Smart Power Grid

April 2014
Isolation has been considered a necessary burden by designers.  It is necessary because it makes electronics safe for anyone to use.  It is a burden because it limits communication speed and consumes a lot of power and board space.  Old-technology optocouplers and even many, newer digital isolators co
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Date:
04/30/2014
Blocking the sun

Alix Paultre, Editorial Director, PSD

There is a very real problem in the USA right now in the development and deployment of alternate energy into the grid, as the country fights amongst itself over how energy will be generated, distributed, and managed in the future. This is especially the case with solar, as it continues to mature in both energy co
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Date:
04/30/2014
They have a problem in Europe.  On bright, sunny, windy days, they have too much “alternative energy;” and the clocks are running too fast.  Something needs to be done, and urgently. The problem is more serious than clocks running fast.  The “European 50.2 Hz Problem” means that if the fr
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Date:
04/30/2014
Miniaturization and a low profile are demanded of the semiconductors and electronic components used in portable devices such as smartphones and tablets. Accompanying the lower voltages and larger currents used in semiconductors in devices, DC/DC converters, which have a higher conversion efficiency than linear reg
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Date:
04/29/2014
Space‐Time Insight, a leading provider of next‐generation situational intelligence solutions, announced that the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) has implemented Space-Time Insight’s geospatial and visual analytics software. The software facilitates faster and more informed smart grid decisions. Th
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Date:
04/28/2014
The Energy Department today announced $10 million to test prototypes designed to generate clean, renewable electricity from ocean waves and help diversify America’s energy portfolio. The Energy Department-supported demonstrations at the U.S. Navy’s wave energy test site off Hawaii’s island of Oahu will he
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Date:
04/28/2014
The final agenda for Advanced Energy 2014 has been released, including the latest additions to our list of distinguished keynote speakers and panelists for the conference plenary sessions. The agenda includes the dates, times and details of every conference event, including all 23 sessions of the educational pr
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Date:
04/25/2014
The Department of Energy recognized the Oregon Institute of Technology (OIT) for boosting its use of clean energy at the first campus in America to be heated by geothermal energy, achieving a major milestone toward its goal of making all seven schools in the Oregon University System carbon-neutral by 2020. Partially th
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Date:
04/24/2014
CIS thin-film PV module leader and manufacturer Solar Frontier of Japan and the SUNY College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) announced they have entered into an agreement to explore development and implementation of a joint research, development, and manufacturing initiative in New York State, with th
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Date:
04/24/2014
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) invites Better Buildings partners and stakeholders to a national Summit to catalyze investment in energy efficiency across the public, private, commercial, industrial, and multifamily housing sectors. The event will highlight innovative market solutions, and recognize leaders fo
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Date:
04/24/2014
American Vanadium announced it will partner with the New York State Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to demonstrate the CellCube™ vanadium redox flow energy storage system. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and the New York City Transit (NYCT) Office of Strategic Innovation and Technology wi
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Date:
04/23/2014
Largest solar array on U.S. military installation coming to Fort Huachuca

Fort Huachuca

The U.S. Army announced plans to start development of a solar array that will provide about 25 percent of the annual installation electricity requirement of Fort Huachuca, Ariz. "This will be the largest solar array in the department of defense on a military installation," according to Katherine Hammack, as
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Date:
04/22/2014
IBC SOLAR shows their latest solutions at Intersolar Europe 2014

IBC SOLAR AG will be showcasing mounting systems and application innovations

IBC SOLAR, a leader in photovoltaic (PV) systems, will once again be showcasing its products and services at this year's Intersolar, Europe's most important trade fair for solar technology. In hall B2, booth 150, the photovoltaics specialist from Bad Staffelstein will be presenting an innovative and particularly flex
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Date:
04/22/2014
Mercom Capital reports VC funding in smart grid reached $101 Million in Q1 2014

