Power Electronics for Data Centers 2023

About the author

Glossary

Report Objectives

Companies cited

Three-page summary

Executive summary

Methodology & Definitions

Context

• What is a data center
• Data centers drivers
• A hyperscale data center: how much does it consume?
• Power transmission In Data Center
  • Where are the energy losses?
  • What can be improved?

Market forecasts   

• 2018-2028 global PSU market forecast (In Munits and in $M)
  • Split by data center type (Hyperscale, Enterprise, High Performance Computing)
  • Split by server type (computing, storage, network)
  • Split by power level (< 1 kW, 1 kW < x  < 3 kW, > 3 kW)
• 2018-2028 global device market forecast (In Munits and in $M)
  • Split by device type (Si, SiC, GaN)
  • Split by voltage level (40 V, 100 V, 600 V)
• 2018-2028 global wafer market forecast (In Munits and in $M)

Market trends 

• New Ongoing data center projects
• Forecast Power consumption worldwide
• Market evolution:
  • Hyperscale
  • Edge
  • HPC
• Real synergy between data center and power segments
  • PV
  • Fuel Cell
  • BESS to stabilize network and regeneration
  • Medium Voltage DC distribution in favor of data centers
  • UPS

Supply chain

• Data Center global analysis
  • Data center hardware
  • Data center owner
  • Data center services
  • Supply chain reshaping
• PSU & UPS supply chain mapping
  • PSU supply chain
  • UPS toward infrastructure
  • Mergers & Acquisitions, key investments, and partnerships
• Power components for PSU supply chain
  • Main Suppliers of Power devices for data centers
  • Main passive manufacturers – Geographic regions
• Suppliers of dielectric fluids for immersion cooling in data centers
• Company profiles
  • Advanced Energy
  • Huawei
  • Bel Fuse Inc
  • Delta electronics
• China Focus
  • Data Center Supply Chain in China
  • Europe: dependency on suppliers from outside of Europe

Technology Trends

• Trends at infrastructure level
  • Two possible PSU configurations: toward external PSU
  • To increase Input voltage level
  • From UPS toward BBU
• PSU trends:
  • 3 kW to 6 kW power capacity in PSU
  • Transition from 12 V to 48 V: challenges
• Wide-band gap adoption in PSU for data centers
  • Start to take off
  • Intermediate Bus Converter: potential for GaN
  • GaN vs SiC race: data centers are the sweet spot for both
• Data Center PSU topologies
  • Mainstream AC/DC stage topologies (PFC)
  • Mainstream DC/DC stage topologies
• Teardown by Yole System Plus
  • Bel used GaN by Transphorm
  • Bridgeless totem-pole PFC topology
• Cooling
• Reduction of heat generation
  • Heat removal by cooling
  • Waste heat reuse
  • Why liquid cooling
• Focus on passive components for PSU in data centers
• Outlook – To be watched closely in the coming years

The total market for power supply unit (PSU) will exceed $10 billion by 2028. ​​

Among others, the Internet of Things, home office, video streaming, and artificial intelligence have significantly increased the need for digital infrastructure, namely data center facilities. This leads to growth in the power supply unit (PSU) market needed to regulate server voltage. The market for PSUs is expected to reach $10.5B in 2028, with a CAGR22-28 (Compound Annual Growth Rate ) of 6%. To satisfy the increasing power consumption of new AI servers, PSUs of more than 3 kW are expected to have the highest CAGR, 17.6%, growing from $1.5B in 2022​ to $3.9B by 2028. The total power device market for PSUs is estimated to grow from $250M in 2022 to $392M by 2028, a CAGR22-28 of 7.8%. The trend toward PSUs with 48 V output voltage instead of 12 V will lead to a growth in 100 V power devices, with a 5.9% CAGR22-28 to $78M in 2028. 

Numerous players can find opportunities in data centers business

This report highlights the numerous players - having different backgrounds - involved in the data center industry. Data center builders/operators must deal with a diversity of hardware manufacturers with different products: servers, rack PDUs, sensors, optical transceivers, switches, power distribution, HVAC, UPS systems, fiber connectivity, cabling, PSUs, etc. Amid generalized supply chain reshaping, traditional UPS players have expanded their product and service offerings to meet data center specifications, including cooling system designs and PDUs for data centers, while Cloud Service Providers (CSP) are moving up the supply chain and implement data center infrastructure that best suits their own needs. ​

Increasing power efficiency is the ultimate target​​

​Improving the PUE in data centers is crucial for reducing operational costs, optimizing energy consumption, and meeting environmental sustainability goals. There are continual technology innovations on both the PSU level and all the associated infrastructure. PSU makers are targeting not only increased power capacity (from 3 kW to 6 kW) but also power density (from 45 W/in3 to 100 W/in3). This could be achieved by using wide bandgap (WBG) materials together with an increase in output voltage level from 12 V to 48 V. On the other hand, hyperscalers/HPCs are open to any change in infrastructure that brings an improved PUE (Power Usage Efficiency). For example, Battery Backup Units could replace upstream UPS at the rack level, and retrofitted servers/racks can be liquid-cooled instead of air-cooled. Adopting DC power distribution offers energy efficiency benefits, which could be a mid-term step once DC standards and equipment are more mature. 

AIC, Airedale, Alibaba Group, Advanced Energy, Aramco, Arkema, Asperitas, AT&A, AWS, Bel Fuse Inc., BOC, Box Technology, Castrol, CEC Great Wall, Chemours, China Mobile, Chipown, Coilcraft, CR Micro, Delta Electronics, Dell, Diodes Inc., Dynapower, EAST, Eaton, EPC, Fujitsu, Fuji Electric, GaN System, Gigabyte, GRC, Goaland, Google, Hitachi, HP, Huawei, Immersion, Infineon, Ingeteam, Innovance, Intel, iTeaQ, JQH, Kehua Tech, Kstar, Legrand, Lenovo, Littelfuse, Liquid Cool Solution, Lubrizol, Megmeet, Meta, Micron, Microchip, Midas, Microsoft, Mitsubishi Electric, Navitas, Nexperia, Nichicon, Nvidia, Orange, PowerLeader, Riello UPS, Schneider Electric, Shanghai Shenglin M&E Technology Co., Socomec, Solum, STMicroelectronics, Submer, Supermicro, Tencent, TDK, TotalEnergie, Toshiba, Vishay, Vertiv, Wolong, Wolfspeed, and more.. ​

Key Features

• Market forecast of the power supply unit split within three segmentations: data center types, server types and power range. For each, MUnit and $M are provided.  ​
• Forecast for power devices market for PSU in Munits and $M with split according to technology and voltage level. ​
• Analysis of the 12-to-48 V transition and its impact on the market of 100 V devices.​
• Market trends in data centers industry and impact on other segments like UPS, renewable energy, etc.  are discussed.​
• Overview of the PSU supply chain and key players are shown.​
• Deep insight into the technology trends aiming to improve efficiency are highlighted.​

Product objectives

Yole Intelligence has released this report, Power electronics for data centers 2023, to provide an overview of power electronics market forecast and technology trends for data center, from PSU, cooling, down to power devices and wafers.​

The report’s main objectives are as follows:​

• Analyze the market drivers and understand the dynamics of the datacenter market​
• Provide an overview on synergies with other applications.​
• Provide market metrics and forecasts for power converters, power devices and wafers for data centers​
• Give an overview of the data center power electronics supply chain​
• Review the latest news impacting the data center market​
• Analyze the different business models and how do they evolve​
• Furnish an analysis of main technology trends and their impact on power electronics​