Renewable Energy

February 2024
PSDcast – LG Enters the U.S. EV Charging Market

Dennis Carter, LG’s Director of Sales in the EV Charging division

­One of the most important factors for EVs entering the mainstream is an abundance of charging stations. And nothing speaks to the mainstream like a multimedia consumer juggernaut…like LG. This South Korean multinational conglomerate just announced that it’d be entering the US EV charging market with its fi
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Date:
02/23/2024
TTI Europe Acquires Specialist Transportation Cable Assembly Manufacturer and Interconnect Distributor Raffenday Limited

Geoff Breed, Vice President Marketing TTI, Inc. – Europe

­TTI, Inc. – Europe, a leading specialty distributor of Interconnect, Passive, Electromechanical, Sensor, Discrete and Powercomponents, announces the acquisition of Raffenday Ltd. With production and a distribution center in the UK plus facilities in Slovakia, Raffenday’s high-quality, technical
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Date:
02/21/2024
Solar Charge Controller Market is Predicted to Reach USD 182.2 billion, at a CAGR of 16.5% by 2031

Solar Charge Controller Market is Predicted to Reach USD 182.2 billion, at a CAGR of 16.5% by 2031

­Transparency Market Research Inc. -The global solar charge controller market is estimated to flourish at a CAGR of 16.5% from 2023 to 2031. Transparency Market Research projects that the overall sales revenue for solar charge controller is estimated to reach US$ 182.2 billion by the end of
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Date:
02/21/2024
Global Graphene Battery Market Size is Projected to Reach USD 957 million by 2030

Report Scope

­Graphene batteries have emerged as the world's quickest energy storage technology. The commercialization of graphene to improve batteries in recent years and give highly efficient energy storage solutions is driving the global graphene battery market. Graphene is an excellent material for high-capacity ene
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Date:
02/19/2024
thyssenkrupp Steel and RWE Sign a Contract for Supply of Green Electricity to the First Direct Reduction Plant

Offshore wind energy plays a decisive role in the energy supply of the tkH2Steel transformation project and contributes significantly to achieving our climate targets.

­thyssenkrupp Steel and RWE have signed a long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) to supply green electricity to the first direct reduction plant at the Duisburg location with electrically powered melters. The contract, with a term of 10 years, provides for a delivery volume of 112 GWh per year. The electricity wi
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Date:
02/19/2024
SOLARCYCLE Invests $344M in Solar Manufacturing Facility in GA

Suvi Sharma, CEO and Co-Founder of SOLARCYCLE

­Governor Brian P. Kemp today announced that SOLARCYCLE, an advanced technology-based solar recycling company, will create more than 600 new full-time jobs in Polk County, investing an estimated $344 million in a solar glass manufacturing facility in Cedartown. The facility will be the first-of-its-kind in
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Date:
02/19/2024
­SBDs Achieve Class-Leading Reverse Recovery Time

ROHM has developed 100V breakdown Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) that deliver industry-leading reverse recovery time (trr).

  The SBDs are intended for applications including power supply and protection circuits in automotive, industrial, and consumer applications.   Although numerous types of diodes exist, highly efficient SBDs are increasingly being used inside a variety of applications. Particularly SBDs with a trench
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Date:
02/18/2024
­Farnell Adds Murata’s Latest DC-DC Converters

­Farnell Adds Murata’s Latest DC-DC Converters

  Murata Power Solutions is known worldwide as the leading manufacturer of DC-DC converters as well as compact, high-efficiency power products designed to address power application requirements of all sizes.   The new products added to the range carried by Farnell include the MGN1 series of DC-DC conv
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Date:
02/18/2024
­0.635 mm pitch, Slim Body Edge Rate Connectors

­Samtec 0.635 mm pitch, Slim Body Edge Rate Connectors

  It also includes a lower-profile 5 mm mated height. ERF6 & ERM6 Series Edge Rate connectors support 56 Gbps PAM4 high-speed, rugged mezzanine applications for industrial, embedded vision, instrumentation and monitoring, drones, and robotics.   ERF6 & ERM6 have two rows of pins while ma
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Date:
02/18/2024
Declining Consumer Confidence in the US Energy System Highlights Need for Action

Trey Thornton, EY Americas Power & Utilities Leader

­The EY Energy Consumer Confidence Index (ECCI) reveals an 8-point plunge in consumer confidence toward the US energy system, tumbling from 64.8 in 2022 down to 56.9 today. Most Americans believe they are doing everything they can to be sustainable (68%) and that energy providers should take the lead in shifting to
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Date:
02/15/2024
Carbon Intensity Regulation to Make or Break Global Low-Carbon Hydrogen Market

