The power electronics industry is a key part of the semiconductor history. Power electronics markets are steady evolving and are continuously diffusing its innovations through the overall semiconductor industry. Numerous mergers & acquisitions (Fairchild Semiconductor and On Semiconductor, Linear Technology and Analog Devices, both in 2016), the emergence of GaN technology, the adoption of SiC solutions (BYD is now proposing a SiC-based on-board chargers) illustrate quite well the dynamism of the power electronics industry. This evolution starts with the development of new active devices and goes through the new packaging techniques up to the performance improvement of the power systems.

Yole Développement (Yole) has released its Status of the Power Electronics Industry report. In its fourth edition, the “More than Moore” market research and strategy consulting company, Yole reviews the latest technical & market trends and proposes a comprehensive overview of the power electronics markets. Its “Top-down” and Bottom-up” methodologies, industry knowledge and technical expertise enable its analysts to cover the whole power electronics supply chain. The power converter field, the EV/HEV industry, the power IC market and more… are part of the 2017 edition.
What is the status of the power electronics industry? Yole’s analysts offer you today a snapshot of the markets and highlights the business opportunities. 

“The power electronics sectors continue to expand their presence almost everywhere,” announces Mattin Grao Txapartegi, Technology & Market Analyst at Yole. “Renewable energies and e-mobility, including EV/HEVs, are especially boosting this market. Both solar and EV/HEV converter markets grew by over 20% between 2015 and 2016.” 

At the semiconductor level, the power semiconductor market grew by 3.8% compared to 2015. This year, Yole has enlarged its power semiconductor market analysis to all types of power ICs including power management ICs, linear regulators and switching regulators, representing a total market of US$28 billion. Among all the different types of power devices including thyristors, MOSFETs, IGBTs and power ICs, IGBTs made the greatest progress, with around 8% growth. 

Power devices fuel and enable industry mega trends reaching almost US$35 billion in 2022. 
“Today, much power device novelty comes from a new family of WBG semiconductors, SiC and GaN”, says Ana Villamor Technology & Market Analyst at Yole. And she adds: “WBG benefits such as the performance and market needs accelerate their adoption in more and more applications. At Yole, we expect an increase of WBG market revenues reaching with over 30% CAGR between 2016 and 2022.” 

Besides WBG devices, many other innovations are also emerging, as in power module packaging. Needs for higher power density and more highly integrated products have made some traditional technologies and materials outdated. Package evolution is responding to stricter requirements at the system level, and as ever here the automotive industry is driving innovation and growth. 

Summary:

• The power electronics semiconductor industry reached US$28B in 2016.
• The IGBT market grew 8% from 2015 to 2016. In 2017, it is expecting spectacular growth, higher than 10%.
• Solar & EV/HEV power converter markets have again increased by over 20% in2016, driving the growth of the power electronics market.
• Several innovations have been introduced into power packaging...
• Chinese companies are trying to acquire know-how in IGBT and power MOSFET manufacturing through M&A.

A detailed description of this report is available on i-micronews.com, power electronics reports section.