Feature: Thermal management
Proprietary precision of pulsed heating Betterfrost Technologies is a specialist in thermal power control. It has identified the structural inefficiency of the traditional heating method and in response developed a 48V power control module for conductive heated glass; see Figure 1. Te solution bypasses the five stages of heat transfer, by providing pulsed power to the inside of the glass to remove frost and ice at start-up and keep fog or mist from forming during driving. Tis approach doesn’t transfer heat to the exterior. It saves 95% of the energy at start-up and enables the cabin to reach a comfort level (say, +22°C) in half the time, with total cabin energy use reduced by up to 25% during driving. Te Betterfrost 48V module controls power delivery to a
transparent, conductive silver layer, laminated directly within the windshield glass; see Figure 2. Tis silver layer provides a low- emissivity layer to reflect IR radiation from heating up the car in warmer months. In the winter, Betterfrost makes this transparent conductive layer an active heater. By moving to a 48V subsystem, Betterfrost can deliver the
exact heat required to release ice from a surface, without melting the entire mass of ice or losing heat to the surroundings. Te pulsed power controls heat penetration, limiting it to only 0.1mm of the surface, in order to heat the interfacial layer of the ice. Since conductive heating acts directly on the ice, it melts it almost instantly. In addition, the 48V Betterfrost system addresses the “time
to comfort” metric specified in the emerging C-EDTC (China- Energy Development & Testing Certification) winter protocol. Since the windshield is no longer a massive heat sink, the entire interior warms faster. Betterfrost testing shows that when the defrost heating is managed entirely by heated glass, the HVAC air can be directed into the cabin, reducing the time required for the cabin to reach +15°C by 50%. However, the true value of 48V conductive heating is realised
during driving. At highway speeds, the convective “stripping” of heat from the windshield is immense. Keeping mist or fog from forming on the windshield using heated glass reduces the heat loss versus blowing heated air across it. Tis way enough energy is provided to prevent condensation and ice formation, whilst the primary cabin air heater runs at a reduced duty cycle. Tis optimised thermal strategy delivers a 15-25% savings during -7°C drive cycle testing, with an effectively “found capacity” amounting to 7.5kWh of energy saved on a 500km trip.
The 48V advantage with the right converter modules A central piece in the Betterfrost solution is the 48V power electronics module, built around Vicor’s power-dense, automotive-qualified 800V-to-48V fixed-ratio Bus Converter Module (BCM); see Figure 3. Tis BCM functions as a DC-DC transformer. Te voltage
applied to the high voltage side is transferred to the low voltage side according to the module’s fixed conversion ratio, or K factor. For example, with a K of 1/16 and an 800V input, the output voltage will be 50V. Correspondingly, the output current is
Figure 3: The Betterfrost solution harnesses Vicor PDN
multiplied by the same ratio, so if the input current is 5A, the output current will be 5A × 16 = 80A. Vicor BCMs meet strict creepage and clearance standards in
a compact footprint that is up to 90% smaller than conventional DC-DC converters. Te BCMs provide increased power delivery, with up to 3.1kW at a 25% duty cycle for 20ms. Tis combination of Betterfrost proprietary power control
algorithms with Vicor power conversion technology delivers a plug-and-play solution that can be quickly adopted across multiple vehicle platforms. In addition to automotive, Betterfrost technology is suited
to other industries, too. It can replace costly glycol spray used to defrost airplane wings, eliminate dangerous ice build-up on wind turbine blades, and lower cold storage refrigeration costs by enabling more energy-efficient defrost cycles.
Figure 2: The operation of the Betterfrost solution
www.electronicsworld.co.uk September 2026 35
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