aN versus SiC technology is a recurring subject that is being debated and hyped and you may be overwhelmed by it. We are sorry but much of what has been said about the markets for Gallium Nitride (GaN) and Silicon Carbide (SiC) power devices in the past haven't served the Power Electronics community very well. At PntPower we want to make things right and to be clear on the subject. Here is our point of view.

We do not support the usual message that Wide Band Gap (WPG) devices are awesome and will change the world. We are a market research company, and we believe it is not about the relative performances - it's about the product/market fit. So a better question might be:

What will GaN and SiC technologies bring to power electronics system applications that IGBT, MOSFET and Super Junction MOSFET cannot bring?

Do you have an answer to this question? Because we do, through working on applications oriented market analysis we could list the market segments where GaN can bring awesome competitive advantage now - not in performance but in real end-product competitive advantages, that is expected by users. There are also other market segments where GaN penetration will happen – but only when prices drop and people who say otherwise are trying to sell a wonderful world with marketing nonsense.

It's not very different analysis for SiC. This technology has been around for a while, and since there were no perfect product/market fit at the time, the market has had to be patient. This is primarily because the SiC product/market fit is at a much higher voltage than current products require.

GaN Power Devices market penetration is not comparable with SiC Power Devices

There have been several market reports that indicate there will be fierce competition between the two Wide Band Gap materials, GaN and SiC. Why would GaN and SiC technologies be in direct competition on the Power devices markets when one gives its best at 10 kV (or so) and the other is good at the 0.6kV range (600V). These power devices do not compare; thus their market penetration will not compare. Don't try to measure different technologies with different advantages on the same scale.

Extract from a Fairchild Semiconductor (now ON Semiconductor) presentation. Designed originally by Alex AVRON, founder of PntPower)

GaN is made for lower voltages, high-end products. We know you have seen this infographic picture somewhere (or different versions of it). We drew it a few years ago, inspired by so many that looked alike but were missing some pieces of information (like SiC and GaN integration). It happens to be quite true even now.

GaN is in direct competition with Super Junction MOSFET. SiC is in competition with IGBT. MOSFET are still used on their own low-cost markets. The only voltage range shared by SiC and GaN could be for 600V kilowatt range applications. We believe that GaN will quickly be cheaper and kill SiC competition at birth, in this voltage range. We think there is no competition for this application area and we would recommend designers to start focusing on the one technology matching their products.

Now, looking at GaN performances, we realize it is mainly going to be used at 600V. It may go to 1200V later, when the technology becomes available, but so far it's not.

We have talked a lot with many devices makers, system designers and end-users. The person using the product (the customer) is the only one who is able to let you know about the product/market fit. The responses we had were very different from one application to another and the analysis of it is synthesized in our market report. The main result of the interviews is that the first markets to adopt GaN will be for consumer applications.

GaN Power Devices are for consumer markets first and SiC will be for transportation

At this time, Wide Band Gap power devices are not cheap. So, the initial applications that will adopt them will be for a non-negligible benefit in using them instead of another cheaper device. Our analysis led us to this reasoning -  GaN pushes further the limits of Super Junction MOSFETs. The latter brought smaller and more efficient power supplies to consumer applications. So, future GaN users will look for smaller and more efficient power supplies and the benefits will justify this feature at a high price (to pay for the device's production costs). This is what leads us to say that GaN will be used in consumer high-end power supplies.

Many have been struggling to define what will be the future application for Silicon Carbide MOSFET. Going back to its characteristics, this is a technology that provides devices with a very high-blocking voltage (much higher than GaN, MOSFET and even IGBT). This characteristic will make it very attractive for a certain type of applications. These applications including rail traction or grid and T&D, are already applying these devices. However these applications have very long product lifecycles, which makes production introduction and adoption as long.

The Next Steps for GaN & SiC in Power Electronics

Don't expect Wide Band Gap to be quickly adopted in the power electronics world. It will take time because designers are reluctant to change (and we all know it!).

Provided by Alex Avron, PntPower

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