Power Integrations today opened its newly constructed facility in Biel, Switzerland at a ceremony hosted by the company’s CEO, Balu Balakrishnan, and attended by Biel mayor Erich Fehr. The 4,600-square-meter, $20 million facility is the new home for about 60 engineers and other technology professionals, a number that is expected to rise as the company continues to grow in the years ahead. In addition to modern office and laboratory space, the contemporary building houses a surface-mounted-technology (SMT) line used to develop prototypes for the company’s gate-driver products. The facility also features a 25-kilowatt rooftop solar array.
Power Integrations’ presence in Switzerland dates to its 2012 acquisition of CT-Concept Technologie AG. Its Biel operation specializes in gate drivers for high-power applications such as solar and wind energy, electric locomotives and efficient DC transmission lines, and is an integral part of the company’s efforts in the electric-vehicle market. Worldwide, Power Integrations employs approximately 770 people, with additional R&D centers at its Silicon Valley headquarters as well as in Canada, Malaysia and the United Kingdom, and design-support centers in Germany and the Philippines.
In addition to its innovative gate drivers, Power Integrations is known for high-voltage integrated circuits (ICs) used in power supplies for appliances, smartphones, computers and myriad consumer-electronics and industrial products. The company’s ICs feature proprietary energy-saving technologies such as gallium-nitride transistors and EcoSmart™ technology, which reduces the energy consumed by electronic products in “standby” or idle modes. Reflecting the environmental benefits of the company’s products, the company’s Nasdaq-listed shares are included in clean-technology indexes such as The Cleantech Index and the Nasdaq Clean Edge Green Energy Index. The company shipped nearly two billion ICs and gate drivers in 2021, generating revenues of $703 million—an increase of more than 40 percent from the prior year.
Commented Mr. Balakrishnan: “We are delighted to open our new, permanent home in Biel, bringing all of our local employees under one roof and giving us ample room for the growth we expect in the years ahead. Our presence here is an essential part of our company’s efforts to develop innovative products for a low-carbon future. We are grateful to the city’s leaders for their support of this project, and we look forward to a long and productive future together.”
Biel mayor Erich Fehr commented: “I am pleased by Power Integrations’ enduring commitment to the city of Biel. The fact that such an innovative, fast-growing company has chosen to establish roots here speaks for the attractiveness of our city and our region as a business location. At the same time, our city benefits from Power Integrations’ dynamism and innovation, as the past decade has already proven.”
Power Integrations’ new Swiss home was planned and built by Biel-based architectural firm GLS Architects. Commented Nik Liechti, CEO of GLS Architects: “This has been an exciting project for our firm from its very beginning more than five years ago. We have particularly enjoyed the challenge of integrating a high-tech SMT line into this contemporary office building, and we are extremely proud of the result. The cooperation with Power Integrations and the authorities on this project was excellent and a key factor in the successful development of this high-density building. We were able to meet all deadlines and cost projections despite the difficult circumstances during the pandemic.”
