{
  "id": 16731220,
  "title": "How solid-state transformers could help power the AI boom",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/27/how-solid-state-transformers-could-help-power-the-ai-boom",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-10-27T09:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "MIT Technology Review",
    "slug": "mit-technology-review",
    "url": "https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/10/27/1147684/solid-state-transformers/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Transformers play a vital but often unnoticed role in our power grid, facilitating efficient long-distance electricity delivery. However, they're complex, scarce, and their design has remained largely unchanged for over a century. With increasing demand from electric vehicles, data centers, and more, researchers and companies are exploring ways to modernize these devices. Solid-state transformers, in particular, show promise. Unlike traditional transformers that rely on vast amounts of steel alloys and copper wires, solid-state models integrate magnetic components with high-power semiconductors, leading to compact designs and enhanced control over electricity flow. While currently in development, solid-state transformers may not fully replace existing ones, especially the largest ones used for long-distance transmission. Yet, they could be a critical component of future grids. The grid's efficiency is impacted by energy loss as electricity travels through power lines, which is contingent on voltage levels. Transformers are instrumental in stepping up or down voltage to ensure efficient power distribution. For instance, solar panel-generated direct current electricity must first be converted to alternating current via an inverter before being stepped up by transformers for transmission. It's then stepped down again for residential use. Conventional transformers achieve this using loops of wire, with the core typically made of grain-oriented electrical steel, and copper coils on either side. The voltage is determined by the number of loops in each coil. However, solid-state transformers offer a more efficient alternative. They incorporate power electronics to convert and control electricity, potentially reducing the size of the magnetic core by up to 90% while maintaining capacity. Additionally, these transformers can also manage tasks typically performed by separate devices like rectifiers and inverters, shrinking the overall electrical equipment footprint and minimizing energy loss. A recent test conducted in August at EPRI's facility demonstrated a one-megawatt solid-state transformer's efficiency, losing only 2% of the energy fed in, compared to the 96% efficiency of an equivalent conventional transformer and rectifier setup.",
  "summary": "Transformers are a crucial but nearly invisible part of our grid. The devices help efficiently move power across long distances, but they’re complicated and in short supply. And given that their basic design hasn’t changed much for about a century, they could use an upgrade. As the world races to meet rising electricity demand from…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}