On February 12 -14, Chrys Panayiotou and Gary Beasley attended the 2019 Power America annual conference held at North Carolina State University (NCSU) in Raleigh, NC. They participated in presentations and workshops on wide band-gap (WBG) semiconductor devices that are being developed for power electronics and especially, high-power inverters for solar and wind power conversion. The two major technologies are Silicon Carbide (SiC) and Gallium Nitride (GaN). Efficiencies of these new devices are 98% and can operate in MHz compared to today’s Silicon MOSFET devices operating in KHz.

The Laser/Photonics program of Central Carolina Community College, under the direction of Gary Beasley, has been collaborating with Power America for years now, with summer programs at their semiconductor fabrication facility at NCSU. Power America and LASER-TEC collaborate on workforce development.

Power America is a member of Manufacturing USA, which brings together the brightest minds in the wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductor world. Semiconductor manufacturers and the companies that use power semiconductors in their products are working together to accelerate the adoption of next generation silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) power electronics.

Power America’s objective is to reduce the cost and the perceived risk inherent with this new technology. With the backing of the U.S. Department of Energy and engagement of top researchers, Power America exchanges knowledge and processes and provides access to an educated workforce. This enables American industry to develop more innovative power electronics products and systems.