Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DoE) Office of Electricity (OE)
recently announced the eight winners of the Silicon Carbide (SiC) Packaging
Prize Phase 1. Each of these innovative teams will receive $50,000 from a total
prize pool of $400,000. This competition is a part of the American-Made
Challenges Program, which promotes collaboration between entrepreneurs,
innovators, DOE’s National Labs, and the private sector to spur groundbreaking
advancements in technology.
The SiC Packaging Prize is aimed at developing state-of-the-art SiC semiconductor packaging prototypes that can enhance performance in high-voltage environments, such as energy storage systems. With a total prize pool of $2.25 million awarded over three phases, the winners of Phase 1 will advance to develop prototypes in Phase 2, with up to four teams receiving $250,000 each.
Here are the winning teams and their innovative projects:
- Board Breakers (Fargo, North Dakota): Developing advanced power electronic modules using 3D printed ceramic packaging.
- LincolnX (Lincoln, Nebraska): Creating ultrafast, scalable SiC modules with dual orthogonal cooling technology.
- Marel Power Solutions (Plymouth, Michigan): Improving packaging through thermal management and three-dimensional mechatronic design.
- NC Solar Inverters (Cary, North Carolina): Using a symmetric layout to optimize parasitic flying capacitance and reduce parasitic inductance.
- NoMIS-Lux-QPT-UA (Albany, New York): Integrating their technology into Smart Metal Core SiC power blocks for high-voltage chip-scale packaging.
- Stony Brook Power Packaging Team (Stony Brook, New York): Developing cost-effective, high-voltage, high-current, fast-switching modules.
- Superior SiC Power Module Team (Gainesville, Florida): Applying an interdisciplinary approach to create high-efficiency SiC power modules with low electromagnetic interference (EMI).
- Team Raiju – University of Arkansas (Fayetteville, Arkansas): Embedding SiC die in Low Temperature Co-fired Ceramic (LTCC) controlled by an active voltage balancer and cooled with integrated micro-channel bus bars.
These teams will now move on to Phase 2, where they will develop physical prototypes of their SiC packaging solutions. These prototypes will be tested at a national laboratory to verify their performance metrics. The successful development of these prototypes is expected to advance the field of semiconductor packaging significantly, contributing to more efficient and resilient power grids.
Assistant Secretary for the Office of Electricity, Gene Rodrigues, remarked on the significance of these projects, stating, “The ingenuity demonstrated by these winners is exactly what we need to drive innovation for the 21st-century grid. Advanced transformers and semiconductor packaging will greatly enhance the power grid’s ability to serve the needs of both residents and businesses, ensuring a resilient, reliable, secure, and affordable electricity supply for all Americans.”
The Phase 1 winners exemplify the innovative spirit needed to tackle the challenges of modernizing the power grid. Their advancements in SiC packaging technology promise to make significant contributions to the energy sector, enhancing the efficiency and reliability of electrical power systems.
This initiative underscores the vital role of technological innovation in securing a sustainable and reliable energy future. As these projects progress, they will not only attract attention and investment but also set new standards for excellence in the field of critical materials recovery and advanced electronics.
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