The forecasts for global energy consumption, made at the beginning of the century for the coming 30 years, call for deliberate and responsible action by all the nations, organizations and people worldwide.The European Union (EU) has encouraged widespread debate by publishing the “Green Paper on Energy Efficiency”. The intention of this project is to put a halt to the increasing energy demand by means of intelligent consumption, which may even reduce usage by up to 20 percent by the year 2020.

The SmartPM consortium will develop semiconductor technologies and module platforms enabling

1. Intelligent motor drives for highly efficient controlled engines in industrial and home applications, and
2. Efficient power supplies and power management solutions that will to consume up to 25% less energy by 2012.

The technologies under investigation follow the “More than Moore” path based on Si, SOI and SiC and cover different voltage ranges including low voltage (< 100V), net voltage (120V – 400V) and high voltage (>1000V).