Power Semiconductors for An Energy-Wise Society

This IEC White Paper establishes the critical role that power semiconductors play in transitioning to an energy wise society. It takes an in-depth look at expected trends and opportunities, as well as the challenges surrounding the power semiconductors industry. Among the significant challenges mentioned is the need for change in industry practices when transitioning from linear to circular economies and the shortage of skilled personnel required for power semiconductor development. The white paper also stresses the need for strategic actions at the policy-making level to address these concerns and calls for stronger government commitment, policies and funding to advance power semiconductor technologies and integration. It further highlights the pivotal role of standards in removing technical risks, increasing product quality and enabling faster market acceptance. Besides noting benefits of existing standards in accelerating market growth, the paper also identifies the current standardization gaps. The white paper emphasizes the importance of ensuring a robust supply chain for power semiconductors to prevent supply-chain disruptions like those seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, which can have widespread economic impacts.The white paper highlights the importance of inspiring young professionals to take an interest in power semiconductors and power electronics, highlighting the potential to make a positive impact on the world through these technologies.The white paper concludes with recommendations for policymakers, regulators, industry and other IEC stakeholders for collaborative structures and accelerating the development and adoption of standards

The Effect of Ratio-based Incentive on Wind Capacity Development and Investment Risk of Wind Units: A System Dynamics Approach

Different capacity incentives like feed-in-tariff have been considered to encourage companies to invest in wind power units. One of the main challenges of the electricity market policymakers is the determination of this fixed payment based on limited funding in a way that the investment cost of wind units is compensated and the associated investment risk is reduced. The main contribution of this paper is the introduction of a method to manage the amount of payment or incentives during a time horizon to reach the targeted wind capacity and reduce its investment risk. In this regard, the ratio-based incentive is introduced. To study the effects of such a policy, the long-term behavior of the electricity market is simulated by a dynamic model, which is a useful tool for policymakers to analyze the effects of their policies. Then, conditional value at risk and value at risk concepts are used to measure the risk of wind capacity investment. The results illustrate that the ratio-based incentive is more effective than the feed-in-tariff in the context of decreasing the risk of investment, reducing total CO2 production, electricity price reduction, and speed of providing higher amounts of wind capacity

Small-Scale CCHP Systems for Waste Heat Recovery from Cement Plants: Thermodynamic, Sustainability and Economic Implications

In this paper, different combined cooling, heating and power (CCHP) systems are introduced and studied for waste heat recovery from a cement plant located in Şanliurfa, Turkey considering domestic applications. One of the systems is based on the steam Rankine cycle and the next is based on recuperative organic Rankine cycle (ORC), while both of them are equipped with a LiBr–H2O absorption chiller to produce cooling. Different working fluids are considered in the ORC simulation. Energy, exergy and exergoeconomic principles are applied to compare the examined systems from thermodynamic, sustainability and economic aspects. It is observed that utilizing siloxanes as the working fluid leads to efficient performance of the ORC. Besides, employed heat recovery steam generator in the Rankine cycle and evaporator in the ORC found to be the most exergy destructive components. Results revealed that the CCHP system operating with ORC (MM as working fluid) has a better performance thermodynamically with energy utilization factor, exergy efficiency and sustainability index of 98.07, 63.6% and 2.747, respectively. This is while, Rankine-based CCHP is economically preferable with a payback period of 4.738 year compared to the system operating with ORC and a payback period of 5.074 year