Hillcrest Energy Technologies Ltd. (CSE: HEAT), traded on the Canadian Securities Exchange under ticker HEAT and referenced on the CSE under DSAI, announced on September 29, 2026 that peer-reviewed testing of its zero-voltage-switching (ZVS) inverter technology demonstrated a reduction in motor-terminal voltage overshoot of more than 90%, falling from 1.5 per unit to 1.04 per unit of DC-link voltage compared with a conventional hard-switched silicon carbide inverter. The results also showed high-frequency electromagnetic interference above 5 MHz reduced by approximately 25 decibels. The findings, accepted for presentation at IEEE ECCE 2026 in Vancouver, provide quantified performance data relevant to drive manufacturers evaluating next-generation power semiconductor platforms.

Key Points

  • Hillcrest Energy Technologies Ltd. (CSE: HEAT | DSAI) is a Vancouver-based Canadian clean technology company developing advanced power conversion technologies for industrial motor drives, electric vehicles, AI datacentres, and energy storage.
  • Peer-reviewed ZVS inverter testing showed motor-terminal overshoot reduced from 1.5 p.u. (+50%) to 1.04 p.u. (+4%), and voltage slew rate reduced from approximately 16 V/ns to 1.4 V/ns.
  • Results will be presented at IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Expo (ECCE 2026) in Vancouver, October 4–8, 2026, by Dr. Emanuel Serban, Hillcrest's Vice President of Engineering.
  • Investors may watch for further OEM engagement disclosures as quantified peer-reviewed data is placed before the engineering audience that evaluates new power conversion architectures.

ZVS Performance Against Hard-Switched Silicon Carbide Inverters

In side-by-side testing documented in the peer-reviewed paper, Hillcrest's ZVS platform delivered an order-of-magnitude reduction in voltage slew rate, from approximately 16 V/ns to 1.4 V/ns at 470 V DC and 40 kHz, which the company states is the primary mechanism behind the overshoot reduction. Under worst-case double-pulse conditions with a 50-metre cable at 470 V DC, peak load voltage remained below 2 per unit at approximately 920 V, while published research reports hard-switched inverters exceeding 2–3 per unit under comparable conditions. The test setup used a three-phase inverter with 1,200 V silicon carbide MOSFETs driving an 80 kW motor through shielded cable.

Commercial Relevance for Factory Automation and Drive OEMs

The announcement describes a recognised engineering challenge accompanying the industry-wide shift from silicon to wide-bandgap semiconductors: faster switching speeds in silicon carbide devices create impedance mismatches that generate repeated voltage reflections, accelerating insulation aging and promoting premature motor winding failure. Standard passive filtering mitigates this, but the release states such filters add cost, size, and power losses, partially offsetting the efficiency advantages of wide-bandgap technology. By addressing overvoltage at the switching event itself, Hillcrest's ZVS approach targets factory automation, robotics, conveyor systems, packaging machinery, and electric vehicle traction as key application areas.

Peer-Review Acceptance and Broader ZVS Technology Validation

The paper, authored by Hillcrest researchers alongside collaborators from Systematec GmbH in Germany and Politehnica University of Timișoara in Romania, was accepted for the IEEE ECCE 2026 conference proceedings and will be available on IEEE Xplore following the event. The ECCE 2026 results build on separately disclosed ZVS platform findings, including up to 99.7% peak inverter efficiency confirmed at global automotive OEM facilities, and substantially lower EMI results recorded at a certified external laboratory selected by a European automotive OEM, both previously announced by the company.