Trend
Power developments in 2021
By Nicolas Richard, Director of EMEA Automotive Business Development; Lev Slutskiy, Regional Manager; and Henryk Dabrowski, VP Sales, EMEA, Vicor
V
icor presents the following examples where it sees existing power trends significantly accelerating in 2021, with greater
emphasis being placed on the use and development of efficient, compact, modular-based power delivery networks (PDNs).
1. Covid has accelerated the move to electric vehicles and the migration to 48V systems Transportation has been among the hardest hit by the global pandemic, with fewer people commuting and travelling long distances. Tere’s been a rapid decline in vehicle sales, with the slowdown predicted to last well into 2021. Now, manufacturers have increased their focus on growth segments, specifically electric vehicles (EVs), which drives the trend to replace 12V with 48V PDNs. Tis year we will see more 48V battery systems, especially in hybrids, as manufacturers add active suspension, rear-wheel steering and antiroll stabilisation systems. Tis means, more 48V systems will need to convert down to 12V to support the car’s safety, comfort, infotainment and navigation systems. Primary battery voltages used to power
EVs and HEVs will also increase, with 800V becoming more common, allowing faster charging times. Tese changes demand a new class of power components for the power distribution network on board the new automobiles.
2. Data centre capacity demand will exceed physical space Data centres were already growing rapidly, but the pandemic has accelerated demand for them beyond previous forecasts. More people are working from home, and with
04 April 2021
www.electronicsworld.co.uk
fewer options for leisure time outside the home, more people are streaming videos and playing on-line games. Hence, in 2021, the quest for more power capacity and efficiency in the datacentre will step up a gear, with the industry purchasing more renewable energy than ever before, and moving away from AC to DC infrastructure solutions to better cope with the massive increases in demand. This rapid and unanticipated
acceleration in demand is outpacing the ability to expand physical capacity in data centres; therefore, data centre operators will need to pack more capacity into existing rack spaces, with significant implications for power delivery. Being able to deliver power more efficiently and within the same rack footprint with the necessary thermal management is more essential than ever. AI, the Cloud and Big Data are driving demand for much higher processing power, resulting in far higher energy consumption and higher currents, which in turn lead to increased losses due to power conversion processes. Several major high-performance computing (HPC) manufacturers, such as Nvidia, have moved over to this approach, in effect turning the datacentre “green”. A more efficient way to manage power
is to increase the voltage within these systems and to use direct current either after rectification, or directly from a source of renewable energy. The task of conversion of the high voltage – usually 260-410 VDC – to the values used at the input of modern computing units – 12V or 48V – could be performed by bus converters. Factorised Power Architectures (FPAs) and efficient converter modules can be used to shorten the distance between the high-current supply module and the point of load (PoL), minimising power loss in future supercomputing applications.
3. European drone and robot sightings set to reach 747m in 2021 By the end of 2021, for every person in Europe there will be at least one sighting of a delivery robot or drone on its way to drop off a package or disinfect public spaces, tasks brought on by the pandemic. To meet demand, robotics developers will need to leverage existing designs, treating them as platforms, rather than trying to develop new robots from the ground up. Scaling of platforms will require scaling of power to meet different sizes and capabilities of robots. A modular, scaleable approach to power delivery will be critical to meeting this challenge. One of the key factors in expanding
automated delivery services will be range and weight of robots and drones. Cities will see more bots than drones, whilst remote areas more drones, helping with crises and delivery of medical supplies, whereas heavier deliveries will be supported by autonomous trucks. In Europe, companies like Tesco,
Amazon, DHL and UPS have all started testing delivery drones, and the current pandemic has firmly pushed retail toward a complete digital transformation. Te convenience of home delivery that people have become accustomed to during lockdown will mean that in-person shopping in stores will not return to pre- pandemic levels. Te use of robots rolling around the streets and drones in the air will enable retailers to provide deliveries at even lower costs. China is one of the first to use drones
for deliveries to remote parts of the country, and we increasingly see progress with logistics companies achieving permissions from national flight authorities to allow air travel with drones.
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