RockeTruck's Executive Summary
We aren't just what we make...
RockeTruck, founded in October 2020, offers a portfolio of power electronics products that use wide bandgap semiconductors to meet new electricity demands and maximize the benefits of integrating distributed energy resources into the electric power grid. Key company products include solid-state transformers (SSTs) to convert grid power to medium voltage direct current (MVDC) power, DC-to-DC converters to meet various end-use DC power needs, compact inverters for DC-to-AC conversion, and efficient generators using batteries and hydrogen fuel cells to reduce reliance on grid power or power off-grid facilities. RockeTruck’s technology focus is on using advanced gallium nitride (GaN) and silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductors to make these products smaller, simpler, and more efficient. These advances improve the efficiency of grid electricity distribution and utilization, while enabling development new, higher power off-grid systems to support energy resiliency and military and aerospace applications. RockeTruck is based in Escondido, California.
But also how we make it...
RockeTruck has developed innovations at three different levels of the supply chain for transformers, inverters, and DC-to-DC converters using GaN and SiC. At the final end use/application level, the company has developed fully integrated SSTs and mobile fuel cell-battery generators, incorporating unique component designs, integration methods, and software. These end use products have all been designed to optimize the use of RockeTruck’s own GaN and SiC-based power inverters and/or DC-DC converters as core components. At the component level, RockeTruck has designed and developed unique designs for inverters and DC-to-DC converters, with smaller filter components, heat sinks, and other features to optimize the use of the latest commercially available power modules using GaN or SiC. At the power module level, RockeTruck has developed a new half-bridge module that uses one of the latest GaN bare dies developed in the industry, and a topology that uses these chips to surpass the performance of any other GaN modules on the market. To support RockeTruck’s long-term goal of manufacturing the most advanced GaN chip in the world, the company is coordinating the efforts of a leading university, a major government research laboratory, and a large industry partner to achieve fundamental advances in how GaN chips are grown to enable an innovative advance in substrate material that would enhance performance at the power module, component, and end use level.
And where you use it!
Commercial and industrial facilities that consume large amounts of power can use RockeTruck’s products to reduce electricity consumption, achieve “load shifting” to reduce utility bills, and improve resiliency by delivering clean backup power during grid outages. Key targeted applications include data centers and electric vehicle (EV) charging facilities, where grid power can be distributed more efficiently to server racks and EV chargers with SSTs and MVDC distribution, while also reducing the size and cost of servers and chargers by replacing their inverters with simpler DC-to-DC converters. During peak pricing periods, use of grid electricity can be curtailed by using RockeTruck’s hybrid generators, using an optimized mix of fuel cell and battery power to minimize fuel energy cost. RockeTruck’s mobile generators can also support other mission critical facilities such as hospitals by providing backup power, while offering a clean, quiet alternative primary power option for outdoor entertainment venues, construction sites, and remote off-grid facilities.
Our Business Model
RockeTruck’s near-term business model is to manufacture and deliver solid-state transformers (SSTs), AC-to DC inverters, DC-to-DC converters, and fuel cell-battery generators – achieving this diverse product mix with a standardized set of GaN and SiC building blocks. Key target customers include data centers, electric vehicle (EV) charging facilities, and other facilities that can use these products to significantly reduce electricity consumption, simplify the devices using this power, and facilitate integration of distributed energy resources. RockeTruck has leveraged its capabilities to integrate such systems to acquire non-dilutive public funding to develop and demonstrate such products, and to engage major public utilities in these demonstrations. As a commercial market develops for large volume sales, RockeTruck will offer high-value components to other manufacturers seeking to mass-produce SSTs and these other products, while retaining the ability to sell customized SSTs and related products in lower volumes. As examples, RockeTruck may sell inverters using SiC power modules to other SST manufacturers, and may sell half-bridge power modules using GaN semiconductor chips to other inverter manufacturers. RockeTruck’s ultimate goal, if it is successful in moving up the value chain in this manner, is to mass-produce GaN bare dies, which can be used by other manufacturers of power modules.
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