Research reduces components required for induction stoves

This research benefits consumers since a standard induction stove in the future will not be much more expensive than a conventional stove. Moreover, there will be less power dissipation so that today's already very energy-efficient induction methods will use even less electricity in the future. Induction heaters and stoves based on InduKOCH technology consume 20-100kWh less power per year than conventional electric stoves, making an active contribution to climate protection. Up to 25% of electric energy can be saved if a conventional stove is not turned on but an induction method - which only heats the pots and pans and not the burner - is used for cooking.

Thanks to InduKOCH, the number of German households with induction stoves could double from more than 6m today (about 17% of all households in Germany) to about 12m (about 30%). Assuming that for an induction stove an average of about 60kWh less electricity per year has to be produced compared to that for a conventional electric stove, the resulting CO₂ reduction is considerable. In Germany, the amount of CO₂ reduction per year would correspond to the emissions of 100,000 cars (at an average annual distance travelled of 13,000km). This calculation is based on an estimate of the German Federal Environment Agency from 2012 that the generation of a kilowatt-hour of electricity releases about 600g of CO₂.

To make induction stoves more efficient and more affordable, Infineon is researching how its IGBTs can be further developed. The IGBTs regulate the high-frequency current of the induction coils, whose electromagnetic field generates heat in the pots for cooking. They will be up to 40% more efficient than their predecessors at the beginning of the project. The E.G.O. Group was able to optimise the electronic and mechanical insides of induction heaters thanks to the IGBT power semiconductors from Infineon. The IALB of the University of Bremen added energetic support, conducting research on the modelling and simulation of high-frequency switching operations. The institute designed computer models that very rapidly calculated the most diverse variants of the IGBT components and the switching environment. In this way, the InduKOCH researchers could come up with the overall optimum system without having to conduct tedious and expensive experiments.

Dr. Stephan Voss, Developer, Infineon Technologies, and Project Head, InduKOCH, comments: ”German households could profit from energy-saving and more affordable induction stoves already in 2014. Thanks to InduKOCH, replacing a conventional electric stove is now a lot more worth it. This transformation is a big contribution to the environment - because the greatest energy resource is the energy that is not used. 60kWh of electric energy are saved annually per induction stove, resulting in less CO₂ produced. If the number of induction stoves were to double in Germany, the amount of CO₂ emissions would be reduced by an amount that corresponds to that of 100,000 cars."