Smart Grid VC Funding Q1 2014

Mercom Capital Group,a clean energy communications and consulting firm, released its report on funding and mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity for the smart grid sector for the first quarter of 2014. Venture capital (VC) funding into smart grid technology companies came in at $101 million in 21 deals in
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Date:
04/22/2014
New York Energy Week is the first collaborative energy event series to unite all sectors of the energy industry. With participants from utilities, generators, renewables, fossil fuels, startups, tech, finance, media and law, New York Energy Week is the only industry summit that brings together all the decision ma
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Date:
04/21/2014
A pioneering initiative designed to accelerate the development of the energy storage sector in California has signed its first corporate members – from international giants to emerging startups. CalCharge announced the enrollment of Duracell, Hitachi, Volkswagen, LG, Eaton, Enovix, EnerVault, Farasis Energy, Ha
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Date:
04/21/2014
Hendrix offers DUAL BLOCK for underground cable

DUAL BLOCK provides a dual water-blocking capability on Hendrix primary, underground cable

Hendrix/Kerite Cable, a premier provider of high-quality underground power distribution products, announced its DUAL BLOCK™ product, providing a dual water-blocking capability on Hendrix primary, underground cable. Water is one of the enemies of long-life in primary cable, as water entering the cable core
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Date:
04/21/2014
ABB, in conjunction with the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), is proud to announce it will again host a free training seminar on the latest technologies and best practices involving grid connection technologies unique to the wind industry. The half-day technical training, called “Wind Farm Best Prac
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Date:
04/21/2014
In support of the Administration’s goal of doubling renewable energy generation for a second time by 2020, the Energy Department announced $15 million to help communities develop multi-year solar plans to install affordable solar electricity for homes and businesses. The United States continues to be a global le
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Date:
04/18/2014
The Energy Department will present a live webinar titled “Fuel Cells at NASCAR” on Thursday, April 17, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. Presented by NASCAR and Acumentrics, this webinar will focus on the use of solid oxide fuel cell generators for powering broadcast cameras for NASCAR. Re
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Date:
04/17/2014
"Behavioral" programs have been used in many different capacities in program portfolios, including as a stand-alone offering, as part of marketing and outreach programs, and as a component of multi-pronged efforts. During this webinar, Anne Dougherty from ILLUME, an expert in behavioral research and pr
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Date:
04/17/2014
Energy Storage North America (ESNA), one of the most influential gatherings of policy, technology and market leaders in energy storage, announced the first round of confirmed keynotes for this year’s ESNA 2014. The historic procurement targets recently adopted by the California Public Utilities Commission ha
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Date:
04/17/2014
Invest in Photonics, a two-day international business partnering convention focused exclusively on photonics venture capital investment, announced that registration is open for innovative SMEs seeking funding. Interested candidates are invited to submit an application to present an elevator pitch to a panel of
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Date:
04/16/2014
On April 22 (Earth Day), the Geothermal Energy Association will host the GEA International Geothermal Showcase, bringing together representatives from 34 countries and representing more than half of all geothermal projects worldwide. “The International Showcase is the perfect opportunity for investors to get a
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Date:
04/15/2014
Tollgrade's battery-free Smart Grid voltage sensor delivers 0.5% Accuracy

Tollgrade LightHouse MV Power Sensor

Tollgrade Communications, an industry leader in redefining the global standard for reliability at the world’s largest electric utilities and telecommunications providers, announced the availability of their LightHouse® Medium Voltage (MV) Power Sensor, the first all-in-one line sensor for monitoring voltage an
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Date:
04/15/2014
ABB unveils substation design software

