Ideal Power (NASDAQ:IPWR) outlined its commercialization strategy for its proprietary bidirectional power switch technology, B-TRAN, during a business update call led by President and CEO David Somo and CFO Tim Burns. Somo, who joined the company in November following his predecessor’s retirement, emphasized that the company is entering what it calls its “iPower 3.0” phase—focused on commercializing B-TRAN after prior stages centered on power converter systems work and then B-TRAN product development, sampling, and validation.
Leadership changes and balance sheet update
Somo highlighted several leadership additions made since he joined. Mark Russell joined in December as Chief Commercial Officer, and Clay Beltran joined in January as Chief Operating Officer, with a focus on sales execution and operational readiness, respectively.
Management also described the company’s capital structure and share count, including approximately 8.5 million shares related to options and pre-funded warrants at year-end and about 10.5 million shares on a fully diluted basis at that time. After the offering, Burns said the company had roughly 12 million common shares outstanding, plus just over 2 million pre-funded warrants and about 1.5 million shares for unvested employee equity awards for fully diluted considerations. Ideal Power stated it has no debt.
What B-TRAN is and why Ideal Power says it is differentiated
Somo described B-TRAN as a proprietary, bidirectional semiconductor power switch built on silicon substrates, with the device constructed on both sides of the wafer to enable bidirectional conduction and blocking. He said the technology’s three core advantages are:
- Bidirectional capability with a single device, compared to conventional approaches that require multiple devices.
- Ultra-low conduction losses, particularly for “always on” applications; Somo said this can reduce conduction losses and power consumption by more than 50% in applications using B-TRAN.
- Fewer components, enabling smaller and lower-cost system designs.
In discussing competition for applications such as solid-state circuit breakers, Somo said Ideal Power’s primary competition comes from silicon carbide device vendors, naming ON Semiconductor and Infineon as examples of companies with silicon carbide portfolios. He argued B-TRAN’s bidirectional capability, lower conduction losses, and silicon-based manufacturing cost advantages differentiate it from wide bandgap alternatives.
On intellectual property, Somo said Ideal Power has 100 granted patents and 78 patents “in flight” related to bidirectional device operation. He added that the company does not patent key manufacturing details about how it implements bidirectional capability on both sides of the wafer to avoid disclosing that know-how.
Commercial forms, manufacturing footprint, and early customer case study
Ideal Power said it is currently engaging customers with three B-TRAN product formats:
- A 1200-volt, 75-amp discrete device for initial customer system development.
- A SymCool module containing four B-TRAN devices, raising current capability to 200 amps, with management anticipating higher ratings in the future.
- “Known-good die,” electrically tested die for customers who want custom packaging or for power module makers.
On manufacturing, Somo said the company uses two foundries—one in Europe and one in Asia—for fabrication, and an outsourced assembly and test partner for packaging. Burns added that none of Ideal Power’s fabrication or packaging occurs in China.
As an example of customer validation, Somo described a solid-state circuit breaker prototype originally built by a customer using a 400-volt, 20-amp, unidirectional silicon carbide MOSFET solution. According to Somo, Ideal Power retrofitted a reference design into the same enclosure to enable bidirectional operation and increase current capability from 20 amps to 80 amps, while increasing voltage rating from 400 volts to a potential 800 volts.
Target markets, market sizing, and customer engagement
Management said B-TRAN’s initial focus is “static” applications—always-on, typically conducting use cases—including solid-state circuit breakers, EV contactors and battery disconnect units, EV charging stations, and static transfer switches. Somo said Ideal Power’s current products address a serviceable available market (SAM) of just over $3.5 billion, growing to $6.6 billion by 2030. He added that future “switching” applications (enabled by new device drive methodologies and soft switching to reduce switching losses) could expand the opportunity to more than $14 billion by 2030.
Somo also discussed content-per-system economics and market opportunity in several static applications, including data centers, EVs, and EV charging. He said B-TRAN content averages about $180 per data center system where used (such as battery disconnect units, solid-state circuit breakers, and static transfer switches), and he characterized circuit breaker content as “tens of dollars,” depending on current rating and device count.
On customer progress, Somo said Ideal Power has “just under $200 million” in qualified sales opportunities in its funnel. He cited engagements with Stellantis, LAZZEN (described as a circuit protection provider and systems integrator in Asia that sells into North America and Europe), and an Asia-based power module maker that signed a letter of intent to develop a family of B-TRAN power modules. Somo said Ideal Power received a purchase order from Stellantis in the second half of last year with deliverables, one of which has been completed, with the remainder expected to be completed by summer. He added that automotive reliability testing is in process and expected to be completed this summer, aligned with the Stellantis schedule.
Revenue timing expectations and go-to-market approach
Asked about the roadmap to commercial revenue, Somo said lead customers in circuit breaking and power modules are expected to complete development and qualification around the “end of summer,” with solutions beginning to sell to their customers from the fourth quarter onward. He said he expects initial sales orders later this year, followed by a ramp into 2027.
Somo said initial market adoption is expected in data centers, then energy storage and renewable energy installations, citing shorter development cycles of roughly 18–24 months. Automotive remains a focus, but he noted longer timelines for conversion to revenue. Management also said there may be opportunities for non-recurring engineering (NRE) revenue in 2026 as additional customers commit to development programs.
On commercialization priorities, Somo listed expanding the qualified funnel, converting opportunities to design-ins and revenue, completing Stellantis deliverables, and continuing discussions with a “small number” of strategic customers that have approached Ideal Power about potential strategic investments tied to industrial power systems or automotive.
About Ideal Power (NASDAQ:IPWR)
Ideal Power Inc, based in Austin, Texas, specializes in the design and manufacture of advanced power conversion solutions for a range of energy applications. The company’s core technology is its proprietary Coupled Power Delivery (CPD) architecture, which enables efficient bi-directional conversion between DC and DC, as well as DC and AC power streams. These solutions are widely applied in renewable energy systems, energy storage, microgrids, and electric mobility platforms.
Ideal Power’s product lineup includes bi-directional DC converters, solid-state transformers, and intelligent power controllers.
