as many as 80 million transformers<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\u201cAll of the distribution transformers are ultimately going to need to be replaced. Over 50% of them are 35 years old. There\u2019s a big need for an upgrade,\u201d Baglino said.<\/p>\n
Because they\u2019re made from silicon-based materials, they\u2019re flexible, controllable, and software-updatable. They\u2019re also immune from price fluctuations that rock the copper market.<\/p>\n
\u201cPower semiconductors keep getting cheaper. Steel, copper, and oil, unfortunately, is not in that situation,\u201d Baglino said. \u201cCommodity prices can move all over the place, and they generally move up.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
In an old-style transformer, power flows into the transformer through copper wires wound around one side of an O-shaped iron core. As the electricity flows, it induces a magnetic field in the core. On the other side of the core, the magnetic field induces electricity in another set of copper windings. If the wires wrap around the core more times on the input side than the output side, the voltage decreases on the output side. If the ratio inverts, the output voltage increases.<\/p>\n
Solid-state transformers eschew the copper windings in favor of semiconductors, using materials like silicon carbide or gallium nitride to handle frequency conversion. They can come in a range of configurations, with the most comprehensive setup consisting of three basic parts: a rectifier that converts alternating current to direct current, a converter that changes the voltage of the direct current, and an inverter that changes the direct current back into alternating current.<\/p>\n
Unlike iron-core transformers, solid-state transformers can handle power that flows in both directions, making them useful in places that need backup power, like data centers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In a data center, a solid-state transformer can replace several different pieces of equipment, not just the transformer that steps voltage down from the grid. Every data center uses backup power, which requires a string of devices to bring power into the facility. Solid-state transformers can handle all of those duties in one box.<\/p>\n
The technology also allows data centers to more easily integrate so-called behind-the-meter power, where generating capacity is connected directly to the data center, not the grid. Those typically require another set of transformers.<\/p>\n
And when coupled with grid-scale batteries, solid-state transformers can eliminate uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), too, freeing up space inside the data center for more racks.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you add up the cost of everything we\u2019ve taken out, we\u2019re 60% to 70% of that cost,\u201d Haroon Inam, co-founder and CEO of DG Matrix, told TechCrunch.<\/p>\n
DG Matrix has been focusing on its Interport technology, which can route power from multiple sources to multiple loads of differing voltages, a setup the company holds multiple patents on.<\/p>\n
Heron Power, meanwhile, is working on transforming medium-voltage power in data centers, solar farms, and grid-scale battery installations. In a data center, its Heron Link transformers can provide racks with 30 seconds of power while backup sources come online. Altogether, Heron Link occupy 70% less space than existing parts. At a solar farm, Heron Power\u2019s transformers can perform the duties of an inverter and a transformer for the same price.<\/p>\n
In a head-to-head comparison, solid state transformers still command a cost premium over iron-core transformers. For that reason, they\u2019re unlikely to replace the giant humming boxes at grid substations in the very near future.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But in data centers and at EV charging hubs, where solid-state transformers take the place of several pieces of equipment, they\u2019ll start making inroads.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When they finally hit the grid in bigger numbers, they have the potential to cut down on transmission and distribution costs, one of the biggest contributors to utility bill inflation.<\/p>\n
Because today\u2019s transformers are passive, unable to react to fluctuations, distribution networks have been built with a significant amount of spare capacity, Baglino said. Solid-state transformers, though, can respond to changing conditions, allowing grid operators to send more power through the same lines.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can actually make the infrastructure more affordable because you\u2019re putting more kilowatt-hours through the same poles and wires,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s where intelligence, in place of passive mechanical objects that were designed 100 years ago, can make a big difference.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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