This is how Lars Lindberg of Inmotion Techologies explains his company’s involvement in the SiC Power Center. He is very pleased with the participation in the center so far. Thanks to the center, the company has been able to conduct an industry project up to prototype stage, and he hopes that a continuation of the center's activities will enable the project to be further developed.

Lars Lindberg is Systems Manager R & D at Inmotion Technologies AB, an international company providing electric drives and motors that can be tailored to the needs of the customer. Lars has been involved in SiC Power Center since its inception, and is very supportive of the center, especially now that silicon carbide technology is being implemented for certain applications.

“We want to be at the forefront, so it was evident that we should join. We get a better understanding of silicon carbide - both its opportunities and its risks,” Lars emphasizes.
The great advantage of silicon carbide is its high efficiency. Silicon carbide technology is expensive, however, and the devices cost more than corresponding devices in silicon. Therefore, at the moment silicon carbide use is limited to a few special applications, Lars explains:

“We have built a device in silicon carbide that can drive hybrid buses, and we have shown that it can save fuel thanks to its higher efficiency. Thus you can recoup the initial higher outlay of silicon carbide within a couple of years,” says Lars.

This industry project was financed by VINNOVA and the Swedish Energy Agency and driven through SiC Power Center. Inmotion has built and verified an electrical drive unit (known as an inverter) between the battery and the electric motor, which controls the current to the motor. Through the project they have been able to eliminate some of the risks associated with silicon carbide. Lars emphasizes that the center has been a prerequisite for the running of the project, and the project was well supported by the work of the doctoral students attached to the center.
“It will be a few years until we see a finished project. Together with our customers, we will now conduct system testing of the functionality including the electromagnetic compatibility,” emphasizes Lars.

This is how Professor Mats Alaküla explains his involvement in SiC Power Center. He describes the center as being ideally structured for research and development, facilitating the development of silicon carbide technology.

Mats Alaküla divides his time between academia and industry. He is professor and head of a research group within electrical engineering and automation at Lund University and works as a Senior Advisor at Volvo Group Trucks Technology. He is also on the board of the SiC Power Center. For several years he has followed the developments within the silicon carbide field.

“Progress is underway on the silicon carbide front, and it is time to proceed with our development work. The center has a well-functioning arrangement for research and development, and it suits well us very well,” Mats tells.

For a long time, the great potential of silicon carbide has been on the agenda, but the big breakthrough has been slow to come. When a new technology arises, the “old one” (i.e. silicon) typically shapes up according to Mats. We have seen new solutions in silicon, and the two technologies could be regarded as competitors. But Mats has high hopes for silicon carbide. He has participated in the “OverDrive” project together with Volvo Cars - a silicon carbide project financed by VINNOVA / SiC Power Center.

“There are trends when it comes to drive systems, and what we now want is to "package" the devices so that the system takes up less space. We do not solely hunt energy efficiency per se – it is an added advantage. What we create will be smaller, lighter and temperature resistant,” he stresses.

It is hoped that the solution will involve sharing of the cooling system in the car. “OverDrive” is a first step, which led to a device that works in a lab environment. In the next step, the device will be refined and will have a functioning cooling and "packing".

One of Mats current interests are “DC / DC converters” that convert the voltage between the battery for propulsion and the system’s battery.

“We need a converter that is small, lightweight, efficient, and inexpensive, and silicon carbide can provide us with that,” he explains.

Mats Alaküla believes that we are at a breakthrough in silicon carbide. The first smaller silicon carbide devices are already on the market. The drive system described above is expected to be implemented in commercial vehicles within about 5-10 years from now.