Solar power is making up a record share of the energy mix on hot summer days. But what to do when there is no sun on a rainy day? The breakthrough is through bi-directional charging technology, which stores solar power from photovoltaic systems in electric vehicles and home batteries and recharges it back to the home grid to power home appliances at night or whenever needed. This protects the environment, saves costs and further encourages consumers to switch to zero-emission electric vehicles. 

Infineon and Delta Electronics, a leading global provider of power and energy management solutions based in Taiwan, have developed a bi-directional inverter, a three-in-one hybrid system consisting of solar power, energy storage and electric vehicle (EV) charging. With this bi-directional inverter, not only can EVs be charged, but they can also be used as energy storage devices or as emergency backup power for homes. Currently, more and more vehicles are equipped with this system. In the future, bi-directional energy transfer technology can also be used to develop new vehicle-to-home (V2H) and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) solutions. 

Peter Wawer, President of Infineon Technologies' Industrial Power Control Business Unit, said: "In order to continue to drive decarbonization, we must take a holistic view and plan for electric vehicles, from green power generation to a stable and efficient grid infrastructure to energy storage and power consumption. With our two-way charging solution, users can not only charge their EVs at home using solar power at a lower cost, but also use their EVs as energy storage devices." 

The average household uses 10-15 kWh of electricity per day. the on-board battery of an electric vehicle has a battery capacity of 30 kWh to 100 kWh when fully charged, which could theoretically be used as an emergency power solution for several days. On the one hand, this allows homeowners access to cheap electricity; on the other hand, it gives homeowners more autonomy in powering their homes. 

This new system supplied by Delta allows a maximum continuous current of 34 A to pass through and can exceed 97.5% peak efficiency. To increase power density, Delta uses Infineon's energy-efficient silicon carbide (SiC) power semiconductors. Compared to silicon-based semiconductors, the silicon carbide compound material can reduce energy losses by about half during the electrical energy conversion process. At the same time, the size of the charging post can be reduced by about 30 percent. With SiC technology, photovoltaic systems will become more powerful, charging times for fast and wall-mounted charging posts will become shorter, and the range of electric vehicles will increase by 5% to 10%. 

By the end of the 1920s, more than half of all newly registered vehicles are expected to be purely electric or hybrid. Green mobility can only be truly achieved when both the automotive and energy sectors are carbon neutral, so the use of wind and solar energy is key. However, energy storage systems must be used to smooth out the volatility of renewable energy generation in order to play a role in stabilizing the grid. 

Infineon's semiconductors are an important driving force in achieving green mobility. As the premier company in power electronics, Infineon drives the development of renewable energy and the efficient storage and utilization of green power. As the world's leading automotive semiconductor manufacturer, Infineon is a pioneer and a trailblazer in the electric vehicle market. almost one in two electric or hybrid vehicles produced in 2021 will use Infineon's semiconductors in the inverter. Infineon's power semiconductors are setting new benchmarks in the charging post sector: the Italian company alpitronic's Supercharger is the first wall-mounted charging post that can charge two cars at the same time.