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Ideal Power Signs $1.2 Million Contract to Partner with Diversified Technologies on Demonstration of B-TRAN™ Enabled High Efficiency Direct Current Circuit Breaker
AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ideal Power Inc. (NASDAQ: IPWR) (the “Company”), pioneering the development and commercialization of highly
About this update from Ideal Power Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 10, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ideal Power Inc. (NASDAQ: IPWR) (the “Company”), pioneering the development and commercialization of highly efficient and broadly patented B-TRAN™ bi-directional power switches, was awarded a $1.2 million contract by Diversified Technologies, Inc. (DTI) to supply B-TRAN™ devices as part of a two-year, $3.0 million contract awarded to DTI by the United States Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA). The objective of the project is to develop and demonstrate B-TRAN™ enabled high efficiency 12kV medium voltage direct current (MVDC) circuit breakers for the U.S. Navy as part of their ship electrification program. The project is funded under the Department of Defense’s Rapid Innovation Fund, which is designed to accelerate the commercialization of high-value, high-impact technologies.\n Ideal Power’s B-TRAN™ technology is an enabling technology for high-efficiency MVDC circuit breakers. The Company believes that the low conduction loss of B-TRAN™ is an improvement of more than 50% compared to conventional semiconductor power switches, such as insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs). In an MVDC circuit breaker, where the device is continuously conducting electricity and producing heat, the importance of the B-TRAN™’s low conduction loss is magnified and results in higher energy efficiency and simpler, lower cost and more compact thermal management. In addition, the fast switching speed of the B-TRAN™ can protect power distribution systems from faults 100 to 200 times faster than conventional mechanical circuit breakers. DTI intends to introduce a family of MVDC circuit breaker products incorporating B-TRAN™ as a result of the demonstration. Ideal Power and DTI’s collaboration will help establish the viability of shipboard MVDC power distribution by delivering extremely fast fault interruption, low fault currents, flexible programmable coordination, and mechanical isolation, which are key factors to the reliable and safe operation of DC power systems. The U.S. Navy has stated a goal to electrify its fleet to increase shipboard power densities necessary to field more efficient ships with greater operational flexibility. The use of MVDCs in ship electrification and distributed DC networks would result in less vulnerable power distribution systems and naval vessels. “This project is a major s...