1/27/2026
Initiatives of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, or Industry 4.0, drive advances in electrification, automation, intelligence, security, and optimization. This is causing a rapid rise in global energy demand. The trend toward increased development of artificial intelligence, data centers, electric transportation, advanced manufacturing, military operations, and aerospace systems requires immense amounts of electricity to maintain and scale performance. While producing additional energy on its own is a challenge, methods to use existing energy more efficiently and affordably are also being pursued to meet the demands of these modern energy-intensive systems.
Power modules play a significant role in modern electrical systems, as they are responsible for ensuring that electrical energy is delivered in the correct form and magnitude. In order to be usable in most modern systems, electricity must be converted from one form to another. The power module handles these conversions by regulating voltage, current, and switching speed from the source to its destination, and vice versa. For example, inside an electric car’s battery, a chemical reaction takes place that generates high-voltage DC electricity. The battery itself cannot control the speed, direction, or timing of the current, so the power module steps in to measure battery voltage, current, and other operating conditions. The power module uses high-speed switches, called transistors, to switch this DC current on and off thousands of times per second. This switching turns raw battery power into carefully controlled electricity that determines how fast, how strong, and in which direction the motor moves.
Each switching event generates heat and causes a small amount of electrical energy to be dissipated instead of delivered to the load. The energy lost during this high-speed switching has a negligible effect on smaller, low-power devices. As the power level and performance demands of modern systems increase, so does the total amount of energy wasted. Two major factors contribute to this behavior: the semiconductor material used and the physical shape of the power module.
Older generations of power modules primarily relied on silicon (Si)-based devices. For decades, silicon MOSFETs (metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors) and other Si components formed the foundation of power electronics. Si power modules dominate everyday technologies because they are relatively inexpensive to produce. They have scalable, predictable, and reliable properties, however a major concern is their inherent limitations when operating at very high voltages, switching frequencies, and elevated temperatures. As these operating conditions scale, so do the switching and conduction losses, resulting in wasted energy in the form of heat.
The physical shape of these power modules also results in inefficient performance. Traditional power module designs used a vertically stacked “brick” layout with long current paths and thick ceramic direct-bonded copper (DBC) substrates. Bond wires and bus bars sit inside these current paths and form large current loops. The large loop area produces a high parasitic inductance. The design also causes poor magnetic field cancellation. Since the forward and return currents are physically separated, their magnetic fields add instead of canceling.
The first major optimization target in power electronics was material. Silicon was upgraded with gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC). GaN introduced much faster switching and higher power density. These qualities make it well-suited for compact applications such as fast chargers and power bricks. SiC-enabled operation at higher voltages and temperatures makes it more appropriate for larger-scale technologies such as electric vehicle chargers and aerospace systems. These improved semiconductor materials were embedded using the older module architecture, which presented many limitations. The three main being: parasitic inductance, electromagnetic interference, and thermal limitations. As a result, devices were often intentionally slowed down to support stable operation.
The Ultra Low Inductance Smart (ULIS) power module, developed by researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), was released in September 2025. This power module introduces a new architecture that overcomes the limitations of a traditional power module. The power module is made of SiC, and its shape is flat, nearly 2D, and orthogonal. The shape is said to best resemble a pancake. The flatness of this new architecture shortens the path the electrical current travels, reducing the size of the current loop. Since the forward and return currents are closer together, the magnetic fields cancel each other out. This design reduces parasitic inductance, resulting in more efficient power switching, overcoming all three physical limitations of the old design. Instead of redesigning entire machines, ULIS radically improves one critical component, the power module, so the entire system becomes smaller, more efficient, and more reliable.
To make this advancement possible, NREL developed new fabrication methods to design, assemble, and test the module in-house using standard laboratory tools. ULIS is not yet a consumer product; it is currently being prepared for licensing to industry partners for commercial deployment.
ULIS technology represents a positive ethical shift in power electronics, as it prioritizes efficiency, reliability, and resourcefulness. ULIS lowers long-term operational costs and minimizes wasted energy. This benefits both industry and society. With higher reliability and predictive health monitoring, it can address system failures in critical structures at a much faster rate.
Given these advantages, the future of ULIS technology looks bright and serves as a stepping stone to next-generation infrastructures.