductor partner for a strategic collaboration with Honda. Intensifying a long-standing partnership even further is always a confirmation of the added value created and at the same time an expression of the trust in contributing to future successes.”
Infineon will support Honda with technologies to enable competitive and advanced vehicles. The technical support will focus on the area of power semiconductors, Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), and E/E architectures, where both parties will collaborate on new architecture concepts.
Original – Infineon Technologies
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Infineon Technologies AG announced a partnership with Shenzhen based Sinexcel Electric Co., Ltd., a global leader in core power equipment and solutions for the Energy Internet. Infineon will provide Sinexcel with its industry-leading 1200 V CoolSiC™ MOSFET power semiconductor devices in combination with EiceDRIVER™ compact 1200 V single-channel isolated gate drive ICs to further improve the efficiency of energy storage systems.
Driven by the carbon peaking and carbon neutrality strategy and the new energy wave, the domestic energy storage market has maintained sustained and rapid development in recent years. According to the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, in the first half of 2023, the newly installed capacity of energy storage reached 8.63 GWh, equivalent to the total installed capacity of previous years.
The efficiency and power density of energy storage systems are important factors of product competitiveness, while the size, weight and cost of energy storage systems are closely related to the energy conversion efficiency and directly affect the product cost. Therefore, power semiconductor components play a crucial role.
“The SiC power solution is an important component for future green energy production and storage applications. Infineon’s cooperation with Sinexcel in the field of energy storage inverters enables energy storage systems to achieve advantages such as high efficiency, small size, and light weight, providing a solid guarantee for high-reliability and high-performance energy storage systems,” said Mr. Yu Daihui, Senior Vice President of Infineon Technologies and Head of Green Industrial Power Division in Greater China.
“By using Infineon’s SiC devices, Sinexcel’s energy storage products are obviously more compact and flexible, with significantly higher efficiency and lower losses, which reduces the heat dissipation cost of systems, is conducive to the long-term efficient and stable operation of products, and helps end users improve their operational stability and shorten their return on investment cycle.
This greatly improves the system competitiveness of our products and enhances the trust of clients in our energy storage products and the brand awareness of Sinexcel. We hope that in the future, Infineon will further provide high-performance and high-stability components to help enhance the competitiveness of Sinexcel’s products on the client side,” said Mr.Wei Xiaoliang, Deputy General Manager of Sinexcel.
With more than 20 years of product development and application experience in the SiC field, Infineon has been working nonstop to develop more sophisticated SiC products. Due to their high power density, Infineon’s 1200 V CoolSiC MOSFETs can reduce losses by 50 percent and provide ~2 percent additional energy without increasing the battery size, which is especially beneficial for high-performance, lightweight and compact energy storage solutions.
By using Infineon’s 1200 V CoolSiC MOSFETs and EiceDRIVER compact 1200 V single-channel isolated gate drive ICs, Sinexcel’s energy storage converters achieve high power density, minimum electromagnetic radiation and interference, high protection performance and high reliability. This allows a system efficiency of up to 98 percent, which is 1 percent higher than that of traditional solutions, reaching the industry-leading level and better meeting the needs of on-grid and off-grid energy storage applications in both domestic and overseas markets.
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Acquired by Infineon Technologies in October 2023, GaN Systems has been recognized as the “Graduate Of The Year” by The Global Cleantech 100. The announcement was made at Cleantech Forum North America in San Francisco.
The award recognizes the exceptional contribution legacy GaN Systems has made to sustainable innovation and their successful management team as rated by the financial investors on the 80-member Cleantech Group Expert Panel. This 2024 award rounds out several years of recognition in GaN Systems’ sustainability journey which includes entry in to the Global Cleantech 100 Hall of Fame (1 of only 14 companies ever) and the 2023 Global Cleantech 100 winner (1 of only 100 companies globally in 2023).
The acquisition of GaN Systems has significantly accelerated Infineon’s gallium nitride (GaN) roadmap and further strengthens its leadership in power systems by offering a broad product portfolio combined with leading edge application know-how in the development of GaN-based solutions. Infineon’s expertise and in-depth knowledge in GaN paves the way for more energy-efficient and CO 2-saving technology solutions that support decarbonization.
“My congratulations go out to all legacy GaN Systems employees for this recognition and winning multiple Cleantech awards. We are glad to have these smart and curious minds on board at Infineon,” said Adam White, Division President at Power & Sensor Systems at Infineon. “Thanks to unrivalled R&D resources, a comprehensive understanding of applications and a large number of customer projects, Infineon now leverages the full potential of GaN Systems to become a leading GaN Powerhouse fostering the transformation towards green energy.”
