German Neuland project aims to halve energy losses
Six leading companies in the semiconductor and solar industries are joining forces on a project to explore new avenues for the efficient use of electricity from renewable sources.
The Neuland project is headed by Infineon and funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The aim of the project is to reduce losses in feeding electricity into the grid - for example in photovoltaic inverters - by as much as 50%, without significantly increasing system costs.
This is to be achieved using semiconductor devices based on silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride on silicon (GaN-on-Si). The new semiconductor devices are also to be used in switched mode power supplies for desktop and laptop pcs, flat screen tvs, servers, and telecommunication systems.
The project will run until mid 2013 and will receive funding of approximately €4.7million from the BMBF under the Federal Government's High Tech Strategy, which made a call for proposals on 'Power Electronics for Energy Efficiency Enhancement'.
