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An Integrated Solution to Li-ion Battery Management

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Figure 1: Some battery chemistries compared

This article discusses the issue and describes cost-effective integrated solutions that can also add extra user benefits, including state-of-charge and state-of-health monitoring. Going back in history, perhaps hundreds of chemistries have been proposed for batteries. These have ranged from the original copper,
Date:
11/30/2023
How to Ensure Safety under UL 3741 - Understanding the Risks and Limitations of Some Solutions Without DC Optimization

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Figure 1. DC-optimized systems allow for two panels to be connected in series, meaning that, upon rapid shutdown initiation, the maximum voltage within the array is 125VDC

­The introduction of the UL 3741 Standard for Photovoltaic Hazard Controlin 2020 was hailed as an important milestone in the solar industry’s continuing drive to improve solar system safety. Building on rapid shutdown best practice first introduced in NEC 2014, it was conceived to equip the solar industry wi
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Date:
12/01/2023

Advanced Battery-Management ICs are Essential Elements Powering the Growth of Smart IoT Devices

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Figure 1: IoT Applications

­The term Internet of Things, or IoT, was first developed in the late 1990s and was related to RFID technology. Over the two decades since being developed, IoT has flourished to include literally billions of nodes, each with its unique IP address. The notion of “smart” IoT is a relatively new development. Th
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Date:
12/01/2023
Powering Electromobility Applications in Harsh Environments

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­Perhaps the most fascinating example of electromobility occurred in April 2021: the maiden flight of the Ingenuity helicopter on Mars. Although electric vehicles on Earth do not have to operate in such harsh environments, their power electronics still need to work reliably in difficult conditions. When Ingenuity
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Date:
12/01/2023
How PCIe Makes the Car of Tomorrow Possible Today

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Figure 1: ADAS/AD Levels, highlighting also the hands on/off features

­The development of basic Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) is now commonplace, but to enable enhanced features—even ones we have not dreamt of yet— that bridge varying levels of complexity, there is a need to provision vehicles with high-performance SoCs and connect them to a standard communication in
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Date:
12/01/2023
Accelerating Life Cycle Testing for Battery Cell Manufacturing

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Figure 1: Critical stages in the battery cell manufacturing process

­Gigafactories have helped boost Lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery cell production from a capacity of 4 to 10 GWh per year to 40 to 80 GWh per year. Bringing cost efficiency to the forefront, high-volume battery cell production has led to a 90% plunge in EV battery prices over the past decade. Scaling up batter
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Date:
12/01/2023
The SiC Evolution and GaN Revolution for Electric Vehicles

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Figure 1: Enhanced temperature stability ensures consistent efficiency under all conditions

­Governments worldwide, seeking to meet climate-change pledges, are driving the transition to electric vehicles through legislation and financial inducements. According to Fortune Business Insights, the total global market for battery and hybrid electric vehicles will grow from $500 billion in 2023 to almost $1
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Date:
12/01/2023
An Engineer's Guide to EV Battery Management Systems

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Figure 1: An electric vehicle's battery pack. (Source: Nissan)

­An EV's primary energy source is a battery pack (Figure 1). A pack is typically designed to fit on the vehicle's underside, between the front and back wheels, and occupies the space usually reserved for a transmission tunnel, exhaust, and fuel tank in an internal combustion vehicle. Keeping the pack as low as p
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Date:
12/01/2023
Electrification Technology Accelerates Sustainable Transportation

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Figure 1: A typical multicomponent wired BMS network (left) and the simpler arrangement made possible by wBMS technology (right)

­EVs are still not affordable for many, while for others their perceived value is still unclear. Government economic policies can support the EV agenda to a point, but disruptive innovation in electrification technology across transportation and the energy grid, business services must lead the way in breaking do
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Date:
12/01/2023
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