According to IDTechEx forecasts, the power electronics market will exceed US$65 billion by 2036, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10% over the next decade.

In the new report, “Power Electronics Market 2026–2036: Data Centers, Electric Vehicles, and Renewables,” IDTechEx analyzes innovation trends in the power electronics market, driven by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in sectors such as data centers, electric vehicles, and renewable energy. Power electronics for data centers, electric vehicles, and renewable energy operate at significantly different power ratings and under a wide range of environmental conditions. The requirements and cost considerations for each are also very different. As a result, the pace of innovation in power electronics across these sectors varies considerably.

By understanding the demands for innovation in power electronics across all applications, IDTechEx provides clarity on the power electronics market as a whole, predicting overall megatrends and broader barriers to adoption.

Electric vehicles: SiC will dominate; GaN will take longer to consolidate

Although silicon IGBTs have remained the dominant power device in traction inverters for the past 20 years, along with other silicon power devices for onboard chargers and DC-DC converters, broadband technologies such as SiC MOSFETs occupy a significant and growing share of the electric vehicle (EV) power electronics market. IDTechEx forecasts that SiC MOSFETs will constitute the majority of the EV traction inverter market by 2036, as well as the majority of the onboard charger and DC-DC converter market. High-temperature operation, faster switching speeds, and a smaller form factor lead to increased efficiency, as well as weight and volume savings that ultimately contribute to increased EV range and performance.

GaN has significant potential in electric vehicles, but the development of GaN for automotive applications depends on demonstrating its long-term reliability in an electric vehicle environment, as well as its ability to operate at high voltages in 800V power architectures for electric vehicles.

Data centers: Broadband enables the switch to an 800 VDC power architecture

The data center sector has been transformed since the widespread adoption of AI in 2023. AI models are becoming increasingly complex and require greater computing power for training. This has led to the rapid development of new generations of AI chips, which consume higher levels of power. The power electronics industry for AI data centers must adapt to support future generations of AI training.

Broadband semiconductors are expected to become widespread in power supply units (PSUs) for data centers, as well as in point-of-load power conversion. The increased switching frequency and breakdown voltage of SiC and GaN enable more powerful and efficient power conversion devices in smaller form factors, while maintaining the reliability necessary for AI training and inference.
The IDTechEx report, "Power Electronics Market 2026-2036: Data Centers, Electric Vehicles, and Renewables," includes a 10-year forecast for the use of Si, SiC, and GaN in data centers and predicts significant GaN adoption over the next decade, particularly for PSUs and point-of-load power conversion.

At the same time, data center power architecture will undergo a paradigm shift in the coming years, moving from AC to 800 VDC (HVDC) power architecture. This transition is expected to simplify data center power electronics, reducing the number of power conversion stages and potential points of failure. Simultaneously, this will increase overall data center efficiency and enable the 1 MW rack envisioned for later this decade.

This report includes a 10-year forecast on data center power architecture; IDTechEx predicts that 800 V DC will become the dominant power architecture for new AI data centers during the forecast period. In this report, IDTechEx compares the data center power electronics market with the electric vehicle power electronics market, identifying key points of intersection and shared innovations between the two.

Wind energy: the proven reliability of silicon is slowing the adoption of broadband technology

Although it represents a relatively small segment of the global power electronics market, power electronics for wind energy stands in stark contrast to the electric vehicle and data center industries. With even higher power ratings, more demanding conditions (extreme temperature fluctuations, high humidity, and salt spray), and significant costs in the event of failure, the wind power electronics industry has been hesitant to adopt the latest innovations in broadband power electronics, opting instead for the long-established reliability of silicon technology.

After analyzing collaborations between wind turbine original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and SiC suppliers, and through discussions with players like Hitachi Energy, IDTechEx has developed a 10-year forecast of demand for Si and SiC in wind turbine power converters, predicting steady adoption of SiC in the wind power electronics industry over the next decade. The adoption of SiC in the wind industry represents a broadband technology shift; its long-term reliability has been sufficiently proven in harsh environments to expand its range of applications into renewable energy.

From the sterile environment of an AI data center, where the strong demand for higher power density to train next-generation AI models is driving investment in power electronics innovation, to wind turbine power converters, where intense cost pressures and reliability considerations are paramount, power electronics innovations manifest themselves very differently across sectors. With such diverse yet interconnected applications, a cross-sector approach is needed to understand how innovations in one field impact others. “Power Electronics Market 2026–2036: Data Centers, Electric Vehicles, and Renewables” provides an in-depth analysis of the semiconductor materials and application innovations necessary to fully understand the power electronics sector as a whole.

Author: Matthew Fall, Technology Analyst at IDTechEx