Silicon Carbide Power Modules: Industrial Leap from Technological Breakthroughs to Inclusive Core Hardware

When Tesla's Model 3 fully adopts silicon carbide electric drives, and when BYD's latest platform announces a 30% reduction in the cost of silicon carbide modules, we are clearly witnessing that silicon carbide power modules are no longer just "high-performance options" in the laboratory. Instead, they are becoming the core hardware driving the energy revolution.

Relying on its physical characteristics of high voltage resistance, high frequency, and high efficiency, it has quietly entered thousands of households - from the fast charging of electric vehicles, to the efficient conversion of photovoltaic energy storage, and then to the precise control of industrial motors. In the past, due to its high cost and difficult manufacturing process, it mostly remained in high-end fields. Now, with the continuous maturity of technology and the acceleration of large-scale production, silicon carbide is moving from "specific applications" to a "universal" underlying technology, promoting the entire electronic power system to become more efficient, more compact, and more reliable.

Currently, the industry has crossed the "from 0 to 1" technological breakthrough stage and is on the eve of the "from 1 to N" explosion. The core issue has shifted from "whether it can be used well" to "how to use it more cheaply and stably". In this process, China, with the world's largest new energy application market and strong policy guidance, has firmly grasped the initiative on the demand side.

However, whether the market advantage can be transformed into an industrial advantage still depends on whether we can complete the leap from a "big material country" to a "strong module country" - not only breaking through the quality and cost bottlenecks in the upstream links such as substrates and epitaxy, but also achieving full-chain collaboration at the levels of module design, manufacturing process, and system application. This leap is related to technology, but also to strategy; related to the industry, but also to the future of energy. Based on this, this article will conduct an in - depth analysis of:

Efficiency Revolution: How Silicon Carbide Redefines Power Electronics

Flywheel Model: The Dual Core Driving Forces of Technology and Application

Dynamic Trends: The Breakout Paths and Market Value Assessments of Chinese Manufacturers

Paradigm Shift: Silicon Carbide Redefines Power Electronics

(I) From Silicon - Based to Wide - Bandgap: An Inevitable Energy Efficiency Revolution

Silicon carbide (SiC), as a representative of the third - generation wide - bandgap semiconductor materials, is triggering a profound revolution in the field of power electronics. Compared with traditional silicon - based devices, silicon carbide materials have excellent physical properties such as a wide bandgap, high critical electric field, high thermal conductivity, and high electron saturation drift velocity. These properties are directly translated into system - level performance improvements. For example, silicon carbide devices can operate stably at temperatures of 200°C or even higher, and their breakdown electric field strength is 10 times that of silicon.

In practical applications, silicon carbide devices can enable the peak efficiency of photovoltaic inverters to reach over 99%, far higher than the approximately 98% level of traditional silicon - based inverters. At the same time, its high switching frequency characteristic allows the use of smaller - sized inductors and capacitors, significantly improving the power density. In addition, the excellent thermal management characteristics simplify the heat dissipation design and even enable fan - less design, reducing the volume and weight while improving the system reliability.

(II) Empowering Multiple Scenarios: An Application Ecosystem Beyond Automobiles

Although silicon carbide has significant applications in the field of electric vehicles, its influence has expanded to multiple key fields, forming a multi - scenario empowerment map.

In the field of new energy vehicles, compared with traditional silicon - based IGBT solutions, silicon carbide MOSFETs significantly reduce the losses of the motor control system due to their low on - resistance and low switching losses, resulting in an approximately 5% increase in driving range. At the same time, silicon carbide helps to improve the charging power, and it is expected that by 2025, it will be able to achieve 80% charging in 15 minutes, significantly alleviating charging anxiety.

In the field of photovoltaics and energy storage, silicon carbide inverters can increase the conversion efficiency to over 98%, and for every GW of installed capacity, the annual carbon reduction exceeds 10,000 tons. The charging infrastructure field is also growing rapidly with the popularization of high - power fast - charging piles. In 2024, the market scale is expected to reach 2.5 billion yuan.

