Cree co-founder Dr John Palmour is to champion silicon carbide as the most cost-effective power technology in a plenary session at the IEEE ECCE power conference in Montreal Canada in September.

In a transistor price comparison, SiC devices loose badly to silicon.

“A component-to-component comparison will never be wholly accurate because silicon carbide is vastly superior to silicon with regard to performance,” said Palmour. “SiC devices make systems less expensive through their ability to operate at much higher frequencies, shrink magnetics, and simplify designs. They can also dramatically cut conduction and thermal management costs in lower frequency applications.”

Beyond this, he argues that SiC devices can allow designers to switch from multi-level topologies to simpler two-level designs.

Palmour will present “SiC power devices: Changing the dynamics of power circuits from 1 to 30kV” between 8:00 and 10:30am on 21 September. in room 517D. The talk will include mention of devices up to 27kV.

ECCE 2015 will take place across 20-24 September at the Montreal Palais des Congrès. It covers electrical and electromechanical energy conversion; spanning components, materials, systems, resources, applications and practices.

Cree is presenting four other papers:

900V silicon carbide mosfets for breakthrough power supply design

Advances in SiC and GaN based devices, packaging, and systems.

3.3kV SiC mosfet update for medium voltage applications.

10–25kV silicon carbide power modules for medium voltage applications