Vicor Corporation announced the expansion of its ultra-high density Picor Cool-Power PI31xx series of isolated, ZVS-based DC-DC converters optimized for 24 V industrial, 28 V aerospace and defense, and demanding wide temperature applications. The new converters retain the product series’ signature 0.87" x 0.65" x 0.265" (2.2 x 1.65 x 0.67 cm) surface-mount package profile to provide up to 334 W/in 3 power density and...

Linear Technology announces the LT6110 cable drop compensator, a new device that improves voltage regulation at remote loads without the need for Kelvin sense wires. The new device has been architected for use with most types of voltage regulators and can provide several volts of load regulation compensation. It will compensate for the voltage drop due to resistance in a wire, circuit board trace or cable and can improve regulation at the load by a factor of 10. It operates with supply...

Texas Instruments has launched the first lead-acid battery management IC featuring a proprietary “Impedance Track” capacity measurement technology for lead-acid batteries. The bq34z110 “gas gauge” IC claims to be the industry’s only scalable power management device to support multi-cell lead-acid battery packs with voltages of 4, 12, 24, 48 V or higher. The highly accurate, user-friendly gas gauge supports batteries used in mobile and stationary applications such as medical instruments,...

Direct current resonance is a new technology that converts direct current electric energy into electromagnetic field energy and uses a