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Distributed, semiconductor- and software-defined power platform brings Enphase’s proven system architecture to 800 VDC (±400 VDC) data center infrastructure.
Enphase Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENPH), a global energy technology company, has unveiled the IQ® Solid-State Transformer (IQ® SST), a distributed solid-state transformer platform purpose-built for AI data centers as the industry moves toward higher-density DC power architectures.
IQ SST is designed to replace traditional centralized power conversion with a distributed “supercluster” architecture. Each 1.25 MW IQ SST rack will combine 342 intelligent, semiconductor- and software-defined power modules operating in a coordinated series/parallel configuration. The system is expected to deliver 98.5% efficiency and 99.999% availability through built-in redundancy, enabling continued operation with only 90% of the power modules participating.
The IQ SST platform is designed without internal batteries and is intended to reduce or eliminate the need for rack-level battery sidecars and traditional uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems in supported data center configurations. For data center operators, that means less power infrastructure, less floor space consumed by electrical equipment, and more space available for GPUs. In an industry where power density and floor space are increasingly constrained, returning space to compute infrastructure can be a meaningful economic advantage.
AI workloads are pushing data center rack power from hundreds of kilowatts toward megawatt-scale densities, with loads that can swing from idle to full power and back several times per second. Legacy 48 VDC and multi-stage conversion architectures were not designed for this level of density, speed, or efficiency. IQ SST will convert medium-voltage AC, including 35 kV and 15 kV interconnection classes, directly into regulated DC power in a single conversion stage. The platform is designed to support both 800 VDC and ±400 VDC rack configurations defined by emerging AI data center standards, with sub-millisecond response to dynamic AI loads.
The IQ SST power module is derived from Enphase’s microinverter platform, now in its ninth generation. At the heart of every unit is Enphase’s fifth-generation control ASIC (“Kestrel”), a custom 22-nanometer chip designed to enable fast, coordinated response across hundreds of distributed power modules. The power module will use gallium nitride (GaN) power-switching technology proven in Enphase’s IQ9™ Microinverters. GaN enables fast, compact, and highly efficient power conversion at the power module level, while Enphase’s distributed architecture and proprietary controls coordinate hundreds of power modules into a single megawatt-scale power platform.
Enphase expects to manufacture IQ SST on the same automated platform it has used to ship approximately 87.8 million microinverters. IQ SST power modules are designed to be built from standard high-volume semiconductor components and supplied from manufacturing facilities in the United States, leveraging Enphase’s existing diversified supply chain. This gives customers a domestic alternative to offshore, custom-built power systems.
Enphase expects the initial annual U.S. addressable opportunity for IQ SST in AI data centers to exceed 11 GW by 2031. AI data centers are the first target application for the platform, driven by increasing rack power densities, faster-changing AI workloads, and the industry’s move toward 800 VDC and ±400 VDC power architectures. Over time, Enphase sees a path to extend the same distributed, semiconductor- and software-defined power conversion architecture into larger adjacent high-power markets. Full system demonstrations of the IQ SST platform are expected late this year, with customer pilots in 2027 and volume shipments expected in 2028.
“AI is changing how power must be delivered to compute infrastructure,” said Badri Kothandaraman, president and CEO of Enphase Energy. “For two decades, Enphase has built distributed, semiconductor- and software-defined power conversion systems at scale. As AI racks move toward 800 VDC (±400 VDC) architectures and megawatt-scale densities, we believe that distributed architecture is well suited to this transition, and it is what we are building.”
“When we started Enphase twenty years ago, we made a founding bet that distributed architectures would outperform centralized architectures in power electronics,” said Raghu Belur, co-founder and chief product officer at Enphase Energy. “We proved it in solar. We are proving it again with batteries. Now we are bringing that same conviction to AI power. A single-stage, semiconductor- and software-defined, distributed design is how we intend to deliver the performance, reliability, and economics that AI data centers need. Everything we have built over the last two decades has led to this moment.”
More information about the IQ® Solid-State Transformer (IQ® SST)
Read the supporting presentation to learn more.