SiC benefits are not a secret anymore and an increasing number of industries are developing new products with SiC technologies. The SiC power business is concrete and real, with a promising outlook, according to Yole Développement in its latest compound semiconductor report.
The SiC power market, diodes and transistors included, is estimated to be more than $200 million in 2015 and more than 550 million in 2021. SiC diodes still dominate the overall SiC market with 85% market share. According to Yole, this leading position will not change for several years. In parallel, SiC transistors are increasingly present and should reach 27% market share in 2021. SiC solutions are diffusing step by step into multiple application segments.
Not surprisingly, the PFC power supply market is still the leading application with almost 50% market share (in revenue), consuming a large volume of diodes in 2015. However this market share is expected to decrease little by little after 2016.
PV inverters are close behind. Indeed SiC diodes and MOSFETs are now used by various PV inverter manufacturers in their products. SiC implementation provides several performance benefits including increased efficiency, reduced size and weight. In addition, it allows lower cost at the system level in certain power ranges.