Smart grid "smart" should not be the only

Affected by the macroeconomic weakness, the overall semiconductor market in 2012 showed a downturn. Thomas Schmidt, global director of power management and diversification markets at Infineon Technologies, said that the semiconductor market in 2013 will continue to show a declining trend. Conversely, the power MOSFET sector is expected to grow by 7.7% in 2013. Mobile communications applications will Is the main driving force. For smart grids, it should not be just "intelligence."

Thomas said that about one-third of the world’s energy consumption is currently being consumed by electricity, of which the United States, Europe and China are the three major consumers. However, "most of the energy is actually not lost, but lost," Thomas said. "By using power semiconductors, this part of energy loss can be effectively reduced." He pointed out that by 2030, semiconductor solutions The program is expected to help save 27% of energy.

“Traditional household energy consumption is mainly used for lighting, cooking, heating, etc. Nowadays, more and more electronic devices such as multimedia technology, communications, and IT equipment have appeared in our lives,” said Thomas. “These changes should prompt us to Think about how to use energy when transitioning to a smart city to minimize unnecessary energy consumption, such as power loss, standby power consumption, the integration of renewable energy, and the balance between supply and demand.” With all of these issues, smart grids are necessary, and they are upgrades of existing grids with locally distributed intelligence, security, efficiency, and controllability.

When it comes to the status quo of smart grid development, Thomas pointed out that “it is not enough to add 'intelligence' to the establishment of a smart grid.” The new smart grid system needs to simultaneously achieve the following three goals: reduce CO2 emissions and achieve electricity supply and demand Balance, grid stability and safety. "Lower energy consumption can be achieved through high-performance semiconductor devices." He said that power semiconductors play a vital role in improving the energy efficiency of the entire power supply chain, from generation, transmission and distribution to the final use of electricity. At the same time, power semiconductors can increase the power efficiency of electronic devices, and in the field of renewable energy, they have played an extremely important role in connecting wind power and solar power to the power grid and reducing transmission losses. In addition, security - to prevent malicious attacks; a variety of supporting smart devices, sensors, microcontrollers to achieve distributed control of the power grid; energy-efficient semiconductors that can reduce power losses and provide reliable energy, these factors need to be considered.