1. Home
  2. Design Centers
  3. Renewable Energy

 



 

 

Renewable Energy

May 2015
Improving efficiency and reducing costs in solar inverters
Jon Firth & James Kerr, Microsemi

A niche market only a few years ago, the solar photovoltaic (PV) industry is now becoming a mainstream electricity provider, and changing the way the world is powered. Following a difficult period of industry consolidation and economic crisis, PV installations saw another record year in 2013, with more than 38
. . . Learn More
Date:
05/29/2015

Advances in energy-harvesting power conversion
Frederik Dostal, Analog Devices

Energy harvesting has been around for a very long time. I still remember my 1980s pocket calculator with a solar cell powering the computing unit as well as the LCD display. But even much before that, usable energy was harvested in the early days of the electrical revolution with putting generators on river mi
. . . Learn More
Date:
05/29/2015
Grid collaboratives enhance power utilization
Jack Shandle, Mouser Electronics

The distributed intelligence that has been the defining characteristic of the Smart Grid can do more than enable smart homes and help utilities distribute power more efficiently. These two well-known advantages will be enhanced by two revolutionary changes at the edge of the power grid. The first change is
. . . Learn More
Date:
05/29/2015
The advantages of batteryless power
Frank Schmidt, CTO and co-founder, EnOcean

Many fields of research focus on achieving a combination of more powerful batteries and devices that consume less and less energy. However, Moore's law does not apply to batteries. The performance and component density of processors and memory chips double approximately every 18 months. Gordon E. Moore pred
. . . Learn More
Date:
05/29/2015
Designing the future

Alix Paultre, Editorial Director, PSD

Designing the future
Alix Paultre, Editorial Director, PSD

The first modern wave of rapid human development, also known as the first industrial revolution, began in the middle of the 18th century. The development of devices that could be used to magnify a human’s capabilities immediately changed the face of the planet, impacting everything from agriculture to warfare. T
. . . Learn More
Date:
05/29/2015
Designing for optimum power conversion
Tobias Gerber, Infineon Technologies

Today’s power conversion and power management applications demand compact yet robust power switching circuitry that supports high-voltage, high-frequency operation with the minimum of losses from the smallest possible PCB area. By definition, the choice of MOSFET technology has a significant impact on how su
. . . Learn More
Date:
05/29/2015
The iPod of power?

Alix Paultre, Editorial Director, PSD

The iPod of power?
Alix Paultre, Editorial Director, PSD

There has been a tremendous amount of buzz around the recent unveiling of Elon Musk’s Tesla Powerwall, and even if the product does not completely live up to the hype it has already changed the debate on power management in the grid. Once focused on grid-level solutions, the discussion of energy storage in a
. . . Learn More
Date:
05/28/2015
Towards a new era in power electronics

Jim Witham, CEO, GaN Systems

Towards a new era in power electronics
Jim Witham, CEO, GaN Systems

GaN material offers orders of magnitude improvement in switching and conduction performance and, when produced on GaN-on-Silicon substrates, can reduce power system costs.  Only diamond power semiconductors have been proposed as a superior material system to GaN, but the consensus is that we are decades aw
. . . Learn More
Date:
05/28/2015
Optimizing foil windings for power magnetics
Dr. Ray Ridley, President, Ridley Engineering

As power levels are increased and output voltages drop, it is common to have just a few turns in the windings of inductors and transformers. When this happens, standard round wires are usually not the best choice for building magnetic structures, and foil is often used. With a foil winding, the width of the fo
. . . Learn More
Date:
05/28/2015
Western Power Distribution case study
Ben Godfrey, WPD

New carbon emission targets are driving significant changes around how electricity is generated, transported and consumed in the United Kingdom. With the increase in small-scale generation technology onto the network, DNO's are met with great challenges to facilitate a future low carbon network. As one of sev
. . . Learn More
Date:
05/28/2015
Designing efficient energy systems
Tom Colella, Electrocube

We thought it would be helpful to assemble a top five list of the most common mistakes or “don’ts” that occur during the design of efficient power systems – and how to avoid them. This information comes from our observations and yes, some of our own experiences during Electrocube’s 50-plus years in th
. . . Learn More
Date:
05/28/2015
Boost system performance with the right DC/DC converter
Meng He, Maxim Integrated

Did you know that every 10°C rise in ambient temperature reduces every component’s lifetime by 50%? That power supplies with drop-offs or variances can lead to premature failures and even completely fried parts in your system? Indeed, most agree that power-intensive applications need, and really must have, lo
. . . Learn More
Date:
05/28/2015
Digital power system management
Tony Armstrong, Linear Technology