Cleantech® Group is a leading global authority on global cleantech innovation. The Global Cleantech 100 program has been running since 2009. This highly anticipated annual report publishes a list of companies with the most promising ideas in cleantech.
Original – Infineon Technologies
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Infineon Technologies AG announced its joint Innovation Application Center in Shenzhen with Anker Innovations, a global leader in charging technology. With the center already fully operating, it is paving the way for more energy-efficient and CO2-saving charging solutions that support decarbonization.
Driven by the growing consumer demand for faster charging solutions due to an increasing usage of mobile devices, laptops and other battery-powered devices, the idea of establishing an Anker-Infineon Innovation Application Center dated back to 2021. After two years of preparation, the joint lab now serves as R&D hub for industry experts to develop power-delivery (PD) fast charging solutions with higher power density, mainly based on Infineon’s next-generation Hybrid Flyback (HFB) controller product family and the CoolGaN™ IPS for fast chargers above 100W.
Anker has already brought several successful products to the market, such as the industry-leading 100W+ fast charger device powered by Infineon’s CoolGaN in 2022. With the Innovation Application Center Anker and Infineon will even shorten the application cycle and accelerate the time to market for future products.
“Anker is an important customer for Infineon,” said Christian Burrer, Vice President of Systems & Application Marketing of Power & Sensor Systems Division at Infineon Technologies. “We have already started a strong cooperation in the charging field, with product and system solutions covering several Infineon product lines. In the field of PD charging, we provide our customers a comprehensive product portfolio, including state-of-the-art power controllers, first-class switching power supplies, leading silicon MOSFET and GaN transistor performance, and more.”
Beyond charging solutions, the joint lab is focusing on a more diversified range of consumer applications, driven by Infineon’s expertise in wide-bandgap materials such as gallium nitride (GaN). The acquisition of GaN Systems in 2023 has significantly accelerated Infineon’s GaN roadmap and further strengthens its leadership in power systems through mastery of all relevant power semiconductor technologies.
“In 2023, Anker achieved success in many markets such as China and Europe. This would not have been possible without Infineon’s GaN technology solutions and the strong collaboration between our companies. We look forward to even intensifying our partnership with Infineon”, said by Kang Xiong, General Manager of the charging business unit at Anker Technologies.
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Infineon Technologies AG and Wolfspeed, Inc. announced the expansion and extension of their existing long-term 150mm silicon carbide wafer supply agreement, originally signed in February 2018. The extended partnership includes a multi-year capacity reservation agreement.
It contributes to Infineon’s general supply chain stability, also with regard to the growing demand for silicon carbide semiconductor products for automotive, solar and EV applications and energy storage systems.
“As the demand for silicon carbide devices continues to increase, we are following a multi-source strategy to secure access to a high-quality, global and long-term supply base of 150mm and 200mm SiC wafers. Our prolonged partnership with Wolfspeed further strengthens Infineon’s supply chain resilience for the coming years,” said Jochen Hanebeck, CEO of Infineon Technologies. “We have been working with Wolfspeed for more than 20 years to bring the promise of silicon carbide to the automotive, industrial and energy markets, and to help customers leverage this energy-efficient technology to foster decarbonization.”
The adoption of silicon carbide-based power solutions is rapidly growing across multiple markets. Silicon carbide solutions enable smaller, lighter and more cost-effective designs, converting energy more efficiently to unlock new clean energy applications. To better support these growing markets, Infineon is continuously diversifying its supplier base to secure access to high-quality silicon carbide substrates.
“Wolfspeed is the world’s leader in silicon carbide production. We are the catalyst in the industry transition to silicon carbide, providing high-quality materials to key customers like Infineon, a leading supplier in both the automotive and industrial markets, while also scaling our capacity footprint,” said Wolfspeed president and CEO Gregg Lowe. “Industry estimates indicate demand for silicon carbide devices, as well as the supporting material, will grow substantially through 2030, representing a $20 billion annual opportunity. We are very pleased to continue our partnership with Infineon and to serve as a major supplier of silicon carbide wafers in the years ahead.”
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Infineon Technologies AG announced its partnership with OMRON Social Solutions Co. Ltd., a pioneering company in social systems technology. Combining Infineon’s first-class gallium nitride (GaN) based power solutions with the innovative circuit topology and control technology of OMRON now enables one of Japan’s smallest and lightest vehicle-to-everything (V2X) charging systems by OMRON Social Solutions.
