How can we achieve an All Electric Society?

In this episode of Passion for Technology, we dive into the visionary concept of the All Electric Society – a world where CO₂-neutral energy is generated and consumed exclusively through renewable, electric sources. Our host, Mustafa, speaks with two industry leaders: Kris Casey, Vice President of Product Marketing in the Power Solutions Group at onsemi, and Andrej Orel, Director of Segment City and Infrastructure at EBV Elektronik. Together, they explore how the semiconductor industry is driving the shift towards this sustainable future. For more information about semiconductor solutions powering the All Electric Society, please visit: onsemi Energy Infrastructure | EBV Elektronik and onsemi Reliable SiC Solutions | EBV Elektronik

If you want to dive deeper into the world of the All Electric Society, make sure to check out our latest TQ Magazine, available free of charge: https://library.ebv.com/link/12188/

Transcript

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Welcome back to a new episode of Passion for Technology, the podcast from EBV Elektronik. Great to have you with us. Welcome to the Passion for Technology podcast. The climate crisis is no longer a distant threat. It's becoming increasingly visible in our daily lives. From floods in southern Germany to record heat in India, from drought in the Amazon to tornadoes in Europe, these extreme weather events are stark reminders of our changing climate. But there's hope on the horizon. The All Electric Society A vision of a CO2 neutral and sustainable world where energy is almost exclusively generated and consumed electrically from renewable resources. For the electronics and semiconductor industry, this vision presents enormous potential as they provide the key technologies to make it possible. Today we're fortunate to have two experts joining us to explore this topic. Kris Casey is the Vice President of Product Marketing in the Power Solutions Group at onsemi. Hi Kris. Hello. Thanks for having me. Thanks for joining us. And returning guest Andrej Orel, Director of Segment City and Infrastructure at EBEV Electronic. Hi Andrej. Hi Mustafa. Andrej, let's start with the basics. Could you help our listeners understand the concept of the all electric society? I've heard that sector coupling plays a crucial role here. Could you elaborate on what that means and why it's important? Yeah, sure. So in late 70s the Edison Institute described the first time the all electric society. So the idea is not new. So furthermore, fueled by today's semiconductor technologies, shift becomes reality. The name all electric Society as you mentioned already describes a vision of the world in which CO2 and metal electricity is the central form of energy. Means most of the energy consumption and production is electrified beside others using renewables. On top of the new age r grid infrastructure are one or two key benefits for moving on on ole electric society. So sector coupling as you mentioned is an interesting term as here we see some major segments like automotive markets with E mobility on top, coupling deeply with energy transition sector. So what we are asking here, we are asking actually for efficiency and cost effective infrastructure for innovative generation and transportation of energy and of course smart distribution of energy, including supporting industrial markets which goes hand in hand with each other. Staying with you Andrej. You're at EBV Elektronik, one of the leading semiconductor distributors. How is EBV contributing to making this vision of an all electric society a reality? So with semiconductors in driving seats, we envision big advancements in almost all the segments of for electric society applications. I can give you a few examples. You're all familiar with renewable energy generation. Fast EV charging is a very good example and we need constant improvements here in order especially on Infrastructure side to satisfy user needs. Hand in hand with that, we see energy storage rising very rapidly. This is a very important topic nowadays as it becomes one of the main pillars for the efficient decentralized ecosystem, either residential clusters or industrial and smart grids. We need smarter grids, we need DC grids on stage, we need smarter balancing for efficient energy networks and distribution and so on. So in EBV Elektronik we try to be always on the edge of technologies and nowadays we have in deep knowledge through the vertical segments and here the technology shifts within energy transition as an example are key challenges for us. This is not an, let's say, ordinary project anymore, as we used to say in the past. It is a lifestyle and we simply need to move towards all electrical implementation. That's our goal. Kris, let's bring in the manufacturing perspective. How is ONSEMI supporting this transition to an all electric society? Well, the biggest thing that ONSEMI enables advancements in technologies that are essential for that transition. That's core to who we are and it's core to what we do. But beyond that, ONSEMI is also focused on reducing our own carbon footprint. We're doing