Compared to 73.407% in 1990, 90.084% of the people of earth had access to electricity in 2019, says the World Bank. This has been a result of the initiatives taken by governments to increase the rate of electrification. Now, while electricity has allowed for innovations in technology, it has itself undergone advancements in the way it is produced, transmitted, stored, and controlled. With the arrival of solid-state electronics, the mechanical switches and relays in power transmission and control systems have been replaced by semiconductor devices, such as thyristors, insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs), and metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFETs).

As per P&S Intelligence, the growing use of such devices will take the power electronics market size to $20.0 billion by 2022 from $12.9 billion in 2015, at a CAGR of 6.2% between 2016 and 2022. This is because all the solid-state devices that are used for controlling, converting, and transmitting electricity come under the umbrella term ‘power electronics’. Going by this definition, the common household inverter is a power electronic device, since it changes direct current (DC) supply to alternating current (AC) supply without the use of any mechanical (moving) part.

Another such device is the rectifier, which works opposite to an inverter, changing the AC supply to DC supply. Similarly, the DC–DC and AC–DC converters used in electric vehicle charging systems are examples of power electronics. Thus, even a mobile phone or laptop charger is an example as it takes the AC supply from the socket, changes it to DC, and tones down the voltage to what the electronic device has been rated for. Moreover, every other modern electronic appliance, including LED, LCD, plasma, and OLED TVs, LED lights, washing machines, air conditioners, and refrigerators, have some kind of power electronics.

Apart from the consumer electronics sector, the growing automotive sector is an important power electronics market driver. In conventional vehicles, power electronics applications include the interfaces between the engine–alternator and the battery and between the battery and the lights, horns, wipers, starter motors, and infotainment and advanced driver assistance (ADAS) systems. Electric vehicles use power electronics in even higher capacities, as they control the electricity coming from the charging station into the battery and that leaving the battery for the primary traction motor.