Infineon announces CoolSiC power module to reduce railcar energy consumption

To promote and meet the coming requirements of green mobility, Infineon Technologies AG, a German semiconductor manufacturer will launch the CoolSiC power module that can reduce the energy consumption of railcars.

The power module package is called the XHP 2, which consists of CoolSiC MOSFET chips. SiC stands for silicon carbide.

In a joint field test conducted by Siemens Mobility and Stadtwerke München (SWM), they equipped an Avenio streetcar in Munich with said chips and tested it in passenger service for a year, covering around 65,000 km. Siemens Mobility concluded that this use of power semiconductors based on silicon carbide (SiC) had made it possible to reduce the energy consumption of railcars by 10%. At the same time, it was also possible to significantly reduce engine noise during operation.

In addition, Infineon said that their chips can handle very demanding power cycles and constant temperature fluctuations, therefore increasing service life. In Infineon’s XHP 2 power module, CoolSiC MOSFET chips enable low conversion losses while maintaining high reliability. They are the basis for increased energy efficiency and are already used today in many applications like photovoltaic systems. Infineon’s XHP 2 package features low stray inductance, a symmetrical and scalable design, and high current capacity.

Thus, in addition to the established application areas of photovoltaics and charging infrastructure for electric vehicles, silicon carbide MOSFETs now also provide significantly more energy efficiency in the area of rail-bound vehicles.

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