Sanan Integrated Circuit and Jinlong New Energy jointly promote the popularization of silicon carbide power devices

On September 29, 2020, Sanan Integrated Circuit, a third-generation semiconductor vertical integration manufacturing platform, and King Long New Energy, a leading new energy bus company, signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement in Xiamen, agreeing that the two parties will leverage their respective advantageous resources to jointly promote the prototype production and mass application of silicon carbide power devices in new energy bus motor controllers and auxiliary drive controllers.

Yang Jian, Vice General Manager of Sanan Integrated Circuit, and Dr. Chen Xiaobing, General Manager of King Long New Energy, signed the strategic cooperation framework agreement on behalf of both parties. Chen Jianye, General Manager of Fujian Automobile Industry Group Corporation, and Wu Wenbin, Vice President of Xiamen King Long Automobile Group Corporation, attended the signing ceremony.

The global penetration rate of pure electric buses will triple by 2025, and the subsidy-free era calls for underlying technology innovation

According to research by market research firm Wood Mackenzie, the global penetration rate of pure electric buses will triple again by 2025, thanks to policy support from various countries and a significant drop in battery costs. China currently has about 600,000 pure electric buses, accounting for 98% of the global market, making it the world's largest single market; while the United States and Europe are also continuously increasing the penetration rate of clean buses with the support of federal government funds and the guidance of EU regulations. China's new energy vehicle development path is of great reference significance for global zero-emission clean travel.

The subsidies for promoting pure electric buses in China, which started in 2016, are gradually declining and will be officially withdrawn in 2022, and the market will return to rationality; at the same time, early pure electric buses have reached the end of their life cycle after 5 years of operation due to immature technology, and a new round of electric bus replacement cycle will come in 2021. In the era of low subsidies or even no subsidies, electric buses using third-generation semiconductor power devices can reduce electric drive energy consumption and improve charging efficiency from the bottom-level architecture, thereby further reducing the operating cost of the entire vehicle life cycle, and are expected to become an important indicator for the new round of electric bus procurement.

Silicon carbide materials are highly efficient and low-energy, but they still require large-scale manufacturing platforms to help reduce costs and accelerate their popularization

The third generation of semiconductor materials represented by silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) have electrical performance that is unmatched by silicon (Si) devices due to their wide bandgap characteristics. The bandgap width of silicon carbide is about three times that of silicon materials, and it can withstand higher operating temperatures and voltages; silicon carbide materials have a higher electron saturation drift rate, which enables higher switching frequencies and lower switching losses.

在纯电动汽车的“功率交换器、车载充电器和电机控制器”中采用碳化硅功率器件：能有效减小散热系统体积；显著提高工作频率进而减小无源器件体积、提高功率密度；显著降低电机控制器的能耗。简言之，令电动汽车实现电气系统轻量化、低损耗快速充电、承载更大功率和提供更长续航里程。

At present, the cost of silicon carbide power devices is still relatively high, but with the continuous improvement of global industrialization and production capacity, the cost problem will be effectively solved. It is a wise move for car companies to invest in research and development and layout in advance.

Sanan Integrated opens its manufacturing platform and is willing to work with more automotive industry chain customers to promote electric travel

Sanan Integrated Circuit vertically integrates the third-generation semiconductor industry chain, providing services from crystal growth, substrate processing, epitaxial growth, device design, chip manufacturing to device packaging and testing, as well as comprehensive failure analysis capabilities, to fully control product consistency and reliability. Currently, 1200V/650V silicon carbide Schottky diodes (MPS structure) and 650V gallium nitride E-HEMT products have been launched, and 1200V silicon carbide MOSFET products will also be launched in Q4 2020. Sanan Integrated Circuit actively participates in the "China Automotive Standard Semiconductor First Batch Test and Verification Project" of the National New Energy Vehicle Technology Innovation Center. Pure electric vehicles equipped with Sanan Integrated Circuit's silicon carbide power devices are tested in laboratory performance, normal temperature test field, high temperature test field, and high-cold test field in accordance with automotive industry testing standards, and have shown excellent performance and outstanding reliability under different working conditions.

In July this year, Sanan Integrated announced the construction of Changsha SiC manufacturing base, with a total investment of 16 billion yuan and an area of ​​1,000 acres. It is a full-industry chain production base for substrates, epitaxy, chips and packaging with independent intellectual property rights. After the project is fully completed, the production capacity of SiC power devices will increase from the current 24,000 pieces/year to 360,000 pieces/year. Sanan Integrated's open manufacturing platform is willing to work with industry chain partners and new energy vehicle customers to accelerate the transformation of power semiconductors from silicon to SiC.

Yang Jian, deputy general manager of Sanan Integrated Circuit, said that it is a great honor to reach a strategic cooperation framework agreement with King Long New Energy, a leading Chinese bus company. We also welcome more global vehicle and parts companies to discuss the application of automotive-grade third-generation semiconductors with Sanan to make everyone's travel cleaner and more energy-efficient.