Power Integrations, Ideal Power target protection for 800 VDC AI centers

what happened

BusinessWire reports that Power Integrations and Ideal Power have announced a collaboration to develop a solid-state circuit breaker (SSCB) for data centers adopting 800 VDC power architectures. The companies say the solution is intended to provide fast, efficient and always-on fault protection while scaling with higher voltage and rack power requirements in AI data centers.

The project will combine Power Integrations’ 1700 V InnoMux-2 power-conversion ICs with Ideal Power’s bidirectional B-TRAN® semiconductor switches. The companies have demonstrated a working prototype and are developing a reference design. InnoMux-2 converts 800 V into isolated power for gate drive, control electronics, sensing and auxiliary circuits.

According to BusinessWire, the architecture is designed to draw its own power from the 800 VDC bus and isolate faults at very high speed without an external auxiliary supply. Its 1700 V PowiGaN technology can operate from an 800 VDC bus with significant margin. The companies said mechanical breakers respond too slowly for sensitive rack equipment, while existing electronic breakers add losses and must also be powered from the 800 V bus.

Power Integrations senior vice president of marketing and product strategy Chris Jacobs said the move toward 800 VDC requires new system-level approaches to power conversion, control and protection. Ideal Power CEO David Somo said B-TRAN’s low conduction losses and the InnoMux-2’s capabilities fit the efficiency and space constraints of the proposed architecture.

why it matters

The project highlights potential demand for high-voltage protection components as AI data-center power systems evolve. It also gives GaN conversion technology and bidirectional semiconductor switches a potential role in this infrastructure, although the companies have so far described a prototype and a reference design in development.

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