CEO Roche charts ADI’s advance into electrification

One area underpinning this growth outlook are applications tied to sustainable use cases, which currently represents about 1/3 of ADI’s total revenue.

Said Roche, “The evolving electrification ecosystem is driving growth in our industrial and automotive markets. As the world marches to net zero, we need to eliminate 51 gigatons of global greenhouse gases emitted every year.”

“Fossil fuels are by far the largest contributor accounting for more than 75% of all emissions. And at the same time, global energy consumption is forecasted to increase by 50% by 2050. A major unnecessary energy transition is underway and an upgraded and expanded energy grid is foundational to support a decarbonization pathway,” he continued.

Roche noted that making the shift through renewable energy sources in both commercial and residential infrastructure as well as electric vehicles and global transportation will reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“These moves also create new challenges in the generation distribution, consumption and smoothing of energy supply. ADI solutions are embedded across all phases of this electrification journey from upgrading the grid infrastructure to forming and managing the vehicle battery. The common thread woven through all these applications is the high-performance precision signal processing, control and power management capabilities they require, capabilities in which ADI excels,” said Roche.

Today he told the analysts, “I'll bring the story to life at the application level, starting with grid infrastructure. Overall, today's electrical grid is undergoing modernization to meet current and future demands. Historically, traditional energy sources like coal, oil and gas were centralized and distributed in one direction from the grid to the consumer.”

Roche explained, “Today, renewable energy sources like wind and solar are more distributed necessitating a dynamic bidirectional flow of energy. To achieve this, the grid must be able to adjust performance across the network in real time, which requires an exponential increase in monitoring and storage capabilities. And for example, our collaboration with the Enel Group provides smart meters and grid digitalization solutions for distribution system operators.”

“Here, ADI's control and sensing technologies are enabling high-performance, precision monitoring and data creation at the heart of the digital substation. And we're leveraging our mixed-signal digital and algorithm technologies to enable greater intelligence at the grid's edge.”

Roche moved on to energy storage systems, which, he noted, are critical to mitigate intermittency issues across the network.

“ADI is a leader with our technologies used in 60% of energy storage systems across residential, commercial and grid scale networks,” said Roche.

Leveraging ADI’s battery management system technology or BMS is the way forward for Roche.

“We are increasing capacity and improving energy utilization in energy storage systems, which maximizes the battery's lifetime value. These monitoring and storage challenges extend to the grid's edge as well, including EV charging stations, ADI's energy metrology, isolation and sensing technologies, help enable a broader range of applications in AC and DC charging equipment.”

Roche also indicated how ADI’s high-performance signal processing platforms and domain expertise are helping to electrify the automotive market.

“Here, our technology is a key enabler in the transition from combustion engines to cleaner electric vehicles by increasing range and lowering cost.”

“I'll start with BMS. As we've shared before, we are the leader in this area with our BMS solution designed into 16 of the top 20 EV manufacturers. We are currently sampling our eighth generation solution, which utilizes software and algorithms to enable physical measurement capabilities all the way into the battery cell.”

Roche continued, “These advances in edge processing change the game in how the internal battery health is managed, supporting faster charging and better range prediction. An extension of this is our wireless BMS solution, a first in the industry. It has all the benefits of our wired solution and enables a scalable battery architecture, with quicker and more cost-effective production cycles.

Roche revealed that ADI’s wireless BMS is designed in at four OEMs, and he expects another large OEM to adopt it in the coming quarters.

“Given this momentum and the cutting-edge value proposition, we believe the wireless platform will represent a large portion of our BMS revenue by the end of the decade. And looking ahead, we're broadening our EV capabilities beyond battery management and storage to power conversion solutions.”

Specifically, we are developing a silicon carbide-based smart switch for bidirectional onboard charging that significantly reduces charger size and weight by over 50%, thus driving down cost. Notably, this intelligent integrated switch enables the EV to transfer energy back into the network, creating a more reliable grid. And this innovation solution more than doubles our content opportunity per EV powertrain,” he concluded.