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Power Electronics
What does it do?
Bill Drury
E3 Academy Summer School
12 July 2011 Bristol
What is Power Electronics?
Power Electronics is the application of solid-state electronics
for the efficient control and conversion of electrical power
Whereas more familiar electronics and microelectronics is used
to carry communications or data, with Power Electronics its
power thats handled and controlled
It is used from the very low milliwatt levels needed to operate a
mobile phone through to multi-gigawatt powers for high-voltage
energy transmission lines between countries
Wherever there is a need to modify a form of electrical energy
i.e. change its voltage, current or frequency then Power
Electronics comes into play
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Is Power Electronics Important?
Though rarely seen as an end product by the general public, Power
Electronics plays a critical role in almost all aspects of our daily lives:
Renewable energy & the low-carbon economy are critically
dependent on PE
PE drives reliability and stability of the power-supply
infrastructure, and critical to the Smart Grid
Transportation is ever more heavily dependent on Power
Electronics, in railways, ships and increasingly cars and
aeroplanes
Industrial processes rely upon the control and energy efficiency
facilitated by Power Electronics
The environment, access and transportation within our buildings
are controlled and managed using Power Electronics
And our homes are proliferated with Power Electronics - in TVs,
washing machines, fridges, freezers, cookers, vacuum cleaners,
computer, mobile phones and even energy-efficient lighting
Power Electronics is a critical enabling technology for a large
proportion of (UK) industry
Often defines performance and/or competitive advantage of a product
or system
Wide Scope of Power Electronics Use
1 cm
1 W
200 m
2 GW
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The Global Power Electronics Market
chart source: electronics enabling efficient energy usage, e4u, 2009
Automotive
13%
Industry &
Energy
26%
Consumer
Electronics
18%
Computer &
Office
26%
Commun-
ications
17%
A 70bn direct global market, growing at a rate
of 11% per annum.
The Global Power Electronics Market
70 billion direct market growing at 11% pa
The market is Global and Competitive
Multi-national companies operating with Global design
and manufacturing locations compete for high volume /
value business
Bespoke/ batch nature of business means that smaller
companies can compete nationally and internationally
Today the UK is competitive in key Global markets
including in the systems area alone:
Aerospace
Industrial Drives / Marine Drives / Renewable Energy Converters
Automotive
HVDC
The UK has established and good routes to market
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The UK has a Rich History in
Power Electronics
World class companies across a number of market sectors
Internationally recognised universities educating the next
generations of power electronic engineers and expanding the
knowledge base through research
Also Critical to the supply chain are innovative SMEs
delivering new approaches and technologies to the market
The UK Power Electronics Market
UK Electronics Industry contributes > 50bn to UK GDP and
provides 500,000 jobs in 25,000 companies
UK Power Electronics Manufacturing accounts for about
6.5% (5 bn) of the Global Power Electronics product (as
opposed to component) manufacturing (based on
semiconductor device sales), with a very high percentage of
that production being exported. (Power Electronic equipment
manufacturing cost is relatively low)
The influence of the UK Power Electronics industry on the
global market is much more significant as UK-based design
groups contribute strongly to equipment that is
manufactured in part or in whole overseas
UK has a strong international reputation for design
UK remains a significant manufacturing base for not only
local but also many global companies
UK also has a strong SME base
The UK has established and good routes to market
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Power Electronics Supports / Benefits
from a Large Supply and IP Chain
Basic /
Materials
Technology
University Advanced
Components Research
University Advanced
Systems Research
mW
GW
University
Basic
Research
Components
Power
Electronic
Systems
The UK Power Electronics Opportunity
The scope of Power Electronics is vast
Some high volume markets such as industrial drives are driven by
large multi-nationals (6 / top 10 with UK Design and/or manufacturing),
with a global presence in established and developing markets
Consider four areas - each being: embryonic, rapidly developing or
dramatically changing due to disruptive technology:
Automotive &
Transport
Aerospace
Electricity
Generation,
Transmission &
Distribution
Consumer
The UK is in a strong position to compete in these areas
Risk and opportunity are both likely to be high
Each area presents technically demanding challenges that will
certainly be relevant and supportive to the entire PE community
The UK is internationally competitive in Power Electronics
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Aerospace
Future Power Electronic hardware for airliners
will be progressively more power dense than
current technology.
Power electronics . . . . . are on a steep curve of
performance and cost improvement.
