Enphase Energy has started manufacturing power modules for its IQ Solid-State Transformer (IQ SST) racks in the US, to support AI data centres.
The modules are being produced in Arlington, Texas, as part of Enphase’s efforts to advance full-scale rack assembly and system validation.
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The IQ SST rack, designed for AI data centre environments, converts medium-voltage alternating current directly to 800 volts direct current (VDC).
This process is intended to meet the shifting requirements of data centres moving towards 800 VDC power architectures.
It also aims to minimise the need for local battery energy buffering near AI computing racks by delivering sub-millisecond response to dynamic AI loads.
Each IQ SST rack is comprised of hundreds of 4kW power modules, collectively enabling capacities up to 5MW.
According to Enphase, this modular approach creates a distributed solid-state transformer suitable for the scale and flexibility required by AI data centres.
Enphase Energy co-founder and chief product officer Raghu Belur said: “A 4kW power module is small, but put hundreds of them together and you have a multi-megawatt IQ SST rack. We don’t need to build bigger power-conversion systems.
“We can scale by repeating the same compact power module, the approach Enphase has used to scale distributed power electronics for decades.”
The current phase includes both module and full-system validation at megawatt scale, including testing at medium-voltage AC levels from 13.8kV to 34.5kV.
It also involves evaluation of electrical and thermal performance, power-conversion efficiency, distributed control, redundancy, and insulation performance.
Central to each module is a high-frequency transformer developed by Enphase’s magnetics team over nearly two decades.
This is paired with gallium nitride (GaN) power-switching technology and Enphase’s fifth-generation Kestrel application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) for control and monitoring.
The company indicates that the form-factor and manufacturing process of the modules align with its latest IQ Microinverters, aiming to scale production towards tens of gigawatts annually using automated facilities.
Assembly and validation of complete IQ SST racks are planned to continue in Texas.
