Electronica 2024 put energy-efficient electronics in a wider systems context: battery-powered Bluetooth devices, low-power microcontrollers, configurable analog ICs, efficient power conversion and manufacturing all contribute to lower energy use. The show highlighted promising components and supplier activity, but it did not establish a single carbon-saving figure for the products on display. For engineers, the practical takeaway is to evaluate energy per task and whole-system efficiency—not a chip’s headline current alone.
What Electronica 2024 showed about low-power electronics
Held in Munich from November 12–15, 2024, Electronica reported 3,480 exhibitors and about 80,000 visitors. Exhibitors came from 59 countries and regions, and 76% were international, according to Messe München’s 2024 final figures. The event’s official theme, the All Electric Society, described a sustainable, carbon-neutral society powered by renewable energy. Sustainability and the circular economy featured in presentations, discussion rounds and special tours.
In this context, “ultra-low-power ICs” did not mean a single class of chip. The show’s energy story ran from the radio and processor in a battery sensor to the converters and motor drivers in larger systems—and extended to how semiconductor materials are handled in manufacturing.
Which ICs and technologies can reduce energy use?
Bluetooth Low Energy SoCs for battery-powered IoT
Nordic Semiconductor announced the first products in its nRF54 Series at Electronica 2024, describing them as ultra-low-power Bluetooth Low Energy systems-on-chip for next-generation wireless IoT. A wireless SoC can combine processing and radio functions, but its name or standby specification cannot predict a device’s battery life by itself. Radio duty cycle, sleep behavior, processing workload and protocol choice all affect energy consumption. A meaningful endurance estimate needs the intended application’s workload and a board-level test.
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Microcontrollers: distinguish active, sleep and standby
Renesas reported these current figures for its RA0 microcontroller: 84.3 μA/MHz in active operation, 0.82 mA in sleep and 0.2 μA in software standby. They are vendor specifications for different operating modes under the company’s stated test conditions, not three interchangeable measures of consumption. A design spends different amounts of time in each mode, and peripherals, clock configuration and wake-up behavior matter to its average current.
STMicroelectronics said its STM32U0 generation can reduce energy consumption by up to 50% compared with previous product generations. “Up to” describes a maximum vendor claim, not an expected saving for every device or workload. A fair comparison requires the same application, operating conditions and measurement method.
Configurable mixed-signal ICs
Renesas introduced AnalogPAK devices at the show, including a low-power device with a 14-bit successive-approximation-register (SAR) ADC. The family combines configurable analog and digital blocks. Integrating functions can reduce the number of external components, board area and associated quiescent losses; configurability can also make changes easier without redesigning a board around a different set of discrete parts. The trade-off is between the flexibility of a configurable device and the needs of a particular circuit, including its performance and qualification requirements.
Power conversion and motor control
A processor cannot compensate for losses in the rest of a system. Electronica’s energy-efficiency material highlighted silicon-carbide (SiC) and gallium-nitride (GaN) MOSFETs, IGBTs, power modules and driver ICs as technologies used in power conversion and control. At the event, AOS demonstrated SiC MOSFETs, 60 V and 100 V motor-driver ICs, high-voltage super-junction MOSFETs and intelligent power modules for automotive, industrial, renewable-energy and e-mobility systems. Murata highlighted PQC600 AC-DC power supplies and low-power wireless demonstrations. These components address conversion and actuation losses that a low-power MCU alone cannot solve.
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Datasheet current is useful only when matched to the operating mode and workload. Before choosing a component, compare the factors that determine total system energy and whether the part fits the product’s constraints:
- Operating and standby current: Record the mode and test conditions for each figure. Estimate average use across active, sleep and standby periods rather than treating a lowest-current mode as representative of the whole device.
- Energy per task or transmitted bit: For a wireless or edge-processing workload, measure the energy needed to complete the task or send the data. Peak or sleep current alone can obscure the cost of radio activity and computation.
- Integration and board constraints: Compare external component count, package size and board area. Integration may simplify a design, but the right choice depends on required functionality and performance.
- Conversion efficiency: For power supplies, motor systems and other high-power stages, assess losses across the converter or driver—not just the controller’s consumption.
- Application qualification: Check that the component and design meet the relevant consumer, industrial, medical or automotive temperature and safety requirements.
- Software and ecosystem: For wireless designs, investigate SDK maturity, protocol support, evaluation hardware and distributor access alongside the IC itself.
- Lifecycle evidence: Consider material use, repairability, recycling and supplier disclosure separately from operating-power claims.
What Electronica’s figures say about sustainability—and what they do not
The official exhibitor directory counted 937 exhibitors in power electronics and energy technology, 415 in IoT, 544 in electro-mobility, 80 in sustainability and circular economy, and 28 in carbon-neutral production. These are category counts showing the breadth and commercial concentration of the event; they do not mean that every listed exhibitor made an ultra-low-power IC or that each product had verified environmental benefits.
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Manufacturing was also part of the discussion. Shortly before the show, Infineon announced technology for handling 20-micrometer-thick, 300-millimeter silicon power wafers and presented the milestone at Electronica. Thinner wafers may support material and electrical-efficiency improvements. The announcement did not provide a product-level lifecycle-carbon total, however, so it cannot establish the net carbon impact of a particular device.
Energy-efficient operation is one contribution to the All Electric Society, alongside electrification, automation and renewable energy. Lower operating power is not itself proof of lower embodied carbon or a smaller lifecycle footprint. The available event evidence establishes technology activity and supplier claims, but does not quantify a total carbon reduction for the showcased ICs.
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How to start prototyping
Begin with the wireless use case
For a battery-powered Bluetooth concept, an nRF54L15 development kit or equivalent Nordic nRF54 evaluation hardware is the most direct path suggested by the event’s product announcements. Confirm the exact kit’s availability in your region and that its software and protocol support match the intended design before committing to a board.
Evaluate MCU and power-stage alternatives
For a controller-focused comparison, look for evaluation boards from Renesas or ST that expose the operating modes and peripherals your application needs. For power conversion or motor-control prototypes, investigate evaluation hardware from the relevant power-electronics suppliers, including AOS or Murata where appropriate. In each case, verify the board, documentation, software support and qualification status for your intended application; the IC’s headline specification does not substitute for measuring the complete prototype.
What engineers should take away
Electronica 2024 showed that reducing electronics energy use is a system-design task: radio and MCU behavior, mixed-signal integration, conversion efficiency and manufacturing choices address different parts of the problem. Use vendor specifications as starting points, preserve their operating-mode and test qualifications, and measure energy under the workload your product will actually run. Treat sustainability claims with the same care: without lifecycle data, low operating power should not be presented as a verified carbon reduction.
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