The power electronics of just 10 years ago were
too large and heavy.
Quotation from Senior Boeing Technical Executive
(Reference Aviation Week & Space Technology 28 March 05)
Power Electronics in Aerospace
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Conventional Aircraft Technologies
ENVIRONMENTAL
CONTROL SYSTEM
PRIMARY
ELECTRICAL
DISTRIBUTION
AVIONICS
ENGINE START
WING ICING
PROTECTION
APU
HYDRAULIC MAINS &
UNDERCARRIAGE
FLIGHT CONTROL &
ACTUATION
HYDRAULIC
BLEED AIR
ELECTRICAL
Total Electrical
Rating ~175kVA
Boeing 787 Widebody Airliner
More Electric Aircraft Concept
Each Generator
Rated at ~225kVA
Total Electrical
Rating ~1.4MVA
ENVIRONMENTAL
CONTROL SYSTEM
PRIMARY
ELECTRICAL
DISTRIBUTION
AVIONICS
ENGINE START
WING ICING
PROTECTION
APU
UNDERCARRIAGE
FLIGHT CONTROL
& ACTUATION
UNDERCARRIAGE
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Opportunities & Market Size
As new designs of civil airliner are launched into fleet service between 2015 and
2025, the annual global market for the power electronic content of each shipset
will be between around 1225M at todays values.
Assuming a successful UK National Strategy is effective in supporting the UK share
of the global market at 15% to 20%.
Typical annual turnover per employee on OE (Original Equipment) in UK Aerospace
is ~213k.
Core Jobs in high added value manufacturing created/retained will be around
1000.
3100 other jobs will be indirectly supported elsewhere in UK manufacturing.
Significant degree of Vertical Integration of Technical Specialist & Sub-Contractors
in the UK based Supply Chain could considerably increase this total.
UK Strengths & Capabilities
UK can do all of the new technology (excepting civil aircraft APUs)
at systems level.
Equipment in biz jets, regionals, helicopters as well as airliners.
For flight critical technical equipment (other than cockpit avionics
and software based products) the UK probably has the same
footprint as France & Germany combined.
More than half of the global industrial base is in USA.
UK industrial leaders for each major equipment also has a UK
based competitor to their global corporate owner.
Global corporate owners spread over USA, UK, France.
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UK Position
UK is presently No 2 in the global market for aviation (15% - 20%)
Behind USA (~60% or more)
Ahead of France, Germany (~10% each)
Analysts study on extent of low cost country investment
programmes in aeronautics. Power electronic related systems are
critical components like Engines compared with Structures
Bought in.
Transport
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Applications
Automotive
Power Steering
Traction Inverters
Air conditioning
Pumps
Suspension
Charging
DC-DC Conversion
Rail
Traction Inverters
Marine
Propulsion System
Opportunities & Market Size
Automotive Example
UK 1.7m vehicles/year, at 75kW per vehicle
Potential of 127.5GWof installed PE/year
Worldwide 70m vehicles/year
Potential of 5000GWof installed PE/year
Charging infrastructure massive impact on grid
Supply chain for EVs not only Alstom Grid
Rail Example
Chinese market alone 7,200 vehicles at 3MW per
vehicle
Potential of 22GW of installed PE/year
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UK Strengths & Capabilities
History over 100 years manufacturing experience for large
engineering projects
Converteam, Alstom Grid, Emerson, Bombardier
Universities
Nottingham Power Electronics, Packaging
Warwick, Cambridge Power Semiconductors
Manchester, Newcastle, Bristol, Strathclyde Machines and Drives
Edinburgh - Renewables
Imperial HVDC
Major World Players across supply chain components to
systems
UK is great at systems integration
UK automotive heritage - Zytek, Prodrive and Ricardo, JLR, TATA -
384,000 Jobs
Dynex, Westcode, Semelab, NXP, IR, National
Electricity Generation,
Transmission and Distribution
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Technologies
Large industry
Energy storage
PV
Embedded
domestic
generation
Smart
meters
EVs
HVDC grid
Waste
CHP
CHP SMEs
Commercial
buildings
Industry
National/International Regional
Offshore
wind
Conventional
generation
Power quality
device
AC grid
Biofuels
Energy
storage
Community
H
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Storage
Heat
Rail
Power Electronic Control Communicating device
Market Size & Opportunities
Wind Converters
36 GW Market in 2010
Source: GWEC Global Wind Report 2010
PV Converters
15 GW Market in 2010
Source: EPIA Solar Generation 6 Report 2011
HVDC Systems
24 GW Market in 2010
Source: Alstom Grid Estimate
Supply Chain
High value components
Big opportunities for 2
nd
and 3
rd
tier suppliers
Converter Value Analysis
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HVDC Transmission
Alstom Grid - Stafford
Ningdong-Shandong project - the first
660kV HVDC transmission project
in the world.
