SolarEdge Partners With Nvidia on 800V Data Center Power Systems

SolarEdge announced a significant collaboration with Nvidia, focusing on the development of 800-volt DC power systems for AI data centers. This partnership aims to define a framework for protection and grounding within these high-voltage systems, a crucial step for large-scale deployment.

This development follows SolarEdge's recent announcement of an expanded partnership with Infineon to create solid-state circuit breakers for 800V DC systems. The company is making progress on its own system, with the conversion stage from medium voltage to 800V DC already operational under load in its labs, and full system validation underway.

Nvidia is actively promoting the transition to 800V DC architectures in data centers to support next-generation AI infrastructure, which requires significantly higher power. Nvidia claims this shift can reduce conversion stages, lower current and copper usage, and improve overall efficiency by up to 5%, while simplifying power and cooling systems.

The joint technological paper with Nvidia outlines the necessary functions for protection and grounding in 800V DC systems, addressing challenges like arc formation during faults in DC systems, which are more difficult to interrupt than AC systems. The framework is vendor-neutral, allowing other companies to develop compatible solutions.

While SolarEdge is positioning itself to be a key player in this evolving data center infrastructure, Nvidia is not presented as a customer, and no commercial agreements or equipment purchase commitments have been announced. The focus is on SolarEdge's involvement in the engineering process for future data center power infrastructure. The company's data center products are still in development and validation phases and not yet generally available.