GaN Systems co-founder, Geoff Haynes, joins QPT

Geoff Haynes said, “I have been following the progress of QPT’s technology with considerable interest. It solves the thermal and RF problems that GaN is now facing that currently form an insurmountable major barrier for the widespread use of GaN in high power, high voltage, hard switching applications. I visited the company’s laboratory and was so impressed with its solutions that I am joining the company as an advisor to help them rapidly deploy this technology to the market. With it, GaN can now operate at the high frequencies needed to deliver significant power savings and open up applications worth billions as it provides a far superior performance and efficiency than Silicon Carbide.”

Rob Gwynne, Founder and CEO of QPT, added, “We are delighted that Geoff Haynes is coming onboard. He is a world authority on GaN and knows the challenges that it currently faces that limit its use. He immediately understood how our solutions and patents unlock the next phase in the evolution of GaN to become the enabling technology of choice for power electronics. Having him join and effectively putting his name behind QPT’s qGaN™ solutions is an incredible endorsement not only for customers but also for our upcoming Series A funding round.”

Drive GaN to the Max

GaN transistors are the future of power electronics due to their ability to operate at higher frequencies for switching on and off. A slow switching transition wastes energy because, during the switching time, when the transistor is neither on nor off, it dissipates huge amounts of power, resulting in energy losses and overheating issues. The higher the switching speed, the less time is spent in transition, and the less energy is lost. GaN transistors can quickly transition from on to off at 1-2ns instead of 20-50ns for Si and SiC transistors. However, achieving maximum performance is challenging in many high-voltage, high-power applications without significant RF interference issues or overheating.

QPT’s qGaN module solution enables the GaN transistors to be run at their full potential of up to 20 MHz with nanosecond switching to deliver better operational precision. QPT’s technology in a Variable Frequency Drive (VFD) enables motors to be driven at up to 99.7% efficiency at peak load with hardly any decrease in efficiency at lower loads. This is a challenge for conventional designs today, where the efficiency can drop off rapidly at lower loads. In addition to superior efficiency, the higher convertor frequency significantly reduces the size and weight of the power electronics, by 10x or more, as well as reducing the manufacturing costs due to the removal of expensive filters that are normally required to protect the motor. Application areas include heat pumps, industrial motors, HVAC systems and Electric Vehicles.