Advanced Conversion has selected Peak Nano’s NanoPlex LDF film for its new HP Drive Test Kit DC-link capacitors, designed for 800V+ silicon carbide (SiC) power electronics. The film has been designed to reduce thermal limitations and derating, helping improve the performance of SiC inverter systems.
The collaboration has produced one of the first fully domestic DC-link capacitor solutions for high-voltage electric mobility. The selection of NanoPlex LDF supports its use in inverters for next-generation electric vehicle platforms, including Formula E and performance automotive, electric buses and heavy trucks, off-highway and industrial vehicles, and electrified aviation.
The 800V+ transition has outpaced the DC-Link
The shift to 800V+ architectures and SiC switching promised a step change in EV performance and charging speed, and it has changed what every component in the inverter must deliver.
SiC devices switch faster, run hotter and operate at higher voltages than conventional DC-link films were built to serve. With traditional films, designers are forced to add film and capacitance, oversize the assembly, and invest in additional cooling infrastructure to meet reliability targets. Overbuilding undermines the efficiency gains SiC was meant to unlock; NanoPlex LDF eliminates that need.
“When we built a DC link that could keep pace with 800V+ SiC, we needed a film partner who could provide both the thermal margin and a supply we could count on … and Peak Nano delivered on both,” said Edward Sawyer, CEO of Advanced Power Conversion Solutions.
“As traditional film supply has tightened, NanoPlex LDF gives us a high-performance, domestically sourced alternative that our customers can qualify with confidence. For where high-voltage e-mobility and grid-connected applications are heading, it’s the right material from the right partner.”
Built on Advanced Conversion’s patented Power Ring DC-link integration platform, which delivers ultra-low loop inductance and superior thermal coupling in a geometry that integrates directly with motor housings, these customized solutions meet 800V+ SiC requirements without the workarounds constraining legacy designs.
Engineered using an advanced nanolayer polymer architecture, NanoPlex LDF maintains charge stability at elevated temperatures, holding 95% of room-temperature breakdown strength at 135°C and enabling 25% higher current handling than traditional film at the same voltage and temperature, without derating. That 50° thermal margin lets capacitors sit directly adjacent to hot SiC modules without a thermal buffer.
“The market moved to 800V and Silicon Carbide faster than DC-link components could follow. That gap has forced real trade-offs in size, weight and cooling,” said Jim Welsh, CEO of Peak Nano. “We engineered NanoPlex LDF to close that gap so the capacitor is no longer the limiting factor. Having Advanced Conversion design it into a next-generation 800V+ platform is a strong signal that the technology is ready for the applications that need it most.”
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