4,000MW over a distance of 1,300km
Each of the two converter stations
contains two 2,000MW HVDC
converters, each in turn comprising
six suspended double-valve
structures
7.2kV electrically-triggered thyristors.
The rated power of 2,000MW per
converter is the highest of any HVDC
scheme in the world and, indeed, the
highest of any single power
electronic converter for any type of
application.
Tidal Power
Tidal Generation Ltd (Rolls-Royce)
500kW tidal power generation system in Orkney.
1MW system in planning - 10MW array planned within 5
years
Power Electronics is a key enabling technology for
realising a viable product.
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UK Strengths & Capabilities
Systems integration has
always been a UK strength
Major Players
Converteam UK
Control Techniques
Alstom Grid UK
Established Supply Chain
Dynex
Westcode
Intl. Transformers (IST)
Norfolk Capacitors
World Class Universities
Innovative Start-ups
Lighting & Consumer
Electronics
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Consumer, Office and Lighting
Key Differentiators
Industry-leading analog
HVICs, MOSFETs and
IGBT platforms
Industry-leading energy
saving design expertise
Silicon packaging
technology delivering
superior system
performance
Key Products
Digital Control ICs
High-Voltage Ics
Si MOSFETs
IGBTs
Integrated Power
Modules
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Lighting Lighting
Computer
and Office
Equipment
Computer
and Office
Equipment
Appliances Appliances Consumer Consumer
Opportunities & Market Size
The global power discrete semiconductor and module
market is around $13.5bn with CAGR of 11.4%
Consumer and Computing markets are dependant on both
discrete semiconductor devices and modules
Market size for Consumer products in 2011 is expected to
be in excess of $2.6bn for discrete power semiconductors
and $225 million for power modules. CAGR is in line with the
overall market at 11%.
Lighting relies on discrete semiconductors and not modules
and has a market size of $594 million with CAGR of 8.1%
Computer and Office Equipment power management market
size is $3.5bn with CAGR 0f 14.5%
Source - IMS Research - The World Market for Semiconductor Discretes & Modules
2010 Edition
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UK Strength & Capabilities
The UK has a number of top twenty global manufacturers
of power discretes and modules, namely International
Rectifier, NXP, DIODES (Zetex)
UK based design groups of power semiconductor
companies also figure in the global top twenty, ie
Infineon, STMicroelectronics
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Industrial Drives
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Industrial Drives
The market
The world market for industrial drives is over 8.5 billion
(excluding motors and systems integration), with growth
significantly ahead of the industrial norm. Its growth is
driven by two primary sources:
The growth of industrial automation, itself driven by the demands
for quality, productivity and interestingly - factory management
information from the production line
Energy saving driven mostly by cost-reduction opportunities
and increasingly supported by regulations such as the climate
change levy.
Of the total, 7 billion relates to low voltage (up to 690V
ac) supplies, and 1.5 billion on medium voltage (2 to
6.6.11kV) supplies.
Industrial Drives - Industries
Metals
Oil & Natural Gas
Pow er Generation
Marine
Other Industries
Mining
Water &
Wastew ater
Chemical
Cement
Pulp & Paper
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Industrial Drives - Applications
Manufacturing
Automation
Elevators &
Cranes
Air Conditioning
& Ref rigeration
Process
Industry Control
Other
Industrial Drives
Six of the top ten global market leaders in the
industrial drives market have design and/or
manufacturing facilities in the UK (Emerson
Control Techniques, Converteam, Siemens,
Parker (SSD), ABB (Baldor) and Yaskawa).
Provides employment for over 10,000. Over
2,500 jobs are directly involved in industrial drive
design and manufacture in the UK, with a similar
number of other jobs involved in the supply
chain, and more than 5,000 involved in systems
integration of the industrial drive product.
The contribution to GDP is in excess of 750
million.
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Power Electronics -
The Hidden Critical Link
Transport
Domestic & Consumer Industrial
Commercial Energy