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Battery energy storage systems – backbone of the energy transition

Advanced semiconductors increase the performance, reliability, and safety of battery energy storage systems (BESS). These systems store electrical energy for later use, providing grid stability, renewable integration and backup power, effectively balancing supply and demand.

Power infrastructure
Grid infrastructure
Article

Mar 06, 2026

When you think renewables: think energy storage! 

The power grid has changed fundamentally, evolving from an one-way power flow from the power plant to the industrial and consumer sectors into a highly complex distributed network with different energy carriers and a rising share of renewable energies.  

The energy generated from renewables fluctuates depending on the weather, the season, and the time of the day. Powerful storage facilities are an absolute prerequisite for the success of the energy transition and a future where sun and wind are the most important sources of electricity. Battery energy storage systems buffer power fluctuations in the renewable mix, balance supply and demand and prevent power outages. 

Our solutions play a key role in efficient energy storage systems 

Infineon semiconductors play an important role in many areas of a battery energy storage system. They handle energy conversion and manage the battery. Additionally, they support thermal management such as heating, cooling, and automated temperature control. And they are essential for safety and security.

Let’s have a closer look: 

Infographic
Infographic
Infographic

Power Conversion System

The Power Conversion System (PCS) is an intermediary device between the storage element, such as large banks of (DC) batteries, and the (AC) power grid. It handles AC/DC and DC/AC conversion, with energy flowing into the batteries to charge them or being converted from the battery storage into AC power and fed into the grid. Additionally, bidirectional DC/DC conversion may be added, depending on the functions or technology.

The energy efficiency of these switching operations is heavily reliant on semiconductor technologies such as our broad IGBT and CoolSiC™ power portfolio, ranging from 650 V to 3300 V.

Learn more about PCS

Battery Management System

The Battery Management System (BMS) is a key component of battery energy storage systems, especially for Li-Ion batteries widely used in BESS. The BMS monitors the battery, keeps it in safe operation and enhances performance. Based on integrated circuits (ICs) and sensors and supplemented by a microcontroller that handles system control and communication, the BMS is responsible for cell protection, charging and discharging, calculation of a battery's charge level, cell balancing, performance optimization, and health assessment. Our microcontroller and sensor technologies are optimized for these specific workloads in high-performance environments.

Learn more about BMS

Battery safety and security system

In the field of safety, our solid-state solutions based on CoolSiC™ JFET protect more effectively against overcurrent compared to electromechanical counterparts. XENSIV™ TCIx sensors provide reliable detection of hydrogen (H2) gas and enable the early tracking of thermal runaways.

As battery energy storage systems become fundamental, cloud‑connected grid assets, they face increasing cyber‑attack risks, which can lead to grid instability or outages. Under the EU’s Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), connected devices, smart appliances, or critical infrastructure systems must be designed with built‑in cybersecurity protection and must include ongoing processes to detect and address vulnerabilities. The Act’s requirements will become fully enforceable in 2027.

Our key products, such as security‑hardened microcontrollers (e.g. AURIX™ TC3/4x family or PSOC™ Control) and OPTIGA™ security solutions, deliver robust cybersecurity through protected firmware, crypto acceleration, secured boot and update mechanisms, PQC-readiness, mutual authentication, and lockstep functional safety to counter fault‑injection attacks.

Learn more about the essential role of cybersecurity

In front of or behind the meter – semiconductors matter everywhere

Battery energy storage systems play a role in many places in the energy chain—as large plants that serve many users in the grid or as coupled systems that supplement local power generation from photovoltaics with storage, whether in industrial buildings or households. Regardless of the size of these systems, semiconductors play an important role at all voltage levels.

There are roughly two types of battery energy storage systems: 

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Infographics 2
Infographics 2

Front-of-the-meter BESS

  • Large storage systems connected directly to the power grid
  • Supplying electricity to all customers served by this grid
  • Integrating renewable energies and support grid stability and reliability through frequency regulation and voltage control
  • Participating in wholesale electricity market

Behind-the-meter BESS

  • Smaller storage systems in conjunction with on-site renewable energy sources
  • Supplying the building's electrical system with power
  • Storing excess solar energy for later use at night or serving as backup power
  • Feeding surplus electricity into the grid
  • Charging electric vehicles 

 

Differentiate your storage system with performance and reliability 

Infineon is a market and technology leader for power semiconductors with long-term experience in grid applications. Offering IGBT-based as well as Silicon, Silicon Carbide and Gallium Nitride technology-based solutions, our many years of expertise ensures efficiency, lifetime performance, and cost-effectiveness for next-generation battery energy storage systems. 

Podcast4Engineers: Power conversion systems for energy storage

Customer voice: Sungrow – storing the sun for cloudy days

Sungrow article
Sungrow article
Sungrow article

Batteries: Energizing a net zero future

Batteries are essential for securing the global transition to clean energy and achieving the Conference of the Parties’ (COP) goals to triple renewables and double energy efficiency by 2030. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), meeting these targets requires a sixfold boost in energy storage to 1,500 GW, with batteries, spanning utility-scale and behind-the-meter projects, expected to deliver 90% of this growth.

Source: IEA 2024; Batteries and Secure Energy Transitions; https://www.iea.org/reports/batteries-and-secure-energy-transitions;  CC BY 4.0 / Estimation for BESS 2025 based on S&P Global: Clean Power Installations Outlook ― Energy storage data Q1 2025, page 68.