Navitas Opens New Design Center Focused on Enabling GaN-based Data-Centers

Rhea-AI Summary

Navitas Semiconductor (Nasdaq: NVTS) announced the launch of a new Design Center in Hangzhou, China, aimed at enhancing GaN power integrated circuits for data centers. This facility will facilitate the transition from silicon to GaN, promising energy savings of up to 40% and $1.9B/year in reduced electricity costs. The center's team will support power supply design from concept to mass production, emphasizing high efficiency and cost-reduction, in compliance with stringent efficiency standards effective from January 1, 2023.

Positive

• Launch of new Design Center in Hangzhou to support GaN power ICs for data centers.
• Potential for up to 40% energy savings and $1.9B/year reduction in electricity costs.
• Design Center to assist global data center customers from concept to mass production.

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• None.

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Dec. 8, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Navitas Semiconductor (Nasdaq: NVTS), the industry-leader in gallium nitride (GaN) power integrated circuits (ICs) announced its expansion into higher-power markets with the opening of a new Design Center dedicated to bringing next-generation GaN power ICs and associated high-efficiency, high-power-density systems to enable data centers around the world to upgrade from silicon to GaN, thereby significantly improving energy savings, reducing electricity costs and cutting CO₂ emissions.

Next-gen semiconductor could deliver up to 40% energy savings and $1.9B/year electricity savings for data centers

Gallium nitride (GaN) devices are the leading-edge of power semiconductor technology, operating 20x faster than traditional silicon chips. Navitas' GaNFast™ power ICs integrates GaN power, GaN drive, protection and control. High speed and high efficiency translate into new industry benchmarks in energy savings, high power density, lower cost, and higher reliability.

The new Design Center, based in Hangzhou, China, hosts a highly-experienced team of world-class power system designers with comprehensive capabilities across electrical, thermal and mechanical design, software development, and complete simulation and prototyping capabilities. Data center power customers will be supported worldwide by the new team, from concept to prototype, through to full qualification and mass production.

The Design Center will develop schematics, layouts, and firmware for full-function, productizable data center power supplies. Innovative solutions for the highest power density and highest efficiency will bring the value of GaN into mainstream data centers. Additionally, there will be multiple partnerships created for magnetics, thermal substrates, and other materials to assist customers to optimize their power supply designs.

Navitas estimates that an upgrade from legacy silicon to new GaN could deliver energy savings up to 40%, and save $1.9B/year in data center electricity costs worldwide. Data center supplies are rated to meet tough efficiency criteria, with the extreme 'Titanium' grade demanding 96% efficiency at 50% load. These new benchmarks are not only enabled by GaN technology but also demanded by legislation such as the European Union's 'Directive 2009/125/EC, 2019 Annex' which states that data new center power supplies must meet 'Titanium' level of efficiency from January 1^st, 2023.

"The Navitas Data Center team has the new technical skills of GaN power ICs plus the experience of real power supply design and qualification," said Charles ZHA, VP and GM of Navitas China. "The first proof point is a 1.2kW 'Titanium plus' design that not only exceeds the highest efficiency standards for data center power supplies, but is also value-engineered to be lower cost than legacy silicon designs. After this, it's on to 2.2kW and 3kW platforms."

The 1.2kW design was developed in collaboration with Boco and FRD of Hangzhou, and the power supply is now under evaluation for mass production in 2022. Golden YIN, Boco's CEO said "GaNFast power ICs are easy-to-use, digital-in, power-out building blocks that have accelerated time-to-prototype and first-time-right designs." Ray GU, GM of Power Supply BU at FRD stated "GaNFast power ICs are essential to achieving Titanium Plus efficiency, a critical milestone for next-generation datacenter power supplies. This will help FRD strengthen its product portfolio and provide comprehensive solutions to enterprise customers".

"As data and communications continue their exponential growth, it is critical for data centers to upgrade to GaNFast power ICs to reduce costs, maximize energy savings and reduce CO₂ emissions," said Gene SHERIDAN, co-founder and CEO. "As a critical expansion market, we recruited ahead of our recent IPO funding, and that faith in our data center design team is already paying dividends. By working in collaboration with data center engineers around the world, we can accelerate adoption of GaN-based data centers and make a significant impact on energy savings, electricity costs and CO₂ emissions."

Manufacturing a GaN power IC has up to a 10x lower CO₂ footprint than for a silicon chip, and considering use-case efficiency, material size and weight benefits, then each GaN power IC shipped can save 4 kg of CO₂. Overall, GaN is expected to address a 2.6 Gton/yr reduction in CO₂ emissions by 2050.

About Navitas
Navitas Semiconductor (Nasdaq: NVTS) is the industry leader in GaN power ICs, founded in 2014. GaN power ICs integrate GaN power with drive, control and protection to enable faster charging, higher power density and greater energy savings for mobile, consumer, enterprise, eMobility and new energy markets. Over 130 Navitas patents are issued or pending, and over 30 million GaNFast power ICs have been shipped with zero reported GaN field failures. Navitas rang the Nasdaq opening bell and started trading on Nasdaq on October 20th, 2021, with an enterprise value over $1B and over $320M gross capital raise.

Navitas Semiconductor, GaNFast and the Navitas logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Navitas Semiconductor. All other brands, product names and marks are or may be trademarks or registered trademarks used to identify products or services of their respective owners.

Contact Information
Stephen Oliver, VP Corporate Marketing & Investor Relations
ir@navitassemi.com

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SOURCE Navitas Semiconductor

FAQ

What is Navitas Semiconductor's new Design Center focused on?

The new Design Center focuses on developing GaN power integrated circuits for data centers, enabling energy-efficient power supply solutions.

How much energy savings can data centers achieve by switching to GaN technology?

Data centers can achieve energy savings of up to 40% by upgrading from silicon to GaN technology.

What are the expected electricity cost savings for data centers using GaN?

Navitas estimates that data centers could save $1.9 billion per year in electricity costs by utilizing GaN technology.

When do new efficiency standards for data center power supplies take effect?

New efficiency standards for data center power supplies will be enforced starting January 1, 2023.

What is the significance of the 'Titanium' efficiency grade for data centers?

The 'Titanium' efficiency grade requires power supplies to achieve 96% efficiency at 50% load, setting high benchmarks for energy performance.