Infineon and Enphase Energy Announce World's First 900 V GaN BDS Devices for Solid-State Transformers in AI Data Centers

­Infineon Technologies AG will supply the world’s first 900 V gallium nitride (GaN) monolithic bidirectional switches (BDS) to Enphase Energy, Inc., a global energy technology company, for deployment in its solid-state transformer (SST) power modules. By extending the operating voltage range of GaN technology to 900 V while maintaining its high-frequency switching characteristics, the devices enable highly efficient, compact power conversion architectures for emerging applications including AI data centers.

SSTs are emerging as a key building block for next-generation power distribution architectures, where efficiency, power density and reliability are critical requirements. While silicon carbide (SiC) is widely used in high-voltage power conversion systems, the new CoolGaN™ 900 V monolithic BDS expands the range of available solutions for SST architectures that benefit from high-frequency operation and integrated bidirectional switching functionality. 

"The future of power conversion will be enabled by a broad portfolio of semiconductor technologies," said Adam White, Division President Power Systems at Infineon. "With our new 900 V CoolGaN BDS, we are extending the range of applications where customers can benefit from the efficiency and power density advantages of GaN and bringing the technology into a voltage class that opens new possibilities for high-performance power conversion systems." 

The collaboration directly benefits Enphase’s IQ® Solid-State Transformer, the company's SST product for AI data centers, where power density, efficiency and uptime directly influence the economics of every megawatt deployed. The same device technology is also expected to benefit commercial solar inverters by enabling three-phase, line-to-line designs for 480 V applications in the United States and 400 V applications in other regions, with fewer switches, lower losses and reduced system cost.

"GaN is not new to us. It has been running in Enphase’s IQ9 Microinverters in the field, and that experience has given us confidence in deploying the technology in megawatt-scale systems," said Hans van Antwerpen, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Enphase Energy. "Moving to 900 V gives us more voltage headroom while retaining the benefits of high-frequency switching. It allows us to remove converter stages from the system and reduce the number of components in the power path, which translates to higher efficiency, higher power density and improved system reliability.”

Unlike conventional power switches, monolithic GaN BDS devices integrate bidirectional voltage blocking and current conduction in a single device. This enables simpler power stages with fewer components and supports the high-frequency operation needed to increase power density and reduce the size of magnetic components. The higher blocking voltage enables designers to address higher system voltages with fewer power conversion stages, supporting the industry's transition toward 800 V and future 1,500 VDC power distribution architectures.

Within the collaboration, Enphase led the development and system-level demonstration, building on more than ten years of in-house research into GaN-based power conversion, with device technology and engineering support from Infineon. The two companies have already partnered on 650 V GaN BDS technology for the Enphase IQ9™ Microinverters. The new 900 V GaN BDS devices have been successfully tested and are now being integrated into Enphase’s IQ SST product development, with production qualification expected to follow. 

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