The following is a listing (with links for the full story) of the most read Product 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 final article in the series.
#10: 10,000 Farad Graphene Supercapacitor
Sunvault Energy, Inc. announced that in conjunction with the Edison Power Company it has successfully created a 10,000-Farad graphene supercapacitor. Sunvault and Edison consider this development to be the most significant breakthrough in the development of graphene supercapacitors to date. At 10,000F, there is no other graphene supercapacitor built to this size in the world. Sunvault is continuing to evaluate what level of building block it will launch its initial product lines from, as that will determine the various configuration designs to launch in its initial product lines; it expects within this current month it will have solved its building block configuration design base unit and will move into the phase for product approval and manufacturing immediately following. more
#9: Flywheel Energy Storage claims 99.6% Efficiency
Calnetix Technologies' new VYCON® energy storage products division today announced the addition of the VYCON Direct Connect (VDC®) XXE Kinetic Energy Storage System to its highly efficient VDC XE family of clean ride-through backup power systems. The new VDC XXE model delivers over 300kW and 6,000 kW-seconds of energy storage to provide reliable, always on power protection 24x7 for large critical processes, such as data centers, healthcare imaging systems and other power intensive applications. Providing up to 99.6 % energy efficiency, VYCON energy storage systems have no mechanical bearings to be replaced or maintained - substantially increasing critical load uptime and lowering operating costs vs. older lower speed flywheel designs. more
#8: N-channel MOSFETs Claim Lowest On-resistance
Texas Instruments, Inc. (TI) introduced 11 new N-channel power MOSFETs to its NexFETâ„¢ product line, including the 25-V CSD16570Q5B and 30-V CSD17570Q5B for hot-swap and ORing applications claiming the industry's lowest on-resistance (Rdson) in a QFN package. In addition, TI's new 12-V FemtoFETâ„¢ CSD13383F4 for low-voltage battery-powered applications achieves the lowest resistance at 84-percent below previous devices in a tiny 0.6 mm by 1 mm package. more
#7: EPC eGaN Power Transistors Break Silicon Cost-Speed Barriers
Efficient Power Conversion Corporation (EPC) announces the 60V EPC2035 and 100V EPC2036 eGaN power transistors designed to compete in price, while outperforming silicon. Price, the last major barrier to widespread adoption of GaN transistors as silicon MOSFET replacements, has fallen. These products demonstrate that gallium nitride can displace silicon semiconductors and drive the industry back onto the Moore's Law growth curve. more
#6: Wireless Charging Scalable to 65W for Tablets and Laptops
Active-Semi International, Inc. announced the availability of Qi-compatible medium power (MP) wireless charging solutions based on PAC5220 Power Application Controllerâ„¢ (PACâ„¢) IC for powering smart phones, mobile devices and tablets. This announcement comes as a follow-up to previously released Qi-certified A11 and A6 Wireless transmitter solutions claiming the industry's highest efficiency with the smallest system footprint and BOM owing to the PAC5220 single-IC based architecture. The latest MP solution includes transmitter development platform along with a compatible receiver that further empowers customers to extend power levels needed for higher capacity devices and for quick battery charging. more
#5: MIT Spinout enters GaN Power Race
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) spinout Cambridge Electronics Inc. (CEI) has announced a line of enhancement-mode (normally-off) GaN transistors and power electronic circuits. Among the initial devices are 200V CEI20T550L1 with an on-resistance of 550 mΩ, the 200V CEI20T290L1 with an on-resistance of 290 mΩ, the 650V CEI65T550L1 with an on-resistance of 550 mΩ, and the 650V CEI65T290L1 with an on-resistance of 290 mΩ. All these devices are rated to switch at up to 20 MHz and they all have threshold voltages below 1V. more
#4: MCUs target Multi-motor Applications
STMicroelectronics, Inc. has extended its STM32F3 microcontroller series for applications that require high performance and innovative features at affordable cost. The new devices add larger memory densities up to 512Kbyte Flash and 80KB SRAM, as well as richer peripherals for high-speed control and off-chip storage. Now with up to 512KByte Flash memory in the STM32F303 and STM32F302 devices, the F3 series can support even more sophisticated applications. New features include extra SPI and I2C communication interfaces, and a Flexible Memory Controller (FMC) with 36MHz access on 8/16bit bus for various off-chip storage and LCD modules. There are also up to three 144MHz 16-bit motor-control timers for multi-motor products found in home appliances, power tools, and industrial equipment. more
#3: 1U 3.5kW Rectifiers support Software-Defined Power Architectures
GE today introduced its new CP3500 rectifier, the latest addition to its new rectifier product line, providing industry-leading power conversion density capabilities for data-hungry applications. The CP3500 is the industry's first compact, 3.5-kW ac to 48Vdc rectifier in a 1U module and provides a higher power-to-space ratio than traditional 2-3-kW rectifiers housed in similar 1U rack or cabinet mountings. more
#2: 90A Digital POL points toward Software-Defined Power Architectures
Ericsson Power Modules has launched a new two-phase 90A 3E digital point-of-load (POL) dc-dc power module that offers compensation-free performance and the ability to easily connect modules in parallel to provide up to 360A to advanced network-processors that require high performance in power delivery and high levels of software control to improve flexibility. These advanced capabilities make the BMR465 ready for future Software-Defined Power Architecture (SDPA) systems, which power system architects foresee as the way forward to achieving highly efficient and energy-optimized network architectures by 2020. more
#1: Zolt set to Jolt Adapter makers with SiC-based 70W Design
Zolt, Inc. is offering a 70W adapter capable of charging up to 3 devices at once including one laptop plus two other USB devices simultaneously. Zolt uses patented efficient resonant control (ERC) technology that automatically regulates power to each connected device, to ensure fastest charging and longest battery life. The new Zolt device is scheduled to ship this Spring and is expected to be based on SiC power semiconductor technology. The charger will be 3" long, 1.3" in diameter and weigh 3 ounces, four-times smaller and three-times lighter than competitive designs. more
