Amantys, the intelligent power switch company based in Cambridge, UK has launched the Amantys Power Drive – its first advanced product to hit the market.

As well as attracting new finance this summer, Amantys already has first contracts in place with lead customers with this first product range.

Power Drive is the first of many products Amantys aims to roll out in a global roadmap to improve the efficiency and reliability of power switching.

This needs a new approach, according to the company – tight control at the core of the system, right by the transistor; remote control and monitoring of the system from afar.

It says its power architecture integrates all these elements into a single intelligent power switch to deliver unparalleled system control. This will prove critical in applications as diverse as renewable energy generation, data centre power supplies, and hybrid and electric vehicles.

Amantys has built a strong and experienced team, combining skills in power engineering, high-speed digital and analogue electronics alongside embedded software and mechanical engineering to develop an intelligent power switch.

Richard Eden, Senior Market Analyst, Power & Energy Group added “The world market for IGBT-based power modules in 2010 was $3.0bn, and is set to grow to $5.4bn by 2015, representing a CAGR of 12.3% over the coming years, and conversion efficiency is the major driver for growth in this sector.”

Current switching technology lacks the control and observability critical for monitoring and improving switching performance. Intelligent power switching leverages the full benefits of semiconductor device technologies to give the platform needed for reliable and efficient conversion.

Amantys says its product roadmap delivers the control and visibility vital to effective power conversion in medium and high voltage systems. Applications such as HVDC, locomotive traction and industrial motors will all benefit from the early adoption of Amantys products.

In power transmission systems for example, regional and national grids are being connected across geographies and borders, and one of the challenges for HVDC is the reliability and robustness of the power connection. Amantys intelligent switch products satisfy this need.

Amantys CEO Bryn Parry said: “It’s vital for us to engage with the market early to promote our technology vision for the power electronics industry. Our architecture is aimed at satisfying the market demand for efficiency and reliability and we see great market opportunities for our products across a number of application areas.

“We will be working closely with industry partners to deliver the levels of power efficiency and reliability we know are possible. Today marks the first step on delivering on our promise.”

Ian Drew, EVP Strategy at ARM added: “As we move into the Internet of Things, the ability to manage power more efficiently is going to become increasingly important. Amantys is helping to redefine the landscape of power electronics by deploying ARM processing at the heart of power conversion to provide intelligent switching.”