The Future Of Renewable Energy Is Built On Semiconductors

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The early 2020s have been an incredible new era for renewable energy. New milestones in total renewable energy consumption have been set in regions around the world. California estimates that in 2021, nearly 60% of its power grid came from non-fossil fuel sources, while Spain just produced enough renewable energy to power the entire country for a single day. Tech giants like Apple, Google and Microsoft are also making strong commitments to decarbonization, including carbon neutrality or even negativity by 2030, which are aggressive goals, particularly from such influential organizations.

www.forbes.com/, Sept. 08, 2023 – 

Despite this progress, fundamental changes in renewable energy infrastructure, capacity and distribution are still very much required if we wish to transform our electrical grid to be based solely on renewables. Consider the vast changes in requirements as we shift to a transportation model based solely on electric vehicles (EVs). Currently, we only have a 6% penetration rate for EVs in the U.S. Imagine when we achieve 25%. What would our energy grid look like? What technical requirements would be needed to achieve such a goal? Our society is currently hurtling toward this new reality, and the foundational changes needed for our aging electrical grid are becoming readily apparent.

It has become eminently clear that semiconductors, especially power semiconductors, will be at the heart of the transformation of our electrical grid from an oil-based economy to one powered by clean, renewable energy. (Disclosure: My company produces semiconductors.) Modern silicon solutions can enable the optimization of energy efficiency along the entire electrical energy chain across mobility, industry, communications and everyday living. From energy generation to transmission to storage, only semiconductor technology enables efficiency among every link in this chain.

Modern Microelectronics At The Heart Of The New Grid

Around 2017, the phrase "electrification of everything"–that is, advancing technologies allowing us to power traditionally fossil-fuel-dependent devices with alternative energy sources–began to enter the mainstream. The technology and systems necessary to achieve this goal are driven by semiconductors. Semiconductors are fundamental in the development and deployment of renewable energy infrastructure. They are at the core of wind, solar and almost all other new electrical grid systems and solutions.

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