Abstract
As the need for green and effective utilization of energy continues to grow, the advancements in the energy and power electronics industry are constantly driven by this need, as both industries are intertwined for obvious reasons. The developments in the power electronics industry has over the years hinged on the progress of the semiconductor device industry. The semiconductor device industry could be said to be on the edge of a turn into a new era, a paradigm shift from the conventional silicon devices to the wide band gap semiconductor technologies. While a lot of work is being done in research and manufacturing sectors, it is important to look back at the past, evaluate the current progress and look at the prospects of the future of this industry. This paper is unique at this time because it seeks to give a good summary of the past, the state-of-the-art, and highlight the opportunities for future improvements. A more or less ‘forgotten’ power electronic switch, the four-quadrant switch, is highlighted as an opportunity waiting to be exploited as this switch presents a potential for achieving an ideal switch. Figures of merit for comparing semiconductor materials and devices are also presented in this review.
Highlights
In spite of the decreasing world population growth rate over the years, the human population on planet earth has continued to grow reaching just under eight (8) billion people so far [1,2,3]. This growing population coupled with a drastic increase in industrialization on a massive scale has brought about huge demands for energy
It is predicted that if no further improvements occur in the energy efficiency of the world, it could lead to a 50% increase in energy demands [4]
The supply of energy from renewable energy sources to the energy supply mix continues to grow, in order to reach this state of balance and purity in the energy cycle, there needs to be a consistent increase in the efficiency of energy generation, supply and utilization
Summary
In spite of the decreasing world population growth rate over the years, the human population on planet earth has continued to grow reaching just under eight (8) billion people so far [1,2,3] This growing population coupled with a drastic increase in industrialization on a massive scale has brought about huge demands for energy. The supply of energy from renewable energy sources to the energy supply mix continues to grow, in order to reach this state of balance and purity in the energy cycle, there needs to be a consistent increase in the efficiency of energy generation, supply and utilization This need defines the drive of the power, energy and electronics industry and the drive of the power electronics industry [5,6,7]. This review article is unique in that it illuminates the fully controllable bi-directional switch which could potentially revolutionize the power electronics device industry in such a way that it brings the industry to a better footing in this race towards improving energy efficiency [6,7]
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