Power Module Boosts Streetcars’ Energy Efficiency

Green mobility requires new technologies to be developed, with increased energy efficiency being a key objective.

The global trend to gradually eliminate the use of fossil fuels has challenging consequences for numerous industries, including transportation. The transition toward green mobility, for example, entails a reduction in short-haul flights and travel by car, which in turn will encourage the growth of rail transportation. Government decarbonization measures support this development: In Europe, various subsidy programs worth billions of euros are planned for rail transportation. Changes are on the horizon in this industry, as diesel locomotives and railcars will be incrementally replaced by environmentally-friendly, electric solutions. Considering the coming requirements of green mobility, new technologies must be developed, with increased energy efficiency in particular being a key objective. To support this trend, Infineon Technologies will launch power semiconductors with CoolSiC™ MOSFET and .XT technology in the XHP™ 2 package – tailored specifically to the requirements of rail services.

The XHP 2 power module from Infineon has already proven its worth in a joint field test conducted by Siemens Mobility and Stadtwerke München (SWM). An Avenio streetcar in Munich was equipped with these power modules and tested in passenger service for a year, covering around 65,000 km. Siemens Mobility concluded that this use of power semiconductors based on silicon carbide (SiC) had made it possible to reduce the energy consumption of streetcars by ten percent. At the same time, it was also possible to significantly reduce engine noise during operation.

The tests were carried out under the European development and research project PINTA and are part of the extensive European research and innovation initiative Shift2Rail, which aims to create a sustainable European rail system through targeted investments.

Thus, in addition to the established application areas of photovoltaics and charging infrastructure for electric vehicles, silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFETs now also provide significantly more energy efficiency in the area of rail-bound vehicles.