this by adopting more sustainable manufacturing processes and materials. And I would add that more specifically, ONSEMI is committed to being net zero by 2040. Kris, could you help our listeners understand how electrification enables us to make better use of renewable energy resources? I mean, what's the connection there? Well, we know that the demand for energy isn't going away, right? You both have pointed that out and talked about it already, and we expect that that's going to continue to increase, of course. So in order to meet that demand, reliable and efficient sources for energy are critical. So with a focus on efficiency, we can expect that renewable energy will play a more significant role and that in turn, semiconductors will also play a more important role, like in power conversion. Semiconductors are essential in converting energy from renewable sources like solar and wind into usable electricity. So in a real world example, if you took on Semi's latest generation of F5BP power modules implemented across Italy's solar installations, you would achieve an energy savings of 40 to 48 megawatts per hour. That's the equivalent of powering 75 to 85,000 homes per year. That's a big improvement. You could look also at energy storage, because efficient energy storage systems rely on semiconductors for managing and optimizing the storage and the release of energy. It's a somewhat straightforward example, but it's important so the energy can be generated when it's optimal and stored so that it is available when it's needed. So the point is that at every step in the energy chain, efficiency is a really critical component. Andrej, beyond what we've discussed, what other applications do you see driving the adoption of the all electric society? We see many. So we have recognized actually two groups or we have built two groups of applications and split them in production and consuming and on the other side generation and distribution. You can see already where we go. But to make it more clear, for example on generation and distribution we see all energy devoted topics like photovoltaic has mentioned wind energy, sea and tightenergies, energy storage, smart grids, including smart meters. All those belong to generation and distribution. Here I would like also to point out the power to X like power to gas, Hydrogen. Hydrogen is a very hot topic. Power to mobility like interaction, power to liquids like E fuels. So all this we follow within the energy sector. And important for us on this side is also factory automation, factory automation with the production side, energy management with energy storage, regeneration, core generation, CO2 footprint if you want. So the management and measurement of CO2 footprint is a big challenge. And DC bus is coming back on stage. So this kind of stuff we need to incorporate in the next steps. And just to mention the other side, the production and consuming. Here we concentrate on all well known major applications like E mobility, EV charging infrastructure, other mobility solutions like E bikes, public transportation and so on. So this is a well known segment and there is another one, another big application on block is building automation. And here we bring on stage heat pumps, energy management, appliance management, wall boxes, wall boxes in companion with local battery storage and V2G2 grid. These are the crucial building blocks for the next all electric society ecosystem. Those are all very interesting domains and perspectives. Let's focus on one particular aspect. Andrej, you know, with the increasing adoption of electric vehicles, how is the power grid developing to keep pace with this growth? You know when we talk about distribution. Oh yeah. So with growing electric vehicle adoption, the power grid needs to handle higher total electricity demand, especially during peak charging time. That is in simple words the main challenge. And of course the solution lies in increased grid capacity needs in combination with smarter charging infrastructure which allows us charging during off peak hours when electricity demand is low in order to help utilities to spread the load on the grid and similar. So that's why we put a lot of attention on let's say next level of charging like B directional charging, V2H and V2G, vehicle to home and vehicle to grid in order to enable E vehicle to act as a decentralized energy storage. So in other words, an EV car is not only a car, it is, it has a double row or triple row if you want. It is a car. It's a mobile transportation unit. It's a battery storage for, let's say residential or industrial scenarios. And it can also act as a grid balancing unit closely connected to the attached smart gateway for the case of buying and reselling of excessive energy. So all these scenarios make whole, let's say decentralized ecosystems very attractive. Kris, could you share a concrete example of how ONSEMI is impacting electrification in the world today? Sure. Well, ONSEMI specifically has an impact by driving technology advancements in all of the applications that have been developed discuss today. And we already talked about the important role of