Electric & Hybrid Marine Technology International // October 2014 // 45

Power toolsWith vessel electrification advancing at an impressive rate, the race is on for power electronics suppliers to provide the means to integrate increasingly powerful systemsWords: matt ross

Supplier interview: SeMiKrOn

44 // October 2014 // Electric & Hybrid Marine Technology International

Supplier interview: SeMiKrOn

In just a few short, sharp years, vehicle electrification has enjoyed a rapid ascent into the public consciousness. And the

rapid development of these technologies in a plethora of fields, including marine vessels, has been accompanied by a need for performance electronics capable of operating in strenuous environments.

Semikron, however, has been looking into such fields for upward of 20 years – a step that appears to be paying dividends. “In regard to e-vehicle applications, we have been working on these for a long time,” explains Klaus Backhaus, SKAI HV product manager at the German power electronics supplier. “Today, these make up about 8% of our total revenue. People are curious that we are already quite big – in terms of our market share, or at least the revenue share within our portfolio.” Such forward thinking, it would appear, resulted from early research into fields that might otherwise seem unrelated. “At the beginning of the 1990s, we worked in the field of material handling,” Backhaus continues.

“One of the main areas of this is forklift applications. For a long time, forklifts have been required to be used indoors, in very rough conditions where they have to effectively go through their processes. From the very beginning it was quite clear that the electric drivetrain was an ideal solution for this, but that there were some major obstacles. The electronics have quite severe requirements in terms of vibration and temperature cycling – these are always critical.” Developing power electronics components for these applications led Semikron to learn some valuable lessons. “Together with key customers, we learned how to tackle these issues,” Backhaus says. “We learned how to ruggedize power electronic systems so that they are suitable for these types of material handling forklifts. In those

years, we generated a platform of technology that we are still developing today. But the foundations date back two decades or more.”

As this work steered the development of a portfolio of components suited for such strenuous conditions – along with a host of innovative processes including pressure contacts, solder-free components and sintering – the emergence of electrification in the marine sphere has led to Semikron being ideally situated to take advantage of such a nascent industry. “There is a vast application range where we can offer power electronics to accelerate or increase efficiency,” Backhaus says. “We cannot do everything at the same time, but we see that it is very important to network, and to set up a structure that allows us to serve those applications. And one of those applications is the marine industry, where the benefits of electrification are clear.”

Past experienceThanks to the similarities in technical requirements, marine electrification has been a natural extension of Semikron’s growth, despite the fact that embracing the industry is a relatively recent development. “Marine is a very new field for us,” Backhaus admits. “We started looking at it, maybe two years ago.” The requirements for power electronics in these applications, while obviously varying on a case-by-case basis, retain an air of familiarity for a company like Semikron, which has decades of experience in a wide range of industries, including solar, wind and utility vehicles. “Generally speaking, marine application requirements are very similar to what we would see in off-road applications, and also agricultural and construction equipment.” The building blocks of marine systems share a lot of commonality with other applications, but what makes this emerging

“the key driver is development in the battery area. You havepossibilities now that were not possible even two years ago. And,

of course, you have to address these applications in a differentway to fields such as commercial vehicles or passenger cars”

Klaus Backhaus, SKAI HV product manager, Semikron

New developments in power electronics can regulate the speed and torque of electric drive motors, and as such, represent the heart of a propulsion system, helping marine applications to cut fuel consumption and exhaust emissions of auxiliary drives

46 // October 2014 // Electric & Hybrid Marine Technology International

market so dynamic, Backhaus adds, is the speed at which the technology is advancing. “The key driver is development in the battery area. You have possibilities now that were not possible even two years ago. And, of course, you have to address these applications in a different way to fields such as commercial vehicles or passenger cars.”

Marine electrification also encompasses a wide range of power level requirements. “It starts at levels below 1kW, and goes up into the tens of megawatts range,” Backhaus says. “Therefore, we had to really focus on what to start with. We presented a couple of currently available products to system integrators where we thought the approach, to start with, would be quite easy.”

Initially, Semikron components proved an obvious fit for systems with lower power level requirements. “In the sub-MW range, we are quite highly integrated,” Backhaus explains. “In the upper range, beyond 1MW, we have really interesting solutions under development – they are not released for production at the moment. But they have outstanding power density, so you can do completely different things than before – provided, of course, that you have the right system integrator.”

Given the remarkable advancements of electrification in the marine sector, the fact that Semikron is even close to being able to offer components for systems with higher power levels is impressive. “You can now electrify a ship in the megawatt range and have it running for 30 minutes,” Backhaus says by way of illustration. “That was simply unthinkable five years ago.”

set up, this will really cut these costs down from where we are today.” There are other important drivers – legislation, politics, even the palatably green image that vessel electrification enjoys – that may push on the research and development needed for rapid technological advancement. The end result, Backhaus believes, is the same. “You can already see the drive into the megawatt range. We’ll be thinking about more applications with higher power levels even faster than the past two years.”

And those various applications need power electronics. It’s all the encouragement a company like Semikron needs to keep the marine sector very much on its radar. Fortunately, it’s a goal that can run concurrently with the company’s broader long-term objectives as well. “If you look at our core competencies, then the questions of what we have to do moving forward are pretty clear,” Backhaus explains. “You have to look at increasing the reliability of systems, you minimize the structure, you

Supplier interview: SeMiKrOn

Semikron is delivering breakthroughs in power electronics systems, helping to ensure that the marine industry can drive down emissions output and meet future stringent regulations

“the cost of the kilowatt-hours of a battery will dramatically influence development.

we’re quite optimistic about this. if you look at tesla’s activities, and what they

are going to set up, this will really cut these costs down from where we are today”

Klaus Backhaus, SKAI HV product manager, Semikron

increase the temperature range in which they can operate, and you drive down the cost. These kinds of issues never die. Once you achieve something, you ask yourself how to improve it even further.” Advances such as those tend to be handled internally, driven by the company’s own R&D model. But Semikron also boasts a collaborative approach to its future endeavors – both in the marine sphere and otherwise. “You have topics such as interfacing components,” Backhaus says. “These can only be resolved or improved in partnership with our customers.” And the real key, Backhaus believes, harkens back to a company philosophy that he’s witnessed since he joined Semikron back in 1997. “We’re a mid-sized company of 2,900 people, so we have to always be aware of where we are. There’s a lovely German saying that translates to: ‘You have to focus on your strengths.’”

Future proofingThe goal, moving forward, is for Semikron to establish itself as the go-to provider for developers and manufacturers of marine applications. “We would like to get known,” Backhaus says, “so that the system integrators are aware of the possibilities and the feasibilities [of using Semikron products]. It’s so dynamic. Two years ago, you couldn’t have thought about the kind of applications being discussed now. We’re very keen to support that. But we’re trying to catalyze that process; we can’t steer it. It’s controlled by the marine market.”

One of the key drivers to marine electrification – and to electrification in other industries – remains battery technology. “The cost of the kilowatt-hours of a battery will dramatically influence development,” Backhaus says, “We’re quite optimistic about this. If you look at Tesla’s activities, and what they are going to