The upcoming Munich Shanghai Electronics Show, scheduled for April 15-17, 2025, will highlight significant advancements in energy storage technology. This comes as the global power industry accelerates its shift towards low-carbon and environmentally friendly solutions, particularly in light of the impending EU carbon tariff regulation. In 2024, the Chinese government notably included “developing new energy storage” in its work report, indicating a strong commitment to this sector.
Advancements in energy storage technologies have spurred innovations in various semiconductor technologies, such as power devices, solid-state/semi-solid batteries, and sodium-ion storage systems. At the Munich Shanghai Electronics Show, energy storage is expected to be a focal point, with numerous semiconductor manufacturers showcasing a range of advanced and innovative products and solutions that span the entire supply chain, from testing to chips.
With a philosophy of “testing first,” Tektronix will showcase its energy storage-related testing and measurement solutions. Ensuring the safety and stability of energy storage systems requires rigorous testing of semiconductor devices used within these systems. Tektronix, which specializes in testing and measurement instruments, will present a comprehensive suite of solutions related to energy storage. In 2024, Tektronix acquired the German company EA, a provider of DC power supplies and loads, enhancing its product offerings in this area.
Currently, Tektronix can provide complete solutions for energy storage battery-grade Power Conversion Systems (PCS). The bidirectional power supply from EA can deliver power outputs ranging from a few kilowatts to several hundred kilowatts, catering specifically to energy storage batteries. For PCS, Tektronix’s solutions cover the entire design process, including the selection and evaluation of critical power devices, power quality testing during the design phase, safety testing, and output power quality assessment. EA’s power products can effectively meet the high-voltage requirements of the energy storage industry, with capabilities reaching up to 2000VDC, several thousand amps, and multi-channel high-power inverter evaluations.
Power semiconductors are crucial in the power electronics industry, where there’s an increasing demand for higher efficiency in energy storage PCS. This presents opportunities for third-generation power devices, such as silicon carbide (SiC). To address the need for domestic alternatives and the development of wide-bandgap power devices, Tektronix’s local team in China has introduced a range of dynamic and static testing systems for IGBT, SiC, and GaN devices, including the DPT1000A and SPT1000A. These systems conduct dynamic stress tests on new devices, analyze aging characteristics under temperature conditions, and monitor parameters such as leakage current, threshold voltage, and on-resistance.
Meanwhile, Edx is also showcasing its complete chain testing solutions, from battery cells to PCS at the Munich Shanghai Electronics Show. The energy storage industry has entered the “500Ah+” era, with some manufacturers even launching 1000Ah ultra-large capacity cells. Testing such cells poses two core challenges: the surge in charge and discharge current requirements and the lengthy cycle life testing, which can exceed thousands of cycles. To meet these challenges, Edx proposes solutions using the IT-M3900C series bidirectional DC power supply, achieving outputs of up to 1020A per unit, with configurations capable of reaching 10,000A.
The ITS5300 battery charge and discharge testing system supports automated cycle testing with built-in high-precision measurement and protection mechanisms, allowing for continuous operation over several months and reducing manual intervention to enhance testing efficiency. Edx’s modular architecture allows for highly flexible configurations covering the entire testing chain from individual cell to PCS, including unit, module, pack, and system-level validation.
Specific products like the IT-M3400 series bidirectional programmable DC power supply integrate 800W power in a compact form factor, supporting 256 channels of independent control for small capacity battery parallel testing. The IT2700 series multi-channel source/load module system offers ultra-high power density, accommodating multiple 200W or 500W modules, and supports combinations of bidirectional and unidirectional DC power supplies. The IT6000C series can output high voltages of 2250V and 2MW power, designed for high power testing of energy storage inverters. The IT7900P series grid simulator offers four-quadrant operation capabilities to simulate grid failures and harmonic disturbances, verifying the grid compatibility of energy storage systems.
Edx’s energy recovery technology allows for over 90% of discharged energy to be returned cleanly to the grid, which can save approximately 250,000 yuan in annual electricity costs per unit compared to traditional resistive load solutions. For instance, the IT6600C series high-power bidirectional programmable DC power supply utilizes third-generation SiC technology, enhancing energy efficiency and reducing air conditioning energy consumption by 70% through intelligent thermal management.
Solid-state batteries, recognized for their high energy density and safety, are considered the next generation of energy storage technology. However, testing them requires addressing challenges like high voltages (e.g., 1000V+) and extreme condition validations. The ITS5300 battery charge and discharge testing system from Edx is specifically designed for solid-state batteries, featuring comprehensive hardware and software protections, pre-charge circuits, and real-time battery temperature monitoring, ensuring safety and reliability during testing.
As a recognized leader in the semiconductor industry, Edx has served clients in over 50 countries and continues to redefine testing efficiency and sustainability. Moving forward, Edx aims to deepen its collaboration across the supply chain, driving testing technology from functional verification to full lifecycle management to support global energy transformation.
Giga Future, a high-tech company specializing in high-voltage gallium nitride (GaN) power devices, will also showcase its 1-4kW GaN bidirectional storage inverter at the Munich Shanghai Electronics Show. This inverter has been adopted by several well-known companies. The 4kW bidirectional inverter utilizes interleaved totem-pole PFC topology and full-bridge LLC soft-switching topology, supporting 200% instantaneous power output with peak rectification efficiency of 96.5% and inversion efficiency of 96%, enabling fanless designs for mobile storage solutions.
Giga Future focuses on the design of bidirectional inverters, leveraging its GaN products to achieve high charging efficiency, saving 5% in charging energy. Their inverters are lightweight, reducing weight by 40%, and feature silent operation and IP54 waterproofing. The overall cost of Giga Future’s GaN-based bidirectional inverter solutions is comparable to traditional silicon/IGBT solutions, while offering a more compact design and higher efficiency, giving clients a competitive edge in the market.
As the global push towards carbon neutrality accelerates, alongside the implementation of the EU carbon tariff policy, the large-scale application of new energy storage technologies has become a cornerstone of energy system transformation. Technologies like flow batteries, sodium-ion batteries, and solid-state batteries are quickly commercializing, while breakthroughs in third-generation semiconductors (such as SiC and GaN) are enhancing the energy density, safety, and intelligence of storage systems.
However, the energy storage industry still faces multiple barriers, including the need for further breakthroughs in battery technology, system safety, and the establishment of battery recycling systems. We invite you to visit the Munich Shanghai Electronics Show, where you can explore new trends in the energy storage industry, discuss collaborative opportunities, and work towards creating a greener, low-carbon environment.
