Renewable Energy

December 2018
Droughts Boost Emissions as Hydropower Dries up

This photo is an aerial view of Folsom Dam and Lake in Sacramento County shows low water levels in January 2014.

When hydropower runs low in a drought, western states tend to ramp up power generation - and emissions - from fossil fuels. According to a new study from Stanford University, droughts caused about 10 percent of the average annual carbon dioxide emissions from power generation in California, Idaho, Oregon and Washingt
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Date:
12/23/2018
IPM, Battery Chemistry & Charging Algorithms for Wearables

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Figure 1: A block diagram for Microchip’s PIC16F18446, which features high resolution Intelligent Analog peripherals such as an integrated 12-bit ADC2

The greatest challenge faced by both new battery chemistry and charging algorithm developers is obtaining an Application-specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) design.  Without silicon, new batteries and new charging algorithms have no way to acquire customers, and without customers – or at least potential cu
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Date:
12/22/2018
Plug-and-Play Gate Drivers Speed Development
San Jose, Calif. – Power Integrations announced a new plug-and-play gate driver for use with Infineon’s PrimePACK 3+ and Fuji-equivalent IGBT modules for 2-level and 3-level applications. The SCALE-2 2SP0430T2XX gate-driver board suits industrial, traction, UPS and renewable-energy applications, and provides reinfo
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Date:
12/21/2018
Omron launches ultra subminiature 5A switch
Andries De Bruin, Senior European Product Marketing Manager, Omron said, “The D2F-5 microswitch will push designers to minimize their application size. With a rating of 5A, these subminiature switches are ideal for high current applications and have a minimum durability of 10,000 actions.” The new D2F-5 switch o
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Date:
12/19/2018
UnitedSiC introduces Kelvin connection parts into UF3C “FAST” FET series
Based on an efficient cascode configuration, this new series provides designers with very fast switching, high-power devices in a package capable of high-power dissipation. The Kelvin package avoids gate ringing and false triggering which would otherwise require slowing of switching speeds to manage the large co
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Date:
12/19/2018
Ultra slim, low cost DIN rail power supplies from XP Power
These versatile supplies provide reliable power with a 150% peak load capability in a slimline DIN rail mount metal case. Competitively priced, the DSR’s ultra slim, space saving design features a width of just 1.26” for 75W and 120W models, and 1.77” for 240W models, making them the slimmest profiles
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Date:
12/19/2018
Low profile buck-boost regulator with six-sided shielding
The converter is ideal for equipment such as USB voltage regenerators, 3.3V-to-5V converters, and supercapacitor or Li-Ion battery regulators. The all-round shielding enhances thermal performance as well as preventing electromagnetic interference. This non-isolated power module can supply up to 4A at 5V nominal output vo
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Date:
12/19/2018
THN 15/20/30WI new model extension

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THN 15/20/30WI new model extension

The latest 5 VDC model additions to the THN 15/20/30WI series enable an optimal operation of any 5 Vout LDO (Low Drop-out) linear regulator. This is achieved by an extended trim function up to 6 VDC ensuring it’s correct operation. The LDO will then eliminate almost all ripple & noise components and provide a cl
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Date:
12/19/2018
RS Components stocks high-density capacitors from Vishay
Designed for energy storage in industrial, renewable energy and automotive environments, MAL2225 polarised electrostatic double-layer capacitors (EDLCs) combine high capacity and energy density with fast charge and discharge rates. MAL2225 capacitors are the industry’s first to offer a useful life of 2000 ho
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Date:
12/19/2018
RS Components adds signal transformers for battery monitoring

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The Bourns SM91501AL and SM91502AL are shipping from RS in the EMEA and Asia Pacific regions.

The new SM91501AL and SM91502AL are dual- and single-channel isolation transformer modules, respectively, with both devices offering common-mode chokes for noise rejection in BMS applications. Offering compliance with the AEC-Q200 standard for automotive applications, the modules are also implemented in reference de
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Date:
12/19/2018
Drop-in Replacements for Obsolete Power Supplies
A recent example involved the recommissioning of an ion implant system used in semiconductor device fabrication. Replacing the over 20-year-old power supplies without the need to modify the system chassis or control systems required a custom designed power supply. The replacement product supplied made use of a moder
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Date:
12/19/2018
Custom Capabilities Catalog Features New Packages
This catalog offers customers over 110 packages as the foundation for a custom design. Five new bobbin packages, including extended rail RM6 and RM10 packages, in addition to EPQ13, EPW15, and EE20/10/6 packages, are featured this year. This catalog also includes two new toroid headers, TOR-6P-HT4-SFTY and TOR-9P
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Date:
12/19/2018
A Brush with the Future of Wind Power Technology

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Figure 1. A brush box with OEM-style single pocket ground brush holders

