Both electromechanical and solid state relays are expected to witness quite a boom in the years to come. As manufacturing processes keep getting more and more advanced and the use of MOSFETs helps in the reduction of semiconductor sizes, a lot of opportunity is expected to be created in the electronic relay market, in India and globally.
Electromechanical and Solid State Relays: Market Overview
Of all the types of relays that are currently being used in the majority of electronic devise, panel mount type of relays. Several market report suggest that the panel mount relay market is expected to witness a CAGR of 1.5 percent from 2018-24.
The market owing to its capabilities such as performing in largest load current which ranges from 0.1 Amp to 160 Amp. Solid State Relays are fast and reliable in switching at high current and are easy to mount onto a metal plate. The launch of the new products which provide flexible control voltage options and LED input status indicator is expected to drive the market of the panel mount type of solid state relays.
The global electromechanical relay market is predicted to grow with a CAGR of 4.80 percent from 2018-24. The geographies that are expected to dictate and dominate the electromechanical relay market are North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific for the period of 2016 to 2024. Among these geographic, North America will lead the electromechanical relay market and is anticipated to grow at the highest CAGR over the forecast period.
Relays can be segmented into five product type categories, such as electromechanical relays, solid state relays, hybrid relays, reed relays, and general-purpose relays. Among these, the electromechanical relays market segment accounted for the major share of the industrial relays’ market.
Latest Relay Products
To write this story, ELE Times contacted Hongfa Group and Sanyou Relays to understand the pulse of the Indian market. In our conversation with representatives from both firms, we found that the current relay market in India is extremely ripe and due to strong subsidies from the state, the market is expected to grow at a favourable pace that is enough to fuel innovation and demand.
Commenting on the latest Research and developments for relays, Hariom Sagar, Country Sales Manager, Sanyou Relays said, “Sanyou consists of improved product quality, in terms of size miniature and electrical endurance and electrical parameters and our R&D are coming with new products. Moreover, relays have come up with more value added options like, we have DC relays from 20A to 350A, high voltage, high current DC relays for DC applications such as heaters, lighting and motor controls and EV Vehicles.
Our Electromechanical sugar cube relay, normally 7A-10A ratings, is widely used in many applications like inverter/UPS, stablisers, industrial applications. High capacity inverters/UPS uses higher rating relays of 20A, 30A, 40A, 80A etc. Sanyou offers wide range of relays like electromechanical, automotive, from 0.1A to 80Amp ratings.”
“Latching relays make it possible to have a switch control circuit that consumes energy only while switching, rather than during the period that the relay is not in its ‘normal’ state. Some designs use a permanent magnet to hold the arm in place, with electrically powered coils used to overcome this force when switching between states. Others are based on a ratchet mechanism that forces the arm to its opposite state when the coil is energise,
Sanyou have single coil/ Double coil latching relay from 50A to 120A, and double pole latching relay for energy meter applications,” Sagar added.
Discussing about the latest Research and developments for relays, R.A. Gotur, Director, Hongfa Group, India said, “Our R&D team is closely focusing on the relays for emerging markets.
Trends driving the relay market
Electromechanical and solid state relays have been constantly evolving to meet the growing needs of modern day application areas like power, automotive and energy storage. As the world of electronics keeps on going towards miniaturisation, relays will have to be made to fit into smaller circuits. As a result, a huge trend currently is the miniaturisation of electromechanical and solid state relays.
Upcoming Relay Technologies
The increasing demand for up gradation of the power infrastructure in developing regions using solid state relays and establishment of new power infrastructure is expected to drive the growth of the solid state relay market. Apart from the power sector infra market, the automotive and IoT industry is also driving the growth of the global relay market. Apart from that, another major driver for the electromechanical market is the increasing significance of smart grid systems. The deployment of smart grid technologies in electrical systems is mainly due to the need to overcome challenges such as the aging infrastructure. Smart grid technologies offer a clean energy supply that is highly efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable and accommodates all electricity generation and storage options. With the growing popularity of smart grid systems, the adoption of industrial relays will increase from 2018-24.
