The Efficiency Zone
The ZigBee impact
May 16, 2012 3:44 pm | by Janine E. Mooney, Editor | Articles | CommentsYour home and office contain a host of technologies working to improve the way you live. From monitoring energy intake and usage, to controlling your appliances and lighting, ZigBee is a protocol that is changing the way we live – and in some cases, we don’t even realize it.
Google-backed wind power line clears hurdle
May 14, 2012 3:05 pm | News | CommentsA planned $5 billion transmission line to send power from wind farms off the East Coast cleared a hurdle, allowing the Google Inc-backed project to move to the next step in the approval process, officials said. The Department of the Interior declared on Monday there was "no overlapping competitive interest" in proposed areas for building the line off the mid-Altantic coast.
Single-chip processor platforms deliver on power/performance balance for mobile devices
May 8, 2012 9:14 am | by Carsten Wild, Director Marketing, Mobile Application Platforms, Renesas Mobile Corporation | Articles | CommentsAs with every new technology, delivering LTE chipsets presents many technical challenges. Performance, power and price are key concerns. Higher data rates, such as LTE Cat4with up to 150Mbps download speeds, require very high performance computing, which is achieved mostly through higher clock rates...
Earth Day at the EcoCAR 2 lab
April 27, 2012 11:38 am | by Tyler Rose, Outreach Coordinator, UW EcoCAR 2 Team and Tom Egel, Consulting Engineer, MathWorks | Blogs | CommentsEarth Day is our favorite holiday around the UW EcoCAR 2 lab. From our standpoint, this time of the year encourages people to celebrate the ways in which they can help reduce vehicle emissions and fuel consumption. We will be showcasing our team's EcoCAR 2 efforts alongside the Puget Sound Clean Cities Coalition at the Earth Day festivities put on by the University of Washington.
ERG Lighting is exclusive North American distributor for LED drivers from GRE Alpha Electronics
April 27, 2012 10:09 am | Products | CommentsThe ERG Lighting division of Endicott Research Group, Inc. is now offering the SLD, XLD and XLA Series of LED drivers from GRE Alpha Electronics, Ltd., Gainesville, GA, a specialist in the design and manufacture of solid state lighting power supplies for architectural, signage, retail, office, street and LED strip lighting.
Solar panels cause clashes with homeowner groups
April 26, 2012 2:42 pm | by Ray Henry, Associated Press | News | CommentsThe government wants you to install solar panels at your house, and will even give you a tax break to do it. But your neighbors? Maybe not. It's a lesson Angel and David Dobs discovered when their homeowners association north of Atlanta denied their request to install solar panels on their roof.
Vicor introduces baseplate option for 98% efficient quarter-brick IBC modules
April 25, 2012 1:18 pm | Products | CommentsVicor Corporation today introduced new thermal and mechanical mounting options for its IBC050 series of high performance quarter-brick VI BRICK intermediate bus converters (IBCs). Now available with an integral baseplate and multiple pin-length options, Vicor’s high-efficiency IBCs afford customers even greater flexibility...
Starter kits incorporate onboard debug and current probe functionality
April 24, 2012 10:49 am | Products | CommentsEnergy Micro today introduced two feature-rich starter kits (STKs) for designers building more complex battery-powered products such as portable health and fitness devices and smart accessories. Based on the already available EFM32 Leopard Gecko and Giant Gecko microcontrollers...
Switching buck regulators intended for automotive entertainment and infotainment applications
April 24, 2012 10:11 am | Products | CommentsON Semiconductor has introduced a new series of switching buck regulators for space-constrained, electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) sensitive automotive entertainment and infotainment applications. These highly integrated devices offer industry leading conversion ratios for battery connected switch-mode power supplies.
Renewable energy and smart grids rely on optical electronics technology
April 18, 2012 10:02 am | by Chun Keong Tee, Avago | Articles | CommentsRenewable power generation technologies based on solar and wind are usually discussed in terms of photovoltaic arrays and very large land- and sea-based turbines. Behind these very visible physical structures that can encompass many acres sit the optoelectronic components that provide the galvanic isolation...
CUI expands SMT switching regulator line
April 17, 2012 2:09 pm | Products | CommentsCUI announced the addition of a 1 A surface mount series to its highly efficient V78 dc switching regulator line. The V78XX-1000-SMT is designed as a high performance alternative to linear regulators, offering efficiencies up to 92%. This is in contrast to efficiencies typically ranging from 40~60% in equivalent linear regulators.
