Technology advancement and trends in power electronics

Power electronics play a significantly important role in global industrialization and energy conservation trends of the 21/sup st/ century. The premier role of power electronics is inevitable in the energy and motion control systems of highly automated industries. The environmental pollution problems of fossil fuels and safety problems of nuclear plants are now major concerns in our society. Due to increasing cost of energy and environmental problems, energy conservation by improved utilization efficiency with widespread applications of power electronics is inevitable. This article presents the technology advancement and performance improvement in power electronics.