Transphorm: Google's Investment Shows The Direction Their Bets Are Aimed

Google is making more strides in the realm of alternative energy and energy efficiency with their most recent investment into Transphorm, a company that deals in cutting edge power-converting modules.

There are plenty of bold mission statements floating around there today, but Transphorm's claim that their technology could be compared to "taking the entire West Coast off the grid" strikes me as one of the strongest claims to date.

Here is the nerdy breakdown of what this technology that I assume only 3% of you will understand/care about:

Currently, conversion modules are based on silicon, which struggles to efficiently convert power at high voltages. An estimated ten percent of energy currently generated in the U.S. is lost as electricity is converted back and forth from alternating to direct current. Mishra claims that gallium nitride can do the same conversion without wasting power.

This reduction in power-loss during transmission means that there will be less burden placed on utilities, meaning that there would be a reduction in GHGs across the board. Coupling this with the continued pursuit of more efficient products being introduced to consumers and the increased development of cleaner energy sources, it becomes easier to see big reductions in emissions in the future.

Either way, Google has been doing a good job steering America towards more sustainable solutions with their investment in the Bloom Box, the Wind Power backbone, and now Transphorm.

You can bet that I'll be paying attention to what they do next.