Carbon Intensity Regulation to Make or Break Global Low-Carbon Hydrogen Market

­The future of low-carbon hydrogen hinges on global policymakers introducing regulations and subsidies that focus on the carbon intensity of the hydrogen produced rather than its colour, according to Wood Mackenzie’s Horizons report ‘Over the rainbow: Why understanding full value-chain carbon intensity is
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Date:
02/15/2024
Wärtsilä to Deliver one of Scotland's Largest Energy Storage Systems to Zenobē with Quantum High Energy

Aerial view of Zenobē's 300 MW battery energy storage site in construction in Blackhillock, Scotland © Zenobē

­Technology group Wärtsilä will supply a 300-megawatt (MW) / 600-megawatt hour (MWh) energy storage system under an Engineered Equipment Delivery (EEQ) contract to Zenobē, an electric vehicle fleet and battery storage specialist, in Kilmarnock, Scotland. This is the second energy storage system Wärtsilä is
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Date:
02/15/2024
Renesas Electronics Announces Intent to Acquire Altium

Hidetoshi Shibata, CEO of Renesas

­Renesas Electronics Corporation and Altium Limited (“Altium”, ASX: ALU), a global leader in electronics design systems, today announced they have entered into a Scheme Implementation Agreement (“SIA”) for Renesas to acquire Altium by way of a Scheme of Arrangement under Australian law (“Scheme”). Un
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Date:
02/15/2024
PEM Fuel Cell Materials Market Growth Driven by Transportation Sector

Materials for PEM fuel cells market value and market share by component.

­With the growing hydrogen economy, proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells are the subject of ongoing innovation, especially in terms of materials development. Dominant incumbent materials are seen for certain components, but alternative competitive options are emerging, and the technology landscape is beginning to
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Date:
02/14/2024
University of Limerick, Ireland Study Reveals Eco-Friendly Way to Generate Power From Waste Wood

Muhammad Muddasar, a NXTGENWOOD PhD student based at the Bernal Institute with Professor Maurice N Collins, Professor of Materials Science in UL’s School of Engineering and Principal Investigator at the Bernal Institute

­A new study by researchers at University of Limerick in Ireland has revealed a sustainable method of efficiently converting waste heat into electricity using Irish wood products, while minimising costs and environmental impact. The groundbreaking study, led by researchers at UL in collaboration with coll
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Date:
02/13/2024
­IP67 – even when unmated

Protective caps for binder's 670- and 770-series cable connectors reliably protect the components against any ingress of dust and liquids when unmated.

  The requirements of protection degree IP67 are thereby met. binder, a leading supplier of industrial circular connectors, is adding protective caps for the cable connectors to its NCC (Not Connected Closed) 670- and 770-series portfolio. Their task is to prevent the ingress of particles and humidity
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Date:
02/12/2024
­Innovative Double-Sided Cooling DFN 5x6 Package

Alpha and Omega Semiconductor has announced the AONA66916, a 100V MOSFET packaged in a top and bottom side cooling DFN 5 x 6 package.

  Delivering a state-of-the-art package that keeps its semiconductor products cooler, AOS is taking a huge step in enabling engineers to develop more efficient designs in telecommunications and industrial applications that must frequently operate in harsh conditions.   Typically, when using
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Date:
02/12/2024
­SOT-223-3 600V MOSFETs Contribute to Smaller Designs

ROHM has added a lineup of compact 600V Super Junction MOSFETs – the R6004END4 / R6003KND4 / R6006KND4 / R6002JND4 / R6003JND4.

  These devices are ideal for small lighting power supplies, pumps, and motors. In recent years, power supplies for lighting and motors for pumps are required to be smaller as devices become more sophisticated – spurring the demand for compact MOSFETs that are essential for switching operation.  
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Date:
02/12/2024
New Process Allows Full Recovery of Starting Materials from Tough Polymer Composites

A polymer, functionalized carbon fibers and a crosslinker are mixed and cured. The components can be retrieved by addition of an alcohol, pinacol.