Substation Explorer tool

ABB, a leading power and automation technology group, announced the release of Substation Explorer, a tool that allows customers to enter known parameters for their high voltage systems into a program which outputs multiple conceptual layouts and suggests the most suitable solution for the application. The ABB Subst
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Date:
04/15/2014
The U.S. Department of Energy will hold a public meeting to present and receive comments on overall program direction and in anticipation of its future residential code development activities. Date & Time: Thursday, April 24, 2014 (8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.) Location: DoubleTree Hotel – Crystal City, 3
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Date:
04/15/2014
IBC SOLAR AG, a leader in photovoltaic systems, has begun construction on a 5.5MW photovoltaic (PV) plant in Bhadla, in the Indian state of Rajasthan. Bhadla marks the first multi-megawatt plant in India that the company is realising as an EPC contractor (engineering, procurement, construction) in cooperation wi
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Date:
04/14/2014
Ikea Just Bought a wind farm big enough to power all its US stores

Wind energy

It takes a lot of energy to keep the lights on as you greedily pile ¢59 kitchen dongles and weird cookies into that blue bag, which is why Ikea is making a push to offset its total energy consumption by 2020. This week, it took a big step towards doing so by buying a wind farm in Illinois. Incredibly, Ikea's new
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Date:
04/14/2014
Are you interested in applying for a SunShot Initiative competitive award? Do you have questions about SunShot’s upcoming funding opportunities and priority focus areas? Learn all this and more at the SunShot Grand Challenge Summit in Anaheim, CA, May 19-22. Reserve your spot now. At the Summit you’ll
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Date:
04/14/2014
DAW SE integrates organic photovoltaics from BELECTRIC OPV

BELECTRIC Energy Solutions Grid-stabilizing Solar Power Plant

Photovoltaics specialist BELECTRIC OPV and construction paint and insulation system manufacturer DAW SE (Deutsche Amphibolin-Werke) have joined forces to work on the integration of cutting-edge organic photovoltaics (OPV) into different construction product-lines and their respective components. The department of
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Date:
04/11/2014
The Energy Department today announced $4 million to engage America’s research universities in the effort to accelerate the development of the emerging marine and hydrokinetic (MHK) energy industry in the United States. This funding will support high-impact research projects designed to enable the capture of re
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Date:
04/11/2014
Fueled by the growth of distributed generation and the desire of consumers and businesses to move toward greater independence in their use of electricity, the microgrid concept has moved steadily toward the mainstream in the last few years. The main technology components of microgrids have made significant headway, an
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Date:
04/10/2014
Highlights from IDTechEx's Berlin 2014 Show

Perpetua thermoelectric generator alongside a wireless sensor by GE Sensing and Inspection Technology

