The following is a listing (with links for the full story) of the most-read Industry News stories on PowerPulse.Net for 2015, thus providing a window into the "pulse" of the trends and interests in the Power Electronics Industry. This is the second article in the series, which will continue tomorrow.
#40 ROHM Acquires Powervation for $70 Million
ROHM Co., Ltd. announced today that it has completed the acquisition of Powervation Ltd., a privately held digital power IC company that develops Digital Power Management system-on-chip (SoC) solutions for approximately $70M, in an all-cash transaction. The strategic combination of Powervation's Intelligent Digital Power™ platform with ROHM’s leading analog power technology and global market access will enable the company to address a broad range of fast growing market opportunities, as customers increasingly adopt digital power solutions to power next generation high density systems and ICs such as Processors, Memory, FPGAs, and ASICs. more
#39: Lead-Acid Emerges as Challenger to Li-ion for Grid Storage
Gridtential Energy, Inc. has been selected by the Department of Energy (DOE) as one of a handful of companies to pursue validation analysis at Sandia's Energy Storage Analysis Laboratory. The grant is designed to further the DOE's strategic mission in the area of grid storage and coincides with Gridtential's completion of 140 alpha units based on its Silicon Jouleâ„¢ technology. more
#38: A Carbon-Negative Western-U.S. may be Possible
Generating electricity from biomass, such as urban waste and sustainably-sourced forest and crop residues, is one strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, because it is carbon-neutral: it produces as much carbon as the plants suck out of the atmosphere. A new UC Berkeley study shows that if biomass electricity production is combined with carbon capture and sequestration in the western United States, power generators could actually store more carbon than they emit and make a critical contribution to an overall zero-carbon future by the second half of the 21st century. more
#37: Knitting Supercapacitors and Spinning Cotton into Capacitive Yarn
Using industrial knitting machines in the Shima Seiki Haute Technology Laboratory, Drexel University researchers are searching for the best capacitive yarn to use in energy storage textiles. While the pattern for making a wearable fabric battery has already been laid out, it's now time to select the threads that will turn a textile into an energy storage device. That process is being driven by Drexel University doctoral student Kristy Jost, who's threaded her way into the forefront of research on conductive yarns. more
#36: SynQor Seeks Rehearing for the '190 Patent
SynQor Corp. announced today that the Federal District Court in Texas has now scheduled the pre-trial conferences in SynQor's patent infringement suits against Cisco and Vicor for September 15, 2015 and January 13, 2016, respectively. Trials are expected to commence shortly thereafter in Marshall, Texas. SynQor, Inc. v. Cisco Systems, Inc. Civil Action No. 2:14-CV-286 E.D. Texas and SynQor, Inc. v. Vicor Corporation Civil Action No. 2:14-CV-287 E.D. Texas. SynQor also announced that it is seeking a rehearing of a recent Federal Circuit decision in Vicor's reexamination of SynQor's U.S. Patent No. 7,072,190 ("'190 patent"). In that proceeding the Federal Circuit found that certain claims of the '190 patent are anticipated by a prior art Steigerwald patent and remanded certain other claims of the '190 patent that are not anticipated by Steigerwald to the Patent Office for reconsideration in light of the Federal Circuit's decision. more
#35: Wireless Charging and Discharging for Electric Vehicles
In the future, a wireless charging system will allow electric cars not only to charge their batteries, but also to feed energy back into the power grid, helping to stabilize it. The cost-effective charging system achieves high levels of efficiency across the whole power range, from 400 Watts to 3.6 kiloWatts, while the car and the charging coil can be up to 20 centimeters apart. Fraunhofer researchers are presenting their prototype from September 15 to 18, 2015 at the IAA International Motor Show in Frankfurt (Hall 4, Booth D33). more
#34: Partnership enables Grid-Connected Storage with Used EV Batteries
Nissan Motor Company and Green Charge Networks have joined forces to deploy second-life lithium-ion vehicle batteries for stationary commercial energy storage in the U.S. and international markets. With more than 178,000 sales since its launch in late 2010, Nissan LEAF is the world's top-selling electric vehicle. As part of the company's commitment to sustainability and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Nissan has conducted multiple research projects in Japan, the U.S. and Europe to use LEAF batteries outside the vehicle through 4R Energy, a joint-venture with Sumitomo Corp. formed in 2010. more
#33: Nanostructure Electrodes for Supercapacitors
Two researchers from the S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, India, have developed a novel supercapacitor electrode based on a hybrid nanostructure made from a hybrid nickel oxide-iron oxide exterior shell and a conductive iron-nickel core. In a paper published in the Journal of Applied Physics, the researchers report the fabrication technique of the hybrid nanostructure electrode. They also demonstrate its superior performance compared to existing, non-hybrid supercapacitor electrodes. Since nickel oxide and iron oxide are environmental friendly and cheap materials that are widely available in nature, the novel electrode promises green and low-cost supercapacitors in future. more
#32: Solar Chip Monitors Windows
A new kind of radio chip is intended to warn when windows are left open. This way, you can avoid having the heat go out the window on cold days. The sensor also detects break-in attempts early on. The key: This maintenance-free chip powers up with energy supplied by solar power. It happens all too often in the cold times of the year, you open the window in the morning for fresh air and forget to shut it again. A thermostat reports cold temperatures, and the heating is turned up full blast - right out the window. But open windows are a problem with more than just the heating or storms. A window tilted open, for example, is a direct invitation to intruders. It would be desirable to have an automated system that notices open windows and sends an alarm signal to the tenant. more
#31: IDT and EPC Collaborate to Integrate GaN and Si Devices
Integrated Device Technology, Inc. (IDT®) announced its collaboration with Efficient Power Conversion Corp. (EPC) to develop technology based on EPC's eGaN power devices. Under their collaboration, the companies will explore integrating EPC's eGaN® technology with leading IDT solutions. Areas of collaboration will include: communications and computing infrastructure, wireless power, and radio frequency applications. more
