Yole Flags 800V DC as a Prospective Data-Center Power Architecture

Yole has identified 800V DC power delivery as a key technology area for the expansion of AI infrastructure, alongside co-packaged optics (CPO), glass substrates and hybrid bonding.

For data-center operators and power-infrastructure suppliers, the central proposition is a simpler power-conversion architecture. Yole indicated that 2029–2030 could become an important development period for direct power-conversion technologies in data centers. The timing is not fixed: progress will depend on product development and certification.

The potential transition is linked to increasing AI compute density, which is raising requirements across power delivery, interconnects, and thermal and energy efficiency. If high-voltage DC architectures advance, they could increase demand for SiC and GaN power semiconductors, as well as power-system packaging and integration technologies.

Yole also expects the CPO market for switch and computing applications to grow to US$1.8 billion, although no timeframe was specified. It forecasts the market for pluggable optical transceivers to approach US$18 billion by 2030. Separately, Yole expects wafer demand to grow by about 6–7% annually over the next 15–20 years.

For the data-center market, this outlook could imply a gradual reallocation of investment from conventional multi-stage conversion systems toward high-voltage DC distribution and integrated power electronics. However, Yole’s assessment is forward-looking rather than confirmation of volume deployment. Standards, certification and product maturity remain material variables for infrastructure vendors and operators.