System architects of embedded systems, networking, and datacom equipment are constantly being pushed to increase the data throughput and performance of their systems as well as add functionality and features. At the same time, pressure is being applied to decrease the system’s overall power consumption. For ex
. . . Learn More
Date:
05/28/2015
Energy management smartens up
Mike Ballard, Oracle EMEA

There is near-consensus in the UK that smart grids and smart meters will substantially advance the way energy networks operate in the coming years. According to a recent report, more than two-thirds of utilities executives expect the benefits of the smart grid to actually be greater than the industry’s original ex
. . . Learn More
Date:
05/28/2015
Catalyst solar prize competition announces 5 winners

The five winning Catalyst prize competitors pose with their award checks at Demo Day in San Francisco

Catalyst solar prize competition announces 5 winners
Five solar start-up companies were named winners at SunShot Catalyst prize competition Demo Day on May 14 in San Francisco. The winners -- Gridmates, PVComplete, Savenia Solar Ratings, Solar Site Design, and UtilityAPI -- each took home $30,000 prizes to help advance their early-stage solutions towards commercialization. Th
. . . Learn More
Date:
05/26/2015
Novel magnetic field harvesting project wins 2015 CWIEME Challenge

The 2015 finalists from left to right – Benedict Schmitz-Rode and Mario Boxhiemer from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany; Lucas Kistner and Marc England from Leibniz Universität, Hannover, Germany; Sheng Yuan from the University of Liverpool, UK; and Łukasz Waluś from the Bialystok University of Technology, Poland.

Novel magnetic field harvesting project wins 2015 CWIEME Challenge
At last week’s CWIEME Berlin exhibition, key players in the electrical and electromagnetic industries gathered to watch four student teams battle it out for a €1,000 technology prize in the first ever CWIEME Challenge. This new initiative, sponsored by longstanding CWIEME exhibitor Marsilli (who also provided th
. . . Learn More
Date:
05/19/2015
Samsung SDI to buy Magna’s battery pack division
Samsung SDI, a leader in energy solutions and electronic materials, has agreed to acquire the battery pack business of Magna International, a leading global automotive supplier. 'The acquisition is a key strategic step for Samsung SDI to strengthen the competitiveness of our automotive battery business” The acquisitio
. . . Learn More
Date:
05/15/2015
SEIA supports legislation to increase government use of renewables

Today, the U.S. solar industry employs 174,000 Americans nationwide

SEIA supports legislation to increase government use of renewables
Saying it will “benefit both the economy and environment,” the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) has announced its strong support for legislation introduced by Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), allowing the General Services Administration (GSA) to enter into 30-year renewable energy power purchase agreements (P
. . . Learn More
Date:
05/15/2015
NREL highlights 2014 Utility Green Power Leaders
The Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has released its assessment of leading utility green power programs. Using information provided by utilities, NREL has developed "Top 10" rankings of utility green power programs for 2014 in the following categories: total sales of
. . . Learn More
Date:
05/14/2015
Energy Institute launches annual awards competition
The Energy Institute (EI)'s annual awards competition is now open and the EI is calling for entries from all sectors of the global energy industry. These awards, run by the EI for over 15 years, celebrate the best of the energy sector, highlighting the invaluable contribution that the industry makes to society. Ian Marchant F
. . . Learn More
Date:
05/11/2015
Tesla throws down energy gauntlet with Powerwall

Tesla Powerwall

Tesla throws down energy gauntlet with Powerwall
Power Systems Design has long predicted that energy storage would be the next major development in power electronics, from portable devices to grid-level infrastructures. From American Vanadium's CellCube energy storage system to Princeton Power's energy management technology, most approaches PSD has seen targeted
. . . Learn More
Date:
05/04/2015
3D-printed aerogels improve energy storage

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researchers have made graphene aerogel microlattices with an engineered architecture via a 3D printing technique known as direct ink writing

3D-printed aerogels improve energy storage
A new type of graphene aerogel will make for better energy storage, sensors, nanoelectronics, catalysis and separations. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory researchers have made graphene aerogel microlattices with an engineered architecture via a 3D printing technique known as direct ink writing. The research ap
. . . Learn More
Date:
05/01/2015
Archives
Current
March 2024
February 2024
January 2024
December 2023
November 2023
October 2023
September 2023
August 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023
February 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
June 2022
May 2022
April 2022
March 2022
February 2022
January 2022
December 2021
November 2021
October 2021
September 2021
August 2021
July 2021
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
October 2013
September 2013
August 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
April 2013
March 2013
February 2013
January 2013
December 2012
February 2012
January 2012
June 2011
December 2010
September 2010

 



 

 Home | Site Map | Contact | Privacy Policy | Refund Policy | Terms of Service | Copyright © 2024 Power Systems Design, All rights reserved 
-->