Although a relative newcomer to the energy market, wind power is growing rapidly as the global demand for clean, efficient and sustainable energy rises. According to the Global Wind Energy Council, the sector grew 25 per cent each year between 2002 and 2007. It’s now estimated that the Global Wind Energy Market wi
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Date:
12/18/2018
PSDcast - Preventing Catastrophic Damage to Wind Turbines
In this episode of the PSDcast, we're discussing wind power and solving one of the most common problems associated with the turbine generators ...
Date:
12/18/2018
Class-leading isolated DC-DC converter
The new BMR481 DC-DC converter has an input range of 40-60V targeting 48-54V nominal supplies, and a programmable 0.5-1.35V output. The 12 x 27.7mm footprint ‘main’ module provides a maximum output current of 70A and also incorporates a digital interface for monitoring, configuration and control purposes.
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Date:
12/18/2018
USB Type-C/PD Controller IC Enables 3A Current Delivery
The FT4233H is an advanced bridge IC with USB Type-C connectivity and USB power delivery (PD) Rev. 3.0 controller capabilities - supporting applications up to 100W. Through use of the FT4233H, it will be possible for currents of reaching 3A to be provided to connected hardware (power tools, lights, household appl
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Date:
12/18/2018
Low-Power SOTB Process Technology Eliminates Batteries
Renesas unveiled an innovative energy-harvesting embedded controller that can eliminate the need to use or replace batteries in IoT devices. Developed based on Renesas' breakthrough SOTB (silicon-on-thin-buried-oxide) process technology, the new embedded controller achieves extreme reduction in both active and standby
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Date:
12/18/2018
TI’s LMG3410R070 GaN Power Stage, Now at Mouser
Boasting ultra-low input and output capacitance, the LMG3410R070 supports new requirements for high-power-density electric motor applications, including industrial and consumer power supplies. The high-performance GaN power stage supports higher currents, temperatures, voltages, and switching frequencies than silicon
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Date:
12/18/2018
Smallest 3 phase Book Style EMC filter
These innovative filters are not only optimised to best serve the requirements of machine tool and machinery equipment but will find wider application areas. Small is not just beautiful, but also very powerful. When developed with appropriately sized EMC filters during the start of the design-in phase, machines and
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Date:
12/18/2018
A Bluetooth Sensor for Intelligent Lighting Control
Salt Lake City, UT/Las Vegas, NV – At CES 2019 in Las Vegas (January 8-11, 2019), EnOcean will be launching a new ceiling-mounted solar-powered occupancy sensor (PIR) for Bluetooth lighting control systems communicating via Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). It will be the first self-powered Bluetooth occupancy sensor on
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Date:
12/11/2018
VALENCIA, CA - H2scan announced the Gen 5 System, a first of its kind hydrogen sensor package that offers the high accuracy, small size, and low cost needed to help utilities monitor and protect their distribution transformers. Electronics for the Gen 5 System are consolidated onto a 4.7 x 4.7 1.2-million-tr
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Date:
12/07/2018
Fighting Smog Supports Solar Power

Milky, gray smog shrouds many of the valleys and lowlands of eastern China in January 2017. The orange star marks the location of Beijing.

The air in Beijing is often very bad. The city sinks under a brown cover made of exhaust gases from industry, cars and coal fires, which blow a lot of harmful particulate matter, soot, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides into the air. The dirty air causes massive damage to human health. According to the World
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Date:
12/06/2018
High-Voltage GaN Exhibits 33 Percent More Power Output
GOLETA, Calif. — Transphorm Inc., along with solar energy innovator Inergy and design partner Telcodium Inc., announced that the upcoming Inergy Kodiak Extreme uses high-voltage GaN to reimagine what’s possible with portable power generators. The soon-to-be-released Kodiak Extreme utilizes a photovoltai
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Date:
12/05/2018
A Step Closer to Fusion Energy

Researchers have moved a step closer to harnessing fusion energy by showing how imaging enables better testing of components for devices.

Harnessing nuclear fusion, which powers the sun and stars, to help meet earth's energy needs, is a step closer after researchers showed that using two types of imaging can help them assess the safety and reliability of parts used in a fusion energy device. Scientists from Swansea University, Culham Centre for
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Date:
12/05/2018
Aluminum Nitride to Extend Life of Solar Power Plants

NUST MISIS scientists together with their colleagues from the Central Metallurgical R&D Institute (Cairo, Egypt) have developed a composite material which will extend the life of solar towers -- installations for collecting Solar thermal energy -- from 2-3 to 5 years. The research article has been published in the Renewable Energy journal.

Today, solar power plants (SPP) are becoming increasingly popular, making it possible to collect and process solar energy on an industrial scale. So-called solar towers are among the most promising types of SPPs. This is a special structure that is a high tower with a water tank and a turbine system inside. Th
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Date:
12/04/2018
The Power and Evolution of GaN - Part 3

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Figure 1: Overview of a typical LIDAR system

How to Build an Ultra-Fast High-Power Laser Driver using eGaN® FETs - That Sees Farther, Better, and at a Lower Cost! In the first article in this series, how gallium nitride (GaN)-on-silicon low voltage power devices have enabled many new applications, such as light detection and ranging (Li
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Date:
12/02/2018
Precision Power Analysis

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Figure 1: Measuring power-train efficiency in an electric vehicle, showing four DC measurements (1 to 4) with the corresponding mechanical power measurements (M1 to M4)



In the rapidly evolving area of power electronics, the need for reliable testing to enhance safety, efficiency and performance has never been greater. In sectors as diverse as renewable energy, electric vehicles and energy-efficient technologies, changing application needs and evolving industry standards call fo
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Date:
12/01/2018
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