Enphase Energy representative Andy Newbold told pv magazine the company sees its distributed solid-state transformer model supporting utility-scale solar, batteries, and high-power EV charging eventually. The initial focus, however, will be on data centers.
California-based power electronics maker Enphase announced it developed a new solid state tranformer technology for next-generation data center power infrastructure, including emerging higher-voltage direct current (DC) rack power architectures for AI workloads.
Instead of using one large, centralized converter, Enphase Energy’s IQ Solid State Transformer (IQ SST) converts power in data centers to 800 V DC using 342 small power modules per standard 1.25 MW rack to achieve up to 98.5% efficiency.
This distributed approach is key to retaining 99.999% availability amid the volatile power swings that plague data centers and make them a drain on electricity grids, the company said.
Power swings and power conversion from legacy medium-voltage AC systems to high-voltage DC architecture are both ongoing issues for data center operators when it comes to grid behavior.