Highlighting upcoming technology in relays for different applications, Hariom Sagar, Country Sales Manager, Sanyou Relays said, “Sanyou Corporation Limited mainly focuses on the production of EM relays. We have various kind of relays – Telecom relays, Power Relays, Automotive, High Voltage relays and Latching Relays. For Latching Relay, we have a different Brand ” WANJIA’ which is premium brand in latching relay. This brand in popular in world and we cater different customers across the world. As the smart meter industry in India is growing, so the business is also growing.”
“Latching Relay and HV DC relays are new products from Sanyou and we have increased the capacity of the relay by setting up new plants in China. Sanyou has introduced 2 pole latching relays for the upcoming smart meter market and we also have latest SM series 16A relay for the LED lighting markets.
Sanyou has also developed SRDK series small size 20A sugarcube relay and 80 A /150A power relay products for the upcoming power sector and smart home markets,” added Sagar.
Talking about the upcoming technology in relays for different applications, R.A. Gotur, Director, Hongfa Group, India said, “The technology differs for different applications: For example Power relay have different Technology than other relays like Auto relays, Telecom relays, Industrial relays, Latching & Hermetically Sealed relays.
Indian Market Scenario
Commenting on the Indian market scenario for relays, Hariom Sagar, Country Sales Manager, Sanyou Relays said, “The most common and widely used type is the electromechanical relay or EMR. Sanyou is focusing more on the EM relays rather than other types of relays, as EM relay account for more percent of share and widely used in all electronics Applications, We focus more on Consumer Electronics segment like AIRCON, Washing Machine, Refrigerator and other consumer devices. Our 25A SFK Relay is widely used in AIRCON and a very popular product.”
“Hybrid Relays and other products are expensive than EM relays, so at the moment, India is not ready in BULK requirement of these products. The bulk markets are ups/ inverter/ meter and consumer products.
Today, customers are facing a flood of low priced Chinese products in the market. The buyer should check whether the product is genuine and whether the manufacturer has the ability to support the product with applications engineering, technical support and documentation, especially on test and inspection standards. They also need to check the various Safety certificates like TUV/VDE/UL etc,” added Sagar.
Discussing about the Indian market scenario for relays, R.A. Gotur, Director, Hongfa Group, India said, “Solar energy & LED Lighting segment is very popular in India, more big and expensive relays will be used in Inverters in India today and Latching relay got more demand for Home automation and smart metering.”
Going Forward
The story above suggests that the need for both electromechanical and solid state relays is only going to rise in the years to come. Apart from the traditional areas that have been driving the relay market for so long now, new industries are presenting fresh avenues for manufacturers and distributors of both electromechanical and solid state relays. The IoT, and automotive sectors are expected to play a more important role in the relay market in the coming decade, and manufacturers should take note of that.
Talking about the future of relays, Hariom Sagar, Country Sales Manager, Sanyou Relays said, “Looking at the current scenario, the Relay Market is increasing, with more and more foreign companies coming with good technology products and solutions.
With the leadership of our great visionary Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the concept of smart cities is increasing day by day and thus, we see an increment in new areas and new market like EV chargers, Smart Meter, Smart Street light, Smart Home and E-Vehicles etc.
This is going to be great boost for the relay markets. The Latching relay has become the Market favourite and consumption of this relay is increasing day by day.”
“We have WANJIA brand for the latching relay and this brand is in market for the last 35 years, we have a range from 50A to 120A, our all products are UC approved.
In the coming three years, we see a big boost in the Indian Market, as every home will have smart meter, smart switches, WIFI based smart home.
Sanyou has SJ /SRB /SLA/SARD series for smart home application and WJ31D (90A) relay for the Smart meters application. Apart from this, we have also come up with Energy Saving DC relays for the upcoming EV chargers and Battery Management Applications,” added Sagar.
Highlighting the future of relays, R.A. Gotur, Director, Hongfa Group, India said, Miniaturization, low power consumption, high sensitivity, high reliability, Functional combination, low cost, flame resistance, anti-harsh environment, environmentally friendly are the buzz word in the time to come.”