­In a win for chemistry, inventors at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have designed a closed-loop path for synthesizing an exceptionally tough carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer, or CFRP, and later recovering all of its starting materials. A lightweight, strong and tough composite material,
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Date:
02/12/2024
PSDcast – Honoring Thomas Edison's Legacy with Menlo Micro's MM9200

Menlo Micro's Co-Founder & Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Chris Giovanniello

­Menlo Micro’s MM9200 is the world’s first micromechanical power switch capable of handling 10A in a miniature 5mm x 5mm surface-mount package. And here to delve into it a bit more is Menlo Micro's Co-Founder & Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Chris Giovanniello.
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Date:
02/11/2024
High-Performance Photoelectrochemical Cells with MoS2 Nanoflakes/TiO2 Photoanode on 3D Porous Carbon Spun Fabric

In the process of manufacturing a 3D porous MoS2/CSF photoelectrode, the Oxi-PAN staple fibers were used and applied as intersected warps and wefts in the plain weave process, leading to excellent mechanical and structural stability.

­This research is led by Donghee Park (Center for Opto-Electronic Materials and Devices, Post-Silicon Semiconductor Institute, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Republic of Korea) and Dong Ick Son (Institute of Advanced Composite Materials, Korea Institute of Science and Technology; KIST School, Department of
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Date:
02/08/2024
New Study Finds

Yarn-shaped supercapacitors created by NC State researchers in the Wilson College of Textiles. Photo courtesy of Nanfei He, NC State University.

­As interest in wearable technology has surged, research into creating energy-storage devices that can be woven into textiles has also increased. Researchers at North Carolina State University have now identified a “sweet spot” at which the length of a threadlike energy storage technology called a “yarn-shaped su
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Date:
02/08/2024
Chemists Decipher Reaction Process That Could Improve Lithium-Sulfur Batteries

UCLA chemist Xiangfeng Duan

Lithium-sulfur batteries have the potential to transform energy storage, with exceptional theoretical capacity and performance in combination with an element in abundant supply. But the intricate reaction mechanism, particularly during discharge, has been challenging to solve. UCLA researchers have identified
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Date:
02/08/2024
Nautilus Solar Energy Acquires 12.7MW Community Solar Portfolio from SolAmerica Energy

David Okuwobi, Business Development Director at Nautilus

­Nautilus Solar Energy, LLC announced the acquisition of a 12.7 MW portfolio of community solar projects from SolAmerica Energy, LLC (“SolAmerica”). Both projects, located in Canton, NY, are expected to be fully operational in 2024. Once completed, the community solar projects will provide clean energy to
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Date:
02/08/2024
Inexpensive, Carbon-Neutral Biofuels are Finally Possible

UCR associate research professor Charles Cai, who developed the CELF biomass pretreatment technology.

­When it comes to making fuel from plants, the first step has always been the hardest — breaking down the plant matter. A new study finds that introducing a simple, renewable chemical to the pretreatment step can finally make next-generation biofuel production both cost-effective and carbon neutral.  For biofuels
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Date:
02/08/2024
­Volue implements Smart Power software suite

Volue implements Smart Power software suite

  A2A will leverage Volue's cutting-edge software to enhance bidding and dispatch processes in the Italian power markets, reinforcing their position as a key player in the evolving energy landscape.   Volue's Smart Power software suite will support A2A's strategic decision-making, power plant pr
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Date:
02/08/2024
­PI introduces InnoSwitch5 offline flyback switcher IC

­PI introduces InnoSwitch5 offline flyback switcher IC

  The single-chip switcher achieves over 95 percent efficiency with a novel secondary-side control scheme which achieves zero-voltage switching (ZVS) without a dedicated and costly additional high voltage switch. The new IC, which features a 750 V or a 900 V PowiGaN™ primary switch, primary-side contr
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Date:
02/08/2024
Joint Lab for NEV Developments with GaN and SiC Technology

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Joint Lab for NEV Developments with GaN and SiC Technology

Navitas Semiconductor and SHINRY announced the opening of a joint R&D power laboratory to accelerate the development of New-Energy Vehicle (NEV) power systems enabled by Navitas' GaNFast™ technology. SHINRY is active in on-board power supplies and strategic supplier to Honda, Hyundai, BYD, Geely, XPENG, BAIC
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Date:
02/06/2024
High Voltage GaN Transistors for Speed and Efficiency

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Figure 1: Doped silicon transistor cross section compared to GaN HEMT

The high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) is a relative newcomer in the world of mass-produced power switching devices.  Unlike its traditional doped Silicon counterpart, HEMTs are heterojunction devices built using two semiconductor materials with distinct bandgap voltages.  First demonstrated in the late 19
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Date:
02/04/2024
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