efficiency. But if you continue to play that out further and you couple efficiency with advances in semiconductor technologies like silicon carbide and gallium nitride, all of that has led to not only more efficient but also more compact power conversion systems. These smaller chips have the same amount of current flow as their predecessors, but in a much smaller area. This means that we need better packaging to reduce thermal resistance and that is what allows us to have the higher current density and a smaller chip. If we take that a step further, an Semi's latest discrete and power packages use advanced assembly techniques like centered die attach clip interconnects. All of that lowers the thermal resistance from the chip to the heat sink. All of these are examples of how ONSEMI is impacting electrification. And Kris, if we look ahead now, what role does ONSEMI envision for itself in the all electric society of the future? Yeah. So in an all electric society of tomorrow, on Semi will play a role by driving three efficiency, sustainability and innovation. I think this all comes together through technology leadership with products that enable the efficiency of both energy conversion and usage. We talked about the advanced products and in fact how it reduces losses and power electronics. That's how we make things more efficient. But on top of that, our continued investment in the technologies that are core for EVs and also for renewable markets, that's how we enable our customers to solve their most complex problems. This is a question for both of you. You've shared some fascinating insights about the technical aspects, but I'd love to hear your personal perspectives. Do you believe the all electric society is truly achievable? And if so, when might we see it become a reality? Kris, would you like to start? Sure. I mean, power is all around us and the need for power is going to continue to expand. So whether or not we reach a truly all electric society in the next five years or 10 years, we'll continue to move in that direction and an semi will continue to enable it. Andrej, what's your take? So from the market point of view at the moment we see a little bit of slowdown due to the, let's say geopolitical situation, especially automotive as you know, and supporting industrial markets. But the process is not reversible. This is a not reversible topic. So what we are waiting here is let's say the next healthy positive impulse in order to move to next level. And I have in my mind, let's say the EV charging infrastructure. Absolutely. This is the one next on stage and the question is what other options do we have? We have customers already deeply involved in all electric society, they believe in it and we have projects from different angles. Means for example, if the power stage developers need to connect their modules to the cloud, to the or IoT world, for example, we need to help them to get right solution on missing puzzles to build whole ecosystem together either alone or in partnership. And this is what we do. I believe honestly that the all electric society moves and will be part of our lives sooner or later. I have to say that I still remain very bullish and excited about this, especially over the course this part of our podcast series. I'm just about to buy my own first EV of an, let's say unnamed German sports car manufacturer and God, I really hope that you know, we continue to go down this route. Andrej, we've talked about the origins of your passion for technology when you joined us for previous episodes. So I'll give you a little extra time to dig for another example while I ask you Kris, what do the origins of your passion for technology look like? What drives your passion for technology? Yeah, so I started my career in the semiconductor industry and I have to say that from the beginning I've been inspired by not only what the products can do, but how they can impact the world around us. And I think that this conversation today is a perfect example of that. And back to you Andrej, do you want to share another source of your fascination and passion? Thank you Mustafa. I expressed myself already several times and I can just add that I don't have other options. I work for EBV and that means that even if I would be not a passionate guy as I am, some sort of energy of technology would occupy me fully into the topic. So there is no way out from non reversible to no way out. Knowing you now, over the course of our series, I know that you have a very positive outlook on life. And I think, yes, it's extremely exciting. All the things that are happening in parallel and the way it's impacting different aspects of our lives remains and is exciting and thrilling. Well, thank you, Kris, and thank you, Andrej, for the insights that you've shared with us today. Dear listeners, as always, you can find more info in our show notes. Please feel free to subscribe to our podcast Passion for Technology on either Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any of the other popular podcasting platforms. Kris, Andrej, thank you for joining us today. Thank you, thank you, Mustafa. Thank you, thank you.