Every business day, PowerPulse provides readers comprehensive coverage of important Industry News announcements, spanning the globe from Asia to Europe and North America. PowePulse is the most-read power electronics publication in the world because we deliver the most information to the most readers. In 2016, PowerPulse published over 2500 news stories and delivered over 12 million email updates to subscribers of PowerPulseDaily, no other publication comes close.
The following is a listing (with links for the full story) of the most-read Industry News stories on PowerPulse.Net for 2016, thus providing a window into the "pulse" of the trends and interests in the Global Power Electronics Industry. This is the fourth article in the series, which will conclude tomorrow.
#20: Finding the Right Coils for Wireless Power Transfer
Würth Elektronik eiSos claims the position as the manufacturer with the world's broadest product spectrum of wireless power charging coils. Now the company provides developers with a tool to simplify selection of the right transmitter and receiver coils. Mix and Match, like the world's most precise AC loss calculator for power inductors, is another offering from the RED EXPERT Toolbox. Also like the other tools in RED EXPERT, Mix and Match shows online accessible product specifications are based on extensive electrical performance measurements of the individual modules in sample applications. More.
#19: 1.2kV GaN Switch Handles over 20A
Toyoda Gosei Co., Ltd. has developed the world's first 1.2kV class power semiconductor device capable of large current operation exceeding 20A. This was done using gallium nitride (GaN), a key material in blue LEDs, which has superior physical properties including the ability to withstand high voltages. More.
#18: $13.5M for Large-Diameter SiC Substrates for SiC and GaN Devices
The US Department of Defense's Air Force Research Laboratory, Sensors Directorate, Devices for Sensing Branch (AFRL/RYDD) has issued a Request For Information (RFI) titled 'Development of Large Diameter Silicon Carbide Substrate and Epitaxial Processes' (solicitation number RFI-AFRL-RQKS-2016-0002) to obtain information about potential sources with demonstrated expertise and experience to meet the Air Force's technical development requirements in large-diameter silicon carbide substrates and epitaxial processes. More.
#17: Tour de France Mechanical Doping and Motor Drives
So-called "mechanical doping" consists of using a hidden electric motor to provide additional drive power at critical times in a race, such as up a steep climb. Already, there are sophisticated motor power systems that can be hidden in the bike's seat tube. For example, the Vivax Assist only weights 1.8kg (including the battery). Press the button and the motor delivers 200W to the crankshaft. Press the button again and the motor stops. More.
#16: 3D Printing of Electrically Shielded Conductive Traces
Nano Dimension Ltd.announced today that Nano Dimension Technologies, a fully owned subsidiary of Nano Dimension, has developed the technology for the printing of shielded conductors combined in a printed circuit board (PCB). The patent presents an innovative solution for the phenomenon of electric power loss in PCBs that are primarily used in the communication industry. More.
#15: 56MW of Lithium-NMC Energy Storage for Frequency Regulation
Kokam Co., Ltd. announced that it has successfully deployed two Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt (NMC) Oxide Energy Storage Systems (ESSs), a 24MW system / 9MWh and a 16MW / 6MWh system, for frequency regulation on the South Korean electricity grid. The 24MW system is the largest capacity Lithium NMC ESS used for frequency regulation in the world. More.
#14: Siemens and Valeo form JV for EV Powertrains
Siemens and Valeo have signed an agreement to form a joint venture in high-voltage powertrains. With this move the companies create a global leader of innovative and affordable high-voltage components and systems for the entire range of electric vehicles including hybrids, plug-in hybrids and full electric vehicles. Building upon their complementary scope and portfolio, the joint venture will provide substantial synergies in manufacturing and sourcing and create a base for sustained growth and profitability. More.
#13: 200X Lower Rds(on) and 10X Faster Switching
Ideal Power Inc. reported its semiconductor fabricator successfully tested Bi-Directional Bi-Polar Junction TRANsistor (B-TRANâ„¢) silicon dies and test results validate key characteristics of the semiconductor power switch. The test results can be found in the company's updated B-TRAN White Paper. The results confirm central B-TRANâ„¢ elements and operational modes are consistent with third party device simulations that predict significant performance and efficiency improvements over conventional power switches such as SCRs, IGBTs and MOSFETs. The next major milestone for commercializing the B-TRANâ„¢ will be testing a fully-packaged device. More.
#12: Thermal FOM for Chip-Scale Packaged GaN Transistors
With power converters demanding higher power density, transistors must be accommodated in an ever decreasing board space. Beyond GaN-based power transistors' ability to improve electrical efficiency, they must also be more thermally efficient. A paper titled, "Thermal Evaluation of Chip-Scale Packaged Gallium Nitride Transistors" by David Reusch, Johan Strydom, and Alex Lidow with Efficient Power Conversion Corporation and presented at this week's IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference, evaluated the thermal performance of chip-scale packaged enhancement-mode GaN field effect transistors (eGaN® FETs) and compared their in-circuit electrical and thermal performance with state-of-art silicon MOSFETs. The paper concluded with the proposal of a thermal figure of merit (FOM) for designers to use as a tool to quickly compare the thermal efficiency of device packaging technologies. More.
#11: 650V GaN 2kW Half-Bridge Evaluation Board
VisIC Technologies announced its new Half-Bridge Evaluation Board using its VT15R65A GaN Power ALL Switch (Advanced Low Loss Switch) in a "work horse," half-bridge power conversion circuit. The VT15R65A-EVBHB demonstrates 98.5% power conversion efficiency operating at a switching frequency of 200kHz. Silicon MOSFET-based systems demonstrating similar efficiencies in this power range are limited to operation at 60kHz or less, and competitive GaN devices have only shown similar efficiency at 100kHz. More.