This year's IDTechEx event on energy harvesting and storage was held in Berlin, Europe. Following attendee feedback and a successful introduction of parallel tracks on the topic of the Internet of Things (IoT) in Santa Clara, California at the end of 2013, the event saw the transformation of the wireless sensor net
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Date:
04/10/2014
ABB, a leading power and automation technology group, has announced it will hold its popular annual Capacitor Application Seminar in Orlando on May 20-22 at the Caribe Royale Hotel and Convention Center in Orlando. This will be the 14th consecutive year for this Capacitor Application event. The seminar, designed
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Date:
04/09/2014
ABB, a leading power and automation technology group, has extended its proven SafeGear arc-resistant switchgear product line with an enhanced solution known as SafeGear HD (High Duty). SafeGear HD, as with the entire SafeGear product line, provides ABB customers with a reduced product footprint and unmatched
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Date:
04/09/2014
The 2014 SunShot Grand Challenge Summit is only six weeks away! SunShot is excited to announce our thought-provoking lineup of Grand Challenge Breakout Sessions. Grand Challenge Breakout Sessions: Solar industry leaders and subject matter experts across 17 breakout sessions will provide insights and perspective
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Date:
04/08/2014
Moxa, a leader in embedded computing solutions for renewable energy solutions, announced today that it has collaborated with the SunSpec Alliance to host the 2014 Solar Securitization & Grid Control Symposium. The one day event will be held at Moxa headquarters located at 601 Valencia Avenue, Brea, California, Ap
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Date:
04/08/2014
In this episode of PSDtv Doble Engineering describes their Asset Risk Management System (dobleARMS™) for Power Systems Design at their 2014 engineering conference. The system provides intelligent alerts and notifications for more informed decisions between times of crisis and long-range operational planning. do
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Date:
04/07/2014
In this third article about power supply failures, the magnetics are examined for their contribution to the failure rate. These are usually the least understood of all components, and poor magnetics design can lead to many different failure mechanisms in power supplies. Power Supply Failure Survey The LinkedIn sit
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Date:
04/06/2014
Increased monitoring and automation of The Grid will significantly improve stability and reliability, avoiding blackouts and allowing a better response to anomalous line conditions. However, things get out of control over the ambitious goal of reaching through the Smart Meter to monitor and control everyone’s ap
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Date:
04/05/2014
The Energy Institute (EI)'s annual industry awards competition is now open and calls for entries from individuals and companies worldwide. The EI Awards acknowledge the very best in the global energy industry, from across all sectors and disciplines, no matter how large or small your organisation or where you are
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Date:
04/04/2014
The discovery of bugs in software used to run oil rigs, refineries and power plants has prompted a global push to patch the widely used control system. The bugs were found by security researchers and, if exploited, could give attackers remote access to control systems for the installations. The US Department of
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Date:
04/04/2014
The flyback is the simplest and most commonly used isolated power-converter topology, able to step voltage up or down while providing galvanic isolation from the ac mains in off-line applications.  It is the most cost-effective topology for powering many kinds of electronic equipment, having acceptable ef
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Date:
04/04/2014
The classical, centralized power supply grids today face a transition into a so-called smart grid. This smart grid can be understood as a system of systems or the sum of interlinked minigrids with massively decentralized energy generation, storage and consumption. Though today’s large-scale power plants will re
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Date:
04/03/2014
A novel IGBT structure was developed with reverse-blocking capabilities comparable to the forward voltage rating of the IGBT. This new device, known as the RB-IGBT, was used to create a 3 level advanced neutral point clamping power converter that shows better loss characteristics than standard 3 level converters. The results o
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Date:
04/03/2014
The fifth annual Energy Harvesting & Storage 2014 will provides insight into energy harvesting technologies, case studies and markets, ranging from consumer electronics and sensors all the way to vehicles, building and industrial automation. Best Technical Development of an Energy Harvesting Device
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Date:
04/03/2014
Power management company Eaton announced the release of its Blackout Tracker Annual Report for 2013. For the fifth year running, California topped the list of states with the most power outages, followed by Texas and Michigan. On average, 6,543 people were affected for over three hours per outage in 2013 and po
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Date:
04/02/2014
Advanced Energy 2014: smart grid, advanced lighting, & manufacturing

Advanced Energy 2014

The Smart Grid Track at Advanced Energy 2014 examines the future of electricity generation and distribution from microgrids to utility-scale systems, and the integration of renewable energy sources. The Manufacturing Energy Efficiency session explores process-related technologies that reduce both energy consumption an
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Date:
04/02/2014
Typical switched-mode power converters today include circuitry for monitoring the current flowing through a switching power MOSFET or IGBT for regulating or limiting peak current levels. This is necessary to protect the switch against high peak currents that can damage components or saturate inductors. A low-ohmic re
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Date:
04/01/2014
RGGI Auction Indicates Renewed Northeast Carbon Market Last month, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) held the first carbon allowance auction under the new Model Rule. Auction prices reached record levels and high market participation and allowance demand exhausted the 5 million allowance Cost Containmen
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Date:
04/01/2014
C&K offers tamper-proof subminiature snap-acting switches

C&K's MS Series features detect interlock and movement functionality

C&K Components, a leading international supplier of tact switches, toggle and rocker switches, and smart card interconnect devices, has expanded its subminiature snap-acting switch offering with the development of the MS Series.  Featuring detect interlock and movement functionality, as well as different le
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Date:
04/01/2014
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