This partnership will further drive innovation towards wide bandgap materials in power supplies, help to accelerate the transition to renewable energies, a smarter grid, and the adoption of electric vehicles, while fostering decarbonization and digitalization.
For the V2X system, KPEP-A series, Infineon’s CoolGaN™ technology is utilized combined with a unique control technology. OMRON Social Solutions has upgraded its EV charger and discharger system now allowing for bi-directional charging and discharging paths between renewable energy sources, the grid, and EV batteries.
The KPEP-A series is one of the smallest and lightest multi-V2X systems in Japan with a 60% reduction in size and weight compared to similar conventional charger and discharger designs yet providing a charging capability of 6 kW. With the integration of Infineon’s CoolGaN solution, the power efficiency of the V2X systems has increased by more than 10% at light load and around 4% at rated load. By improving efficiency and a reduction in size and weight, the new system allows easier installation and maintenance while enabling more elegant designs and offering a wider range of options for installation locations.
“We are thrilled to partner with OMRON Social Solutions as our CoolGaN based solutions directly contribute to speed up the transition to renewable energies which reduces CO2 emissions and drives decarbonization,” said Adam White, Division President Power & Sensor Systems at Infineon. “It will also make charging of electric vehicles easier and more convenient for consumers, helping to overcome one of the biggest barriers to EV adoption.”
Atsushi Sasawaki, Managing Executive Officer and Senior General Manager for Energy Solutions Business of OMRON Social Solutions said: “Having access to a broad portfolio of WBG solutions significantly increases the functionality, performance and quality of our products. With Infineon, we get the best-in-class application know-how for creating new and improved charging and discharging systems, providing a high level of satisfaction for our customers and end-users. We look forward to further developing GaN- and SiC-based power solutions together with Infineon to help drive renewable energy and electric vehicles.”
Wide bandgap semiconductors made of silicon carbide and gallium nitride differ significantly from conventional semiconductors as they allow for greater power efficiency, smaller size, lighter weight, and lower overall cost. Infineon offers the broadest product and technology portfolio including silicon, silicon carbide and gallium-nitride-based devices.
As the leading power supplier with more than two decades of heritage in SiC and GaN technology development, Infineon caters to the need for smarter, more efficient energy generation, transmission, and consumption.
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Florian Martens will take over as global Head of Communications & Public Policy at Infineon Technologies AG on 1 March 2024. As Executive Vice President and Chief Communications Officer, he will report to Jochen Hanebeck, CEO of Infineon. Florian Martens succeeds Bernd Hops, who has left Infineon at his own request effective 30 September 2023.
“On its ambitious growth path, Infineon needs to communicate effectively with a wide range of stakeholders. With Florian Martens, we have found an internationally recognized communications professional for this strategic management task. We are very pleased to welcome him to our team with his extensive experience and expertise,” says Jochen Hanebeck, CEO of Infineon Technologies AG.
Florian Martens joins from Siemens AG, where he is responsible for global Media Relations, Executive Communications and Thought Leadership activities since June 2020. Together with his team, he contributed significantly to Siemens’ new external positioning as a leading global technology company.
“Semiconductors are the hearts and brains of our digital world. There is no more exciting and relevant industry for the digital and green transformation. Infineon is a global champion in this key industry and I am delighted to be part of this team going forward. At the same time, I would like to thank all my colleagues for a great time at Siemens,” says Florian Martens.
Before joining Siemens, Florian Martens spent 15 years at Daimler AG, most recently as Head of Global Communications at Daimler Truck AG, the world’s largest commercial vehicle manufacturer. At Daimler, he held various management positions in Germany and abroad, including in Corporate Communications and Product Strategy at Mercedes-Benz Passenger Cars. He holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Wisconsin (Madison USA) and a Masters of Business Administration from the Technical University of Munich.
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Infineon Technologies AG has formalized an agreement with silicon carbide (SiC) supplier SK Siltron CSS. Under the agreement, SK Siltron CSS will provide Infineon with competitive and high-quality 150-millimeter SiC wafers, supporting the production of SiC semiconductors. In a subsequent phase, SK Siltron CSS will play an important role in assisting Infineon’s transition to a 200-millimeter wafer diameter.
“For Infineon, supply chain resiliency is about implementing a multi-supplier strategy and thriving in times of adversity to create new growth opportunities and drive decarbonization,” said Angelique van der Burg, Chief Procurement Officer at Infineon. “We are excited to partner with SK Siltron CSS to serve the growing SiC demand of our broad customer base with new energy-efficient and top-quality products, matching the highest standards in the SiC market.”
