Inspiration to Beat Hesitation: 5 Reasons Silicon Carbide is an Unstoppable Force

Industry transformation is a perennial occurrence in technology. In just over a decade at the turn of the last century, the automobile went from a rare sight to an almost total replacement for the horse and carriage. Apple’s iPhone was in the hands of just over ten percent of Americans the year after it was introduced, but eight years later more than 75 percent of Americans owned one. When Amazon.com launched in 1994, it was seen as an interesting internet experiment. Today it’s a retailer, a marketing platform, a delivery and logistics network, a payment service, a credit lender, an auction house, a major book publisher, a producer of television and films, a fashion designer, a hardware manufacturer, and a leading host of cloud server space.

Add silicon carbide to this list of transformative innovations. Today, silicon carbide plays a role in the entire consumer and industrial supply chain, from turning wheels on roads to powering the chips in our data centers and the heat pumps in our homes.

After more than 30 years in the semiconductor industry, I feel genuinely inspired by this amazing material. I’ve seen a huge amount of adoption in industrial markets as well as meaningful penetration in consumer markets. The ball really feels like it is rolling downhill and picking up more momentum every day.

In fact, at every point of comparison with silicon, silicon carbide can provide power electronics better, more efficient power, and, in most cases, can do it at equal or lower system cost.

Here are five reasons why I believe silicon carbide is an unstoppable force.

1. It Has the Efficiency to Power an Electrified World.

Silicon carbide is recognized for its ability to improve energy efficiency, which is crucial for addressing global energy demands and mitigating climate change.

For example, silicon carbide increases power efficiency by up to 4% compared to traditional silicon in various power applications. This efficiency, which seems small, actually translates to significant reductions in carbon emissions on a global scale. As a wide bandgap semiconductor, silicon carbide can operate at higher voltages and frequencies without compromising performance, making it suitable for high-power applications.

Using energy in a smarter way or being more efficient is what silicon carbide is all about.

2. It Has the Thermal Conductivity AI Computing Demands. 

Silicon carbide's ability to operate at elevated temperatures reduces the need for complex cooling systems, thereby enhancing reliability. This is an essential consideration in AI data centers. Although most people remain fixated on the more glamorous processing side of AI, silicon carbide supplies power to the racks that chips like Nvidia plug into on the backplane.

A quick example of the benefits: if AI requires 200 terawatts more power in five years, and on average silicon carbide is 1.4% more efficient than silicon, that adds up to savings of 2.8 trillion watts. This is enough energy to power five countries the size of the United States for a year.

3. It Offers Lower Lifetime System Costs than Silicon.

Silicon carbide delivers measurable benefits to the world’s largest power markets, including industrial, automotive, and renewables, that unlocks improved performance and lower system costs. The use case for silicon carbide technology is expansive and will only continue to grow as more and more industries find themselves needing to solve for the same power loss, system size, and total system costs.

4. Its Space and Weight Savings Enable Entirely New Designs.

Silicon carbide enables the development of smaller, lighter power systems, which is advantageous in automotive, aerospace, and other applications. The reduced size of passive components, like inductors and capacitors, and the minimized need for heat management equipment lead to more compact designs, facilitating innovative engineering solutions.

5. Silicon Carbide Supply Manufactured in America.

The U.S. Department of Energy designated silicon carbide as a critical material with high risk to supply disruption that is integral to global energy technology supply chains through 2035. Wolfspeed’s groundbreaking investments in new fabs in New York and North Carolina will create high-paying, accessible jobs that will increase the production of this American-made technology, bolster domestic supply chain resiliency, and reinforce economic and national security.

Wolfspeed shares the U.S. government’s vision of restoring the United States as the global leader in semiconductor manufacturing and bolstering U.S. leadership in R&D and critical supply chains to meet demand. Investments, like the proposed U.S. CHIPS and Science Act, supports Wolfspeed’s long-term growth and leadership in the domestic silicon carbide production required to power energy systems underpinning artificial intelligence (AI) data centers, battery storage and electric vehicles (EVs).

How silicon carbide can drive even more breakthroughs

Although I believe that silicon carbide is an unstoppable force, progress could be happening faster. Here is the outline of an action plan that would accelerate silicon carbide production and use even more than today. 

1. Modernize the Grid.

The current U.S. power grid was designed half a century ago, relies on outdated copper transformers and transmission lines that can lose 15-20% of their load as heat due to resistance. Silicon carbide can play a crucial role in modernizing this infrastructure by enabling the development of solid-state transformers that are significantly smaller and more efficient than traditional substations. This shift can reduce energy loss and improve overall grid performance.

2. Get People Off the Fence.

Using the consumer EV market as an example, it is evident that EVs have rapidly adopted silicon carbide (SiC) technology. More EVs on the road require better charging infrastructure. When I was in China in 2019, one or two in ten cars I saw in Xi'an, Beijing, Hefei, or Shanghai had green license plates to indicate an EV or hybrid EV. When I visited the same cities this fall, six or seven in ten cars now had green EV plates – and this is in a country where more than half the population lives in high-rise apartments.

However, consumer reluctance persists due to limited charging infrastructure. To overcome this barrier, government and local authorities must prioritize the development of widespread and accessible charging stations, ensuring that the grid can support the increased demand for electricity.

3. Remove the Contradictions.

One contradiction curtailing growth may be silicon companies themselves, in part because they have produced silicon chips for years and are hesitant to switching their customers to silicon carbide. These companies must defend their positions, and despite the clear need to move to silicon carbide, it is not in their short-term financial interests to be disruptive. That’s a headwind and a barrier to adoption.

4. Form Better Partnerships.

Collaboration among companies in this space is vital for addressing real-world challenges effectively. By leveraging our expertise in silicon carbide alongside our partners' system knowledge, we can create innovative solutions that lead to faster design cycles and improved products.

Wolfspeed prides itself on the ability to pivot and flexibly adapt to changing technical and business needs. By combining our in-depth silicon carbide expertise with our partner’s system knowledge, we can come up with novel solutions, which ultimately means faster design cycles and better products.

Join the Early Adopters

Despite existing challenges, the market recognizes the urgency to embrace change. Silicon carbide is emerging as a future-proof solution for companies aiming to invest in technology that meets the increasing demands for power and energy efficiency in the electrification of various sectors.

Adopters of silicon carbide technology are already reaping the benefits, with some markets experiencing double-digit compound annual growth rates (CAGRs). This trend is expected to persist in the mid- to long-term as advancements in voltage, current, and packaging continue to expand the capabilities of silicon carbide.

And the fact remains that silicon carbide can do just about anything silicon can do in power electronics. But better.