Technical Features

October 2023
Molded Power Inductors

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Figure 1a: Saturation current (Isat) comparison between a hard saturation ferrite power inductor (orange color) and soft saturation powdered alloy power inductor (blue color) at different ambient temperatures displayed by REDEXPERT. Saturation at an ambient temperature of 20ºC

Higher power requirements and miniaturization expose passives to rising temperatures, increasing the probability of thermal aging. This article explores how to select molded high-current power inductors, which are exposed to high temperatures for an extended time. The constant market demand to increase power density
Date:
09/28/2024
BEVs Have a Weight Problem That Can’t Be Solved with Traditional Approaches

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Figure 1: Conversion to 48V system reduces vehicle total current draw from over 250A to under 75A without impacting the electrical content of the vehicle.

Battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) have a serious weight problem and not the type Weight Watchers® can fix. Many BEVs are as much as 33% heavier than their internal combustion engine vehicle (ICE) counterparts. The chair of the National Transportation Safety Board noted “The Ford F-150 Lightning is betwee
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Date:
10/31/2023
Enabling Sustainable Building Management Systems

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Figure 1: A T1L-enabled building controller

With its 10Mbps data rate, support for various topologies, and power over a single-twisted pair cable, 10BASE-T1L provides seamless Ethernet connectivity to DDC controllers and edge nodes in point-to-point, ring, and line network configurations. It offers real-time control and overcomes the limitations of previous pr
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Date:
10/01/2023
Avoid Energy Challenges Through Partial Discharge Monitoring

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It has never been so tough to run a business in the UK. The first quarter of 2023 saw the largest net decrease in business numbers, with over 105,000 closing and just 79,000 opening. At a time where all sectors are feeling the squeeze of rising running costs and high energy bills due to months of inflation and ec
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Date:
10/01/2023
How a Unified IOT Controller Can Simplify Smart Factory Installations

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Figure 1: Current IIoT Edge to Cloud Infrastructure

­The technologies underlying IoT devices could also benefit the industrial sector. This resulted in the proliferation of ‘The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)’ edge devices (sensors and actuators) using various wireless communications protocols. In theory, this flexibility should be a welcome development, bu
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Date:
10/01/2023
Building Efficient, Safe, and Reliable Smart Cities Begins with Robust Heat Pump Design

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Figure 1: Heat pump in cooling mode

The biggest megatrend for smart cities is improving energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions. Developing smart electronics designs for heat pumps, water heaters, metering, and thermostats is mission-critical to achieving success. This article will help electronics design engineers improve their new heat pu
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Date:
10/01/2023
High-Voltage Capacitors for Next-Generation EVs

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Figure 1: The application of safety capacitors in an electric vehicle's onboard charging circuit

The automotive industry is currently undergoing one of the most significant changes it has seen. Whereas development within the sector has been more evolutionary for the past few decades, the transition from internal combustion engine (ICE) to hybrid and battery electric vehicles (EVs) is far more revolutionary. Be
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Date:
10/01/2023
Multi-Dimensional MOSFET Modeling With Interactive Datasheets

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Figure 1: Reading MOSFET RDS(on) from a standard datasheet

Datasheets are often long and cumbersome, meaning locating and interpreting the required information is not always trivial. Furthermore, the meaning of the listed parameters is rarely explained in the datasheets, and even the slight differences in how they are interpreted can be critical for how a device behaves in
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Date:
10/01/2023
All You Need to Know About Using IGBTs

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Figure 1: Field Trench Stop IGBT Structure

The medium-to-high power applications that used IGBTs still exist, as do the devices themselves. In this article we will take a detailed look at IGBTs and then consider existing and emerging topologies that they are suitable for. IGBTs: Physical Structure An IGBT is a semiconductor transistor, or semiconductor swit
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Date:
10/01/2023
Keeping California Golden

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Figure 1: Installers can encourage battery uptake by educating homeowners on value stacking. Time of use savings, load shifting, oversizing and smart product selection are all key to increasing the profitability of energy storage

For several years, driven by lucrative financial incentives, California saw a massive increase in solar installations. However, with the changes to net metering incentives introduced in April, homeowners and installers alike are faced with the unknown. California is appropriately named the Golden State, no
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Date:
10/01/2023
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