Power When high voltage meets real loads


Maurizio Di Paolo Emilio, marcom director, EPC, explains how EPC and BrightLoop are “redefining” HV-LV power conversion


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s electrified platforms move to higher battery voltages and more distributed electrical architectures, the role of the DC-DC converter is changing


fundamentally. Today’s converters are no longer limited to supplying auxiliary 12V loads. They are becoming active energy management nodes that can control dynamic loads, process regenerative power, and stabilize low voltage networks under ever more challenging conditions. This evolution is especially visible in high-performance electric vehicles, aerospace systems, motorsport, maritime applications and non-road mobile machinery (NRMM) where the move to 800V+ platforms creates new challenges in terms of efficiency, control bandwidth, electromagnetic compatibility and fault management.


In this context, the partnership between Efficient Power Conversion (EPC) and BrightLoop highlights the evolution of converter design enabled by wide- bandgap devices, not just at the level of the semiconductor, but also in the areas of topology selection, control architecture, thermal engineering, and system integration.


From auxiliary converter to energy management node


BrightLoop’s latest converter architecture departs significantly from traditional fixed- ratio auxiliary DC-DC converters. Rather than designing a platform around a single voltage ratio, the company developed a configurable bidirectional architecture capable of supporting HV inputs approaching 1 kV, dual low-voltage ports, and high-current bidirectional operation. The shift was driven by an increasingly fragmented electrification landscape. “Initially, BrightLoop designed fixed- ratio auxiliary converters tailored to specific client applications. However, comprehensive market analysis revealed a recurring industry challenge: diverse voltage architectures across platforms, yet identical fundamental needs for power conversion and management,” said BrightLoop spokesperson. “We recognized that a wide-input, bidirectional topology could address multiple client


20 June 2026


requirements with a single scalable platform.” The architectural consequence is substantial. Instead of operating as passive power supplies, these converters actively participate in low-voltage bus stabilization, managing transient current events and reverse regenerative energy flows. “Transitioning from a unidirectional converter to a bidirectional energy node allowed us to actively stabilize the low- voltage (LV) bus, effectively dampening voltage transients and managing both peak current demands and reverse regenerative currents,” said BrightLoop.


Why topology still matters more than devices


Although GaN semiconductors often dominate conversations around efficiency improvements, topology selection remains a defining factor in converter performance. For high-power HV-LV conversion, BrightLoop adopted a multi-phase interleaved synchronous buck-boost topology designed to preserve efficiency across both step-down and step-up operation.


Components in Electronics


“Topology efficiency is driven by high- frequency switching and optimized real-time control rather than circuit complexity,” said BrightLoop. “By utilizing a multi-phase interleaved synchronous buck-boost topology, we achieve smooth transitions between buck and boost modes.”


The choice of an interleaved architecture is especially important at low-voltage, high-current operation, where conduction losses increasingly dominate switching losses. Delivering hundreds of amps at the LV side shifts performance bottlenecks toward parasitic resistance and thermal dissipation. “At high current levels on the LV side, conduction losses and PCB parasitic resistance are the dominant loss mechanisms,” BrightLoop explained. “We implemented a multi-phase interleaved architecture that splits the high total current across parallel buck-boost channels, drastically reducing per-channel losses.” This distributed current-sharing strategy was combined with parallel low-RDS(on)


GaN www.cieonline.co.uk


transistors to reduce conduction losses while maintaining switching efficiency. Although higher switching frequencies typically increase switching losses, operating at 600 kHz enabled smaller magnetic components and lower-DCR inductors, reducing conduction losses and improving thermal performance.


GaN devices enable higher density and faster control


The collaboration with EPC played a central role in enabling BrightLoop’s switching strategy.


Figure 1: BrighLoop DC-DC (Source: BrightLoop)


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