Energy storage capacitor banks supply pulsed power in all manner of high-current applications, including shockless compression and fusion. As the technology behind capacitor banks advances with more precise switching and higher energy density, fast discharge capacitors can reliably support more advanced applications.  

DC fast charging (DCFC) infrastructure is scaling aggressively. The global market is expected to reach $20 billion by 2035, charger power levels have reached 350-480 kW, and the U.S. is moving toward 100,000+ Level 3 ports by 2027.

In power electronics, voltage is rarely perfectly DC. Switch-mode power supplies, inverters, and converters all generate AC ripple that flows into and out of capacitors. While a ripple current rating may seem secondary to a capacitance or voltage rating, in real-world designs, it is often a limiting factor for long-term reliability. This is because ripple current generates internal heat, and excessive heat is a primary driver of capacitor failure. To prevent premature failure, it’s critical for engineers selecting power electronics capacitors to truly understand ripple current ratings.

In 2024, we wrote about the growing power demands of artificial intelligence. At the time, 60 to 80 kW server racks were already stretching datacenter design assumptions. Now, AI server racks consumer 60 to 140 kW each, with NVIDIA’s GB200 NVL72 operating at roughly 120 kW per rack. Consumption could reach 600 kW by late 2027 with the Rubin Ultra NVL576 system. Beyond 100 kW, traditional server power assumptions begin to break down.

Today, most converter circuits now include semiconductors and switches made of silicon carbide (SiC) instead of plain old silicon (Si). This is because when silicon and carbon are combined, the resulting material, SiC, has excellent mechanical, chemical, and thermal properties. Therefore, SiC-based converters can handle voltages up to 10 times greater than converters using just Si while also offering lower losses. These characteristics make these converters an excellent option for applications such as power electronics, industrial devices, and electric vehicle (EV) charging stations. In this post, we dive into the advantages of using snubber circuits to protect SiC-based converters and discuss how to further increase these efficiencies by focusing on capacitor selection.

Today’s power grids are under increasing strain, from rising instability and greater electrification demands to the rapid expansion of renewable energy sources. Together, these pressures are creating an urgent need for more resilient and responsive power distribution architectures. For many instances, a key solution that offers better resiliency, efficiency, and flexibility is the implementation of microgrids, or localized energy systems capable of operating independently of or alongside the main grid. Microgrids bring together a variety of distributed energy resources (DERs) such as solar, wind, battery storage, and even conventional generators.

Radio frequency (RF) power dividers are designed to split an incoming signal into multiple outputs such that there’s a portion of the original signal’s power in each output. Given their critical function, power dividers play a particularly important role in antenna systems, telecommunications, and signal processing.

Power electronics play a critical role in converting and managing electrical energy efficiently. As electric vehicles (EVs), renewable energy systems, and consumer electronics quickly become more powerful, the demand for high-voltage power electronics is quickly increasing. This means the importance of components like bootstrap capacitors has grown significantly.

The performance of a resonant circuit comes down to its components. Two key factors, Q factor and capacitor equivalent series resistance (ESR), determine how efficiently energy moves through a resonator and how selectively it responds at its designed frequency.

As demand for high-efficiency and high-power-density inverters continues to grow, the so-called “flying” capacitor multilevel inverter is emerging as a strong choice for many power electronics systems. Since these capacitors can “float” to different electric potentials depending on the connected semiconductor switching structure and state, they help balance out voltage level differences due to manufacturing tolerances, temperature variations, and other factors. These capacitors are also helpful in balancing voltage across the structure by temporarily storing and releasing energy as needed, increasing power density and quality, and optimizing the use of existing voltage availability.