Electric power generation | green and clean

The growing world population and the steady expansion of the industrial sector make energy supply a global challenge

Rising energy consumption has long been seen as an indication of economic advancement and growing wealth. Decarbonization and energy saving are today’s trends for wealth and for a future worth living. One of the most effective solutions for green electric power generation reaches back to the early 20^th century: In 1921 Albert Einstein won the Nobel Prize for discovering the photoelectric effect – which eventually led to the invention of solar panels.

A hundred years later, solar energy together with other renewables has taken the center stage in the efforts against climate change. Renewables are on track to supply more power globally than coal by 2025. Without renewable energy, the world will not meet its CO₂ emission targets.

Efficient and clean energy generation

Solar and wind energy have experienced tremendous growth in recent years and already reached cost parity with fossil fuels. The main sources to generate electricity from renewable energies today are photovoltaic and wind power.

In both types of power generation, the electricity generated has to be converted to be fed into the electrical grid. The nature of wind and sun brings certain challenges for which power semiconductors are the key: the rectification and conversion of direct solar power, irregular frequencies of wind, and the complexity of building and managing public power grids.

Find out how Infineon is helping to increase the efficiency of wind turbines with application-specific, light-controlled thyristors, while reducing wind’s leverage cost of energy, in the EU-funded project (Horizon 2020) FasTaP.

Number one semiconductor provider of renewable energies

With its power semiconductors for wind power and photovoltaic components, Infineon has been for decades the leading manufacturer for the most efficient and climate-friendly electric power generation. Our technological innovations enable the reduction of inverter size, lowest conversion losses in power generation and transmission, increased lifetime of power products, as well as highest reliability and performance.

Power converters and inverters for wind turbines

Solutions for solar energy systems