“With decades of experience in silicon carbide materials and manufacturing, we bring unparalleled knowledge to our sustainably manufactured compound semiconductor solutions. This wealth of experience is a cornerstone in our partnership with Infineon,” said Jianwei Dong, Ph.D., CEO of SK Siltron CSS. “This long-term supply agreement marks the synergy of our extensive expertise and Infineon’s vision to make life easier, safer and greener for generations to come.”
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Infineon Technologies AG announced its commitment to set a science-based target. By that Infineon expands its climate strategy even further. The company is very well on track towards CO2-neutrality by 2030, relating to its direct and indirect energy related emissions (Scope 1 and 2).
After having already reduced these emissions by 56.8 percent to date versus the base year of 2019, Infineon now sets itself even more ambitious targets by involving the supply chain (Scope 3) in the company’s climate protection efforts.
“Decarbonization is a guiding principle for Infineon. We have made great progress. With our commitment to set a science-based target, we are taking the next important step, adhering to the widely respected global standard for tackling climate change”, said Elke Reichart, Chief Digital Transformation Officer and responsible for Sustainability at Infineon. “We are actively inviting our suppliers to join us on our journey by setting their own carbon reduction targets. To truly address climate change, collaboration across the entire value chain, transparent and comprehensive data as well as global standards are foundational.”
Infineon has doubled its revenue since 2019 and halved its CO2 emissions (Scope 1 and 2) at the same time. The main drivers for lowering emissions are energy efficiency measures, comprehensive PFC abatement measures and switching its operations to renewable energy, which makes proportionally the largest contribution.
In 2023, Infineon reaches another key milestone in this respect. The two largest manufacturing sites in Asia – Kulim and Melaka in Malaysia – have now transitioned to green electricity, following the switch to renewables at its European and North American sites in 2021 and 2022 respectively.
The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) serves as a benchmark for ambitious climate action in the private sector. The initiative provides a clearly defined pathway for companies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Targets are considered ‘science-based’ if they are in line with the latest climate science in order to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement – limiting global warming to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C. SBTi is a partnership between the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), the United Nations Global Compact, World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
In 2020, Infineon had set its carbon neutrality target 2030 (Scope 1 and 2 emissions) already in line with science-based target requirements. With the expansion of its climate strategy to include Scope 3, Infineon is working closely together with supply chain partners and is putting special emphasis on further improvements in data availability and accuracy.
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The paradigm shift towards offloading complexity to suppliers and adopting smaller IGBT modules is evident in various applications. In response to the global push for downsizing and integration, Infineon Technologies AG introduced the 4.5 kV XHP™ 3 IGBT modules that will fundamentally change the landscape for medium voltage drives (MVD) and transportation applications operating at 2000 to 3300 V AC in 2- and 3-level topologies.
Applications benefiting from the new devices include large conveyor belts, pumps, high-speed trains, locomotives, as well as commercial, construction and agricultural vehicles (CAV).
The XHP family comprises a 450 A dual IGBT module with TRENCHSTOP™ IGBT4 and an emitter-controlled diode, and a 450 A double diode module with emitter-controlled E4 Diode. Both modules feature improved isolation of 10.4 kV. Together, they help to simplify paralleling and downsizing without sacrificing efficiency.
Previously, complex busbars were required to parallelize switching modules, resulting in complicated design efforts and leakage inductance. The innovative design of the XHP family simplifies paralleling by conveniently placing the connections side by side. As a result, only a single straight busbar is required for paralleling.
The 4.5 kV XHP family also allows developers to reduce the number of units. Conventional IGBT solutions use multiple single switches and a double diode. With the new devices, however, designs can be reduced to two dual switches and a smaller double diode – a significant step forward in integrated drives.
The combination of the XHP 3 FF450R45T3E4_B5 dual switch and the DD450S45T3E4_B5 double diode enables significant cost savings and a smaller footprint. For example, Infineon’s previous IGBT solutions required four 140 x 190 mm² or 140 x 130 mm² switches and one 140 x 130 mm² double diode. With the new XHP family, the components can be reduced to two 140 x 100 mm² dual switches and a smaller 140 x 100 mm² double diode.
The IGBT modules FF450R45T3E4_B5 and DD450S45T3E4_B5 are available now. More information is available at www.infineon.com/XHP.
Original – Infineon Technologies