In addition, in the fields of AI data centers and 5G communications, silicon carbide devices also show significant advantages. After data centers adopt silicon carbide devices, the power density can reach more than twice that of silicon - based devices. 5G base stations using silicon carbide - based gallium nitride power amplifiers can expand the signal coverage by 30% while reducing energy consumption by 40%.

Although these application scenarios have their own characteristics, they all jointly pursue higher energy efficiency, higher power density, smaller volume, and higher reliability. Silicon carbide can meet these diverse needs simultaneously with its excellent performance.

(III) The "Technology Iteration - Cost Reduction - Application Penetration - Scale Feedback" Flywheel Model

The development of the silicon carbide industry shows an obvious flywheel effect: technology iteration drives cost reduction, cost reduction promotes application penetration, application penetration creates large - scale demand, and large - scale demand in turn feeds back into technology iteration.

Technology iteration is the initial driving force for the flywheel to start. In recent years, silicon carbide technology has not only achieved breakthroughs in wafer size - transitioning from 6 inches to 8 inches or even 12 inches, reducing the manufacturing cost of a single chip by 30 - 40%, but also continuously optimized the device structure, material process, and integration level. Innovations such as trench gate structures, double - sided heat dissipation, and intelligent integrated modules have continuously improved the power density, switching frequency, and reliability of devices, achieving a comprehensive improvement in smaller volume, stronger performance, and wider temperature adaptability.

Cost reduction is the key link for the flywheel to rotate. With the increase in wafer size, structural innovation, and yield improvement, the manufacturing cost of silicon carbide devices has been continuously decreasing. In 2024, the price of the mainstream 6 - inch conductive silicon carbide substrates in the market decreased by more than 20% - 30% compared with 2023, mainly due to the release of production capacity and market competition. It is expected that by 2030, the price will approach that of silicon - based IGBTs, laying the foundation for large - scale applications in multiple fields.

Application penetration is the core manifestation of the flywheel's acceleration. With the decrease in cost and the improvement in performance, silicon carbide devices have gradually expanded from the main drive of new energy vehicles to multiple fields such as photovoltaic inverters, industrial motors, charging piles, energy storage systems, and consumer electronics. Their penetration rate is constantly increasing. Especially in the field of new energy vehicles, the penetration rate of silicon carbide is expected to reach over 20% in 2025. In the fields of energy storage and consumer electronics, silicon carbide, with its high - frequency and high - efficiency characteristics, is rapidly entering new scenarios such as high - end power supplies, fast - charging devices, and data center servers.

Scale feedback is the guarantee for the continuous rotation of the flywheel. With the increase in the penetration rate in multiple application fields, the market scale continues to expand, further promoting technology iteration and production capacity expansion. It is expected that in 2026, the planned production capacity of silicon carbide devices in China will increase significantly (such as the project of Jingsheng Electromechanical with an annual output of 300,000 wafers) to meet diverse needs. The global silicon carbide substrate market is expected to grow to 66.4 billion yuan by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate of 39.0%. Diverse and large - scale demand brings continuous R & D investment to the material, design, and manufacturing links, boosting silicon carbide technology towards higher voltage levels, better reliability, and more intelligent system integration.

China is changing from "following" to "leading" in this development process. Although the domestic industry started late, with a huge market demand and a complete industrial ecosystem, it is expected that by 2029, the market scale will account for over 40% of the global market, becoming the largest application market.

Wanchuang Investment Bank believes that this flywheel model not only explains the development logic of the silicon carbide industry but also provides a reference framework for policymakers and corporate strategic planning: by supporting technology R & D to accelerate iteration, by large - scale production to reduce costs, and by market applications to promote penetration, ultimately forming a virtuous cycle for industrial development. As the flywheel continues to rotate, silicon carbide technology will continue to redefine the field of power electronics and provide key support for global energy transformation and sustainable development.

The Beginning of the Flywheel: Technological Innovation Paves the Way for Large - Scale Development

(I) The Core of Cost Reduction: Analyzing the Cost Structure and Key Bottlenecks of the Industrial Chain

The cost of silicon carbide main drive modules is mainly concentrated in four links: substrate (about 50%), epitaxy (about 25%), chip manufacturing (about 15%), and packaging and testing (about 10%). Among them, the substrate is the absolute core of cost control, and its high cost mainly stems from the technical difficulty of growing high - purity silicon carbide ingots.

