May 24 2006
SatCon Technology Corporation(R), a developer and manufacturer of power electronic products, today announced that it has received a new SBIR award from the US Air Force Research Laboratory for an advanced controller for Silicon Carbide (SiC) applications.
"SatCon is a leader in the application of emerging Silicon Carbide technology and this award further validates our role in bringing this advanced semiconductor technology to market," said SatCon Chairman and CEO, David Eisenhaure. "To date we have received more than ten grants for circuit and system development using Silicon Carbide from various funding agencies, including the Research Laboratories of the Navy, Army and now the Air Force in addition to the Department of Energy and DARPA. We are gratified that the Department of Defense continues to value our role in transitioning these devices to real world applications."
Electrical components and power systems using Silicon Carbide devices can be built smaller and lighter, and can operate more efficiently, than systems using conventional silicon technology. They also have the potential to operate more reliably in harsh environments and demanding applications. In renewable energy applications such as Photovoltaics and Fuel Cell electronics the improved efficiency and reliability is a strong advantage. There is also a broad range of innovative applications for SiC components and systems including motor drives for hybrid electric vehicles, aircraft and spacecraft power distribution and a range of power conversion systems.