Navitas Semiconductor and École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) have announced it will exhibit a 250 kW solid-state transformer (SST) solution at APEC 2026 in San Antonio, Texas. The companies say the demonstrator targets next-generation data center power architectures by converting medium-voltage alternating current (AC) to 800 V direct current (DC) and removing low-frequency transformers from the power path.
According to the announcement, EPFL’s Power Electronics Laboratory developed the SST platform to support the grid architecture “required by next-generation data centers,” eliminating bulky low-frequency transformers while improving end-to-end efficiency. EPFL’s design uses a single-stage, modularized bridge-rectifier SST topology that converts 3.3 kV AC to 800 V DC at 250 kW and is positioned around enhanced performance and modularity.
The SST hardware is built using Navitas GeneSiC ultra-high voltage 3,300 V and high voltage 1,200 V silicon carbide (SiC) Trench-Assisted Planar (TAP) MOSFETs and modules. Navitas and EPFL also cite “advanced real-time control” as part of the architecture.
The companies describe the target application as AI data centers and an 800 V DC distribution approach “from the grid to the rack,” with an additional focus on “new opportunities for heat reuse.” The SST demonstrator was developed under EPFL’s HeatingBits project, which aims to deploy and showcase technologies inside EPFL’s operational data center.
“This engagement with EPFL demonstrates how next-generation medium-voltage power conversion can directly address the growing energy and thermal challenges inside AI data centers,” said Paul Wheeler, VP and GM of the SiC business unit at Navitas. “By combining our 3300V and 1200V GeneSiC™ MOSFETs and modules with a novel single-stage solid-state transformer architecture and advanced real-time control, we are enabling a scalable 800 V-DC distribution approach that delivers higher efficiency from the grid to the rack while creating new opportunities for heat reuse.”
“This novel solid-state transformer platform provides a galvanically isolated, flexible, scalable, and efficient interface between the medium-voltage AC grid and an 800 V-DC data center architecture, while serving as a real-world experimental environment for advanced distributed control,” said Drazen Dujic, Associate Professor and Director of the Power Electronics Laboratory at EPFL. “By leveraging Navitas UHV and HV SiC MOSFETs portfolio, EPFL was able to optimize system performance for the highest efficiency and optimal design margins for system robustness and reliability.”
Source: Navitas Semiconductor
