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Ammono Lowers GaN Substrate Prices for Little Box Challenge

August 24, 2014 by Jeff Shepard

As the potential of gallium nitride (GaN) in the context of inverters is compelling, Ammono S.A. has reduced GaN substrate price by 50% for the participants of the 'The Little Box Challenge'. An open competition called the Little Box Challenge to build a (much) smaller power inverter, with a $1,000,000 prize is launched by Google and the IEEE. The winning device will be the one that achieves the highest power density while undergoing testing for 100 hours.

“We want to enable new scientific groups around the world to move forward with the design of top of the class inverters, which will revolutionize their use cases. Do not hesitate to contact us for details of the offer,” commented Ammono’s President and CEO Dr. Robert Dwiliński

Inverters are devices that convert direct current for example from solar panels, wind turbines or batteries and turn it into alternating current for use in homes appliances, industrial devices, hybrid cars, etc. The problem is that inverters today are too big. Making them smaller would enable more solar-powered homes, more efficient distributed electrical grids, and could help bring electricity to the most remote parts of the planet.

The use of new semiconductors materials is one way for achieving the miniaturization of inverters. Wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductors, such as Gallium Nitride (GaN) and Silicon Carbide (SiC) are new materials, which allow higher power densities for electronic devices and therefore their miniaturization.