Currently, there is still a gap between the process stability of domestic crystal - growing equipment and the international leading level, resulting in generally low yields. The core challenge in the epitaxy link lies in defect density control, especially the requirement for thickness uniformity for automotive - grade products. The bottleneck in the chip manufacturing link is reflected in the complexity of ion implantation and high - temperature annealing processes, while packaging and testing need to meet the heat dissipation requirements under high temperature and high power density.

(II) Breaking Through with Technology: From "Making It" to "Making It Cheaply"

1. Larger Wafer Size: The Industrial Leap from 6 - Inch to 12 - Inch

The transition of wafer size from 6 inches to 8 inches and even 12 inches is one of the core paths for cost reduction. The usable area of an 8 - inch substrate after edge removal is 1.83 times that of a 6 - inch substrate, which means that the number of chips that can be produced from the same wafer increases significantly. Specifically, taking a chip with a size of 5mm×5mm as an example, an 8 - inch wafer can produce 1,080 chips, while a 6 - inch wafer can only produce 576 chips, nearly doubling the number of chips.

In terms of 12 - inch wafers, recently, a technology transfer enterprise of the Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences, has made a major breakthrough in the field of silicon carbide wafer processing technology, successfully achieving the peeling of 12 - inch silicon carbide wafers using self - developed laser peeling equipment. Compared with the currently mainstream 6 - inch wafers, the usable area of 12 - inch silicon carbide wafers is about 4 times larger, significantly increasing the number of chip outputs and is expected to reduce the unit chip cost by 30% - 40%, effectively improving the industrial supply capacity and solving the technical bottleneck of large - size silicon carbide wafer processing.

2. Structural Innovation: The Performance Leap from Planar to Trench - Type

Compared with the planar structure, the trench - type silicon carbide MOSFET technology has achieved significant optimization in on - resistance and switching performance: the specific on - resistance of trench devices can be reduced by 40% - 50%, and the cell density is nearly doubled, not only reducing the on - state losses but also significantly reducing the switching losses.

In 2017, Infineon launched the first trench - type SiC MOSFET (CoolSiC G1). Through the trench gate design, it solved the reliability problem of the gate oxide layer of planar devices, increasing the short - circuit withstand time from 1 microsecond to 2 microseconds and promoting the implementation of automotive - grade applications. In 2025, Infineon further launched the "trench - superjunction (TSJ) technology", reducing the on - resistance by 40% and increasing the current - carrying capacity by 25%, becoming the core technical support for the 800V high - voltage platform.

However, the trench structure also faces reliability challenges, especially the risk of gate oxide degradation. But international manufacturers have alleviated these problems through technology iteration. For example, Rohm Semiconductor's developed double - trench technology reduces the bottom electric field by 30% by adding an electric field relaxation trench beside the gate trench.

3. Integration and Packaging Innovation: Double - Sided Heat Dissipation and System - Level Packaging

The progress of integration and packaging technology is crucial for improving system reliability and reducing the total cost. Double - sided heat dissipation technology improves the heat dissipation efficiency by over 30% and reduces the module volume by 40%. System - level packaging technology reduces the number of external components and the packaging volume through highly integrated drive circuits, sensors, and protection components.

The innovation of packaging technology is also reflected in the material level. The use of new bonding materials and substrate materials, such as active metal brazing (AMB) ceramic substrates, significantly improves the thermal conductivity and thermal fatigue resistance of the module, enabling it to maintain high reliability under severe temperature cycles.

(III) The Next Stop of the Technology Flywheel: Intelligent Modules and System - Level Optimization

The next - generation silicon carbide technology is developing towards intelligence and system - level optimization. Intelligent power modules have become an important solution in various application fields by integrating sensing, protection, and driving functions. At the same time, the integration of silicon carbide and ultra - wide - bandgap materials opens up new possibilities. It is expected that by 2028, silicon carbide superjunction devices will enter the fields of rail transit and high - voltage direct -