Infineon continues to push the power electronics industry to new heights. With the CoolGaN™ 650 V G5 bidirectional switch, the world-leading company now wants to change the way we think about power conversion. Namely, instead of using two separate devices to manage current in both directions, this one does it alone. Thanks to its common-drain design and double-gate structure, it simplifies complex topologies and boosts system performance.
Predictably, the secret lies in GaN. This new material has taken the semiconductor industry by storm by offering significant efficiency gains over silicon. Still, Infineon’s CoolGaN technology also includes a Gate Injection Transistor (GIT) structure. The result is a monolithic device that actively blocks voltage and current in both directions, without the need for back-to-back switches. That means smaller systems. Lower losses. Fewer parts.
As such, the CoolGaN™ 650 V G5 is ideal for microinverters, making them more compact and efficient — a huge plus for solar power in homes and commercial buildings. In energy storage systems, it improves how batteries charge and discharge. It produces less heat. It’s also highly reliable.
Not only that, but Infineon’s new tech also unlocks new potential for EV charging, providing quicker top-ups. This might be huge, as charging is still seen as the biggest hurdle of widespread EV adoption.
Still, thanks to its bi-directional power flow, the CoolGaN™ 650 V G5 also allows the vehicle to feed energy back to the grid. Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) functionality helps balance supply and demand, especially during peak load times when the grid is under pressure. It’s like having thousands of small, mobile energy storage units that the grid can tap into when needed. Oh, and EV owners can also sell the cheaper energy they captured during the night for more during the day.
For industrial motor drives, the CoolGaN™ 650 V G5 is a great match for Current Source Inverters (CSI), which offer sinusoidal output, better fault tolerance, and less electromagnetic interference. Using inductors instead of capacitors also means higher durability at elevated temperatures.
And in AI data centers? It lets power supplies run at higher frequencies, improving efficiency and shrinking the size of components. One CoolGaN switch can replace two traditional ones, cutting cost and board space while improving performance. Thus, it’s cleaner, faster, and more efficient.
Infineon’s CoolGaN BDS 650 V G5 is set to become the new standard for smart, reliable, bidirectional power.