Government incentives continue to finance development of solar photovoltaic semiconductor market
April 12, 2012 8:59 am | News | CommentsGovernment incentives that encourage investment in renewable energies will continue to drive technological advances in the global semiconductor market, a new report by semiconductor expert GBI Research has found. The new report* found that government incentives and Feed-In Tariffs (FITs) are providing vital, worldwide support...
PV module suppliers switch tactics as wafer prices fall 70%
April 11, 2012 9:32 am | News | CommentsThe average price of photovoltaic (PV) wafers in the first quarter of 2012 fell by more than 70 percent in a year according to the latest research released by IMS Research, which was recently acquired by IHS. This dramatic price collapse, caused by a global oversupply, has significantly changed the cost structures and strategies of leading PV module suppliers...
Global PV installations to grow by up to 21 percent in 2012 predicts IMS Research
April 4, 2012 5:27 am | News | CommentsGlobal solar PV installations will grow by at least 3.5 percent and up to 21 percent in 2012, according to a new report from IMS Research, recently acquired by IHS Inc. The market analyst firm forecasts that despite incentive cuts in most of the world’s largest markets...
Increased voltage capability of tantalum polymer capacitors opens up new applications
April 2, 2012 4:55 am | by Martin Bárta, Field Application Engineer, AVX | Articles | CommentsTantalum polymer capacitors -- widely used for more than 15 years -- have benefited from significant increases in CV and reductions in ESR. However, due to the maximum achievable breakdown voltage (VBD) of such capacitors...
ZigBee 101
April 2, 2012 4:41 am | by Jorge Deligiannis, Chief Technology Officer at Energate | Articles | CommentsZigBee has become the dominant utility-requested protocol for home energy management applications, and the growing need for residential demand response programs has increased the level of interest in ZigBee and its outgrowth Smart Energy Profile...
Lighting applications for large-size projected capacitive touch panels
March 30, 2012 9:55 am | by John Blackburn, Senior Electrical Engineer, Ocular LCD | Articles | CommentsThe demand for projected capacitive (PCAP) touch panels is growing at a rapid rate. The increased durability and enhanced look and feel a PCAP touch panel provides can benefit a wide variety of products. The all glass construction allows for increased optical clarity...
PI-160 Evolving LLC Converters bring new capabilities to LED street light designs
March 23, 2012 9:05 am | by Chris Lee, Marketing Manager, Power Integrations | Articles | CommentsOver the last few years momentum has been rapidly building behind the development of a new generation of LED technology-based street lights. Promising a much longer service life and higher power efficiency than existing technologies...
Brainstorm: Smart Grid & Alternative Energy
March 21, 2012 6:44 am | Articles | CommentsWhat market segment is in the direst need of an alternative energy overhaul and why?
Opto 22 sponsors eSight Energy's U.S. ''Energy Management Road Shows''
March 21, 2012 5:04 am | News | CommentsIndustrial automation manufacturer Opto 22 is sponsoring eSight Energy's U.S. "Energy Management Road Shows," a series of live events exploring the role of power monitoring and energy analysis in improving building energy efficiency.
LED Lighting to Drive $3bn Power Semiconductor Market in 2016
March 15, 2012 6:58 am | News | CommentsThe global market for power semiconductors used in LED lighting is forecast to reach over $3 billion in 2016, according to a new report from IMS Research, a leading independent provider of market research and consultancy to the global electronics industry.
Fundamentals of ambient energy transducers in energy harvesting systems
March 13, 2012 9:22 am | by John Carpenter and Yogesh Ramadass, Texas Instruments | Articles | CommentsSophisticated battery-operated electronic systems and self-powered devices recently have found diverse applications in existing autonomous and handheld objects. Significant advancements in CMOS process technologies and circuit techniques...
IEEE Announces Five New Standards and a Standards-Development Project for the Smart Grid
March 12, 2012 2:34 pm | News | CommentsIEEE, the world's largest professional association advancing technology for humanity, today announced five new standards, as well as a modified standards-development project, that are all intended to aid the efficient rollout of the smart grid worldwide. The new standards and standards projects recently approved by the IEEE Standards Association (IEEE-SA) Standards Board carve
Heliatek Opens Production Facility for the Manufacture of Organic Solar Films
March 12, 2012 2:19 pm | News | CommentsHeliatek GmbH inaugurated its first production facility for the manufacture of flexible organic solar panels in Dresden during a ceremony attended by the Prime Minister of Saxony, Stanislaw Tillich. Based on organic semiconductor materials, these flexible solar panels offer
Energy Micro introduces first energy friendly ARM Cortex-M4 products
February 23, 2012 6:13 am | Products | CommentsEnergy Micro today announced that it will extend its EFM32 Gecko range of microcontrollers with the addition of products based on the ARM Cortex-M4F core.
