News

7 December 2009

 

Smart grid market creating opportunities for GaN and SiC

Smart grid infrastructure requirements will create significant opportunities for advanced materials suppliers ranging from compound semiconductors including gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC) to the latest nanomaterials, according to a report from analyst firm NanoMarkets.

The report ‘Opportunities for New Materials and Devices in the Smart Grid: 2010 to 2017’ also claims that new smart grid infrastructure products will create a $12bn revenue opportunity for suppliers of components, wires, cables, storage devices and insulators.

The use of composite materials will allow the smart grid to carry much larger currents and voltages than today, forecasts NanoMarkets. These materials are already making a difference in the form of composite cabling that offers 2–4 times the capacity of conventional transmission cabling. But within a few years nanocomposite dielectrics will be used as fillers in grid insulators, with dramatic improvements in voltage endurance, breakdown strength, component size, and aging characteristics. By 2017, such nano-dielectrics are expected to account for more than $500m in revenues.

Silicon carbide is already beginning to replace silicon in grid power electronics devices, and gallium nitride, zinc oxide and industrial diamond may also in the future, reckons NanoMarkets. Using devices made with these materials, electricity grids will be able to carry more electricity and fewer switching devices will be needed than in existing grid infrastructure; switching losses are said to be half of those for equivalent silicon devices. By 2017, more than $400m in non-silicon power electronics devices will be sold into grid applications, the market research firm projects.

By 2017 about $350m will be spent on superconducting cables and fault current limiting (FCL) devices for the smart grid, NanoMarkets adds. Initially, superconductive cabling will be used in short lengths in strategic areas such as grid interconnects, but expected price declines will eventually drive superconductors into long-haul transmission systems. Deploying superconductors in smart grid cabling will reduce line losses, assure stable voltage, and expand current carrying capacities. Only carbon nanotube wires promise higher conductivity than superconductors, but nanotube wire deployment lies many years in the future.

See related item:

Installed base for smart meters to reach 76m in 2009

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Visit: www.nanomarkets.net