News

50 Most Read Power Electronics Stories of 2011: 30 to 21

January 04, 2012 by Jeff Shepard

The following are a listing (with links for the full story) of the most read stories on PowerPulse.Net for 2011, thus providing a window into the "pulse" of the trends and interests in the Power Electronics Industry. This is the third part of a series that will continue through Monday, culminating with the most read story of the year.

30: ON Semi Announces New Power MOSFET for Automotive Modules

ON Semiconductor announced the introduction of six new AEC-Q101 qualified logic level, single channel, power MOSFETs for automotive module in small, flat lead packages. Offered in a 5 x 6mm SO-8FL package and a 3.3 x 3.3mm WDFN-8 package, these devices use 50% or less of the footprint of industry standard DPAK packages, yet offer the same or lower ’on’ resistance. The devices save valuable board space versus established DPAK packaged parts and are ideal for load switching, dc-dc conversion, and power management in automotive applications such as fuel injection systems and motor control drivers.

The full story can be found here.

29: Maxim Enters the Digital Power Market With Patented InTune DC-DC Control TechnologyMaxim Integrated Products announced its entry into the fast-growing digital power market with its patented InTune™ brand digital power technology; it is based on "state-space" or "model-predictive" control rather than proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control used by competitors.

The full story can be found here.

28: XP Power Introduces Green 150W AC-DC Power Supply that Fits 2 x 4 inch Footprint

XP Power announced the launch of the ECP150 series of compact open frame 150W ac-dc power supplies. Measuring just 4 x 2 x 1.26 inches (101.6 x 50.8 x 32 mm) and with a power density of 14.88W per cubic inch, the series comply with UL/EN/IEC60950-1 and UL/EN/IEC60601-1 safety standards for medical and IT equipment. In addition, the units have a no load input power of less than 0.5W and a typical efficiency of 91%, helping the end equipment comply with internationally recognized energy efficiency initiatives.

The full story can be found here.

27: Honda, Nissan, and Toyota Among 13 Japanese Companies to Develop Hydrogen Supply Infrastructure for ECVs

Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC), Nissan Motor Company, Ltd., Honda Motor Company, Ltd., JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corporation, Idemitsu Kosan Company, Ltd., Iwatani Corporation, Osaka Gas Company, Ltd., Cosmo Oil Company, Ltd., Saibu Gas Company, Ltd., Showa Shell Sekiyu K.K., Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation, Tokyo Gas Company, Ltd. and Toho Gas, Company, Ltd. jointly announced the following details regarding the launch of mass-produced fuel-cell vehicles (FCVs) – one of a number of potential next-generation vehicles – in the Japanese market in 2015 and the development of the hydrogen supply infrastructure necessary for the successful adoption of the vehicles.

The full story can be found here.

26: IBM 2011 Power Symposium Points to the Future

Hosted May 10-11 at IBM’s Research Triangle Park facilities, after a one-year hiatus, the invitation-only 2011 IBM Power Symposium included a mix of IBM presenters who painted a picture of the future direction of power architectures and product demand for the full range of IBM servers and retail point-of-sale systems.

The full story can be found here.

25: Schneider Electric Acquires Leader Harvest Power Technologies

Schneider Electric announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Leader Harvest Power Technologies Holdings Limited (Leader & Harvest), one of the leading players in the fast-growing medium voltage drives market in China.

The full story can be found here.

24: HP Unveils Uninterruptible Power Systems with Power Protection Support for Virtualized Environments

Hewlett Packard (HP) unveiled the HP UPS R1500 G3 and the HP UPS R/T3000 G2, high-density uninterruptible power systems (UPS) for customers managing space-constrained rack environments. With new communication firmware, shutdown protection software, and an optional network management card, these systems can communicate directly in a variety of networking environments such as the Web and complex virtualized environments.

The full story can be found here.

23: Cheaper Solar Technology Developed in Oxford

Oxford Photovoltaics, a company recently spun out from the University of Oxford by Isis Innovation Ltd., has developed new solar cell technology that is manufactured from cheap, abundant, non-toxic and non-corrosive materials and can be scaled to any volume.

The full story can be found here.

22: Power-One Announces Digital Power Management Patent License With ZMDIPower-One, Inc. and Zentrum Mikroelektronik Dresden AG (ZMDI) announced today that they entered into a non-exclusive, worldwide, Field of Use agreement for Digital Power Technology (DPT) patents from Power-One.

The full story can be found here.

21: Maxim Compact Energy-Harvesting and Power-Management IC Enables Low-Power Wireless Devices

Maxim Integrated Products introduced the MAX17710, which the company says is the industry’s first IC to integrate all of the power-management functions for ambient energy harvesting, as well as for charging and protecting micro-energy cells (MECs), a form of solid-state battery. Operating at an ultra-low current level, the MAX17710 accepts energy from a variety of poorly regulated energy harvesting sources with output levels ranging from 1µW to 100mW. Examples include light (captured by photovoltaic cells), vibration (captured by a piezoelectric element), heat (captured by a thermoelectric generator), and RF (e.g., near-field communications (NFC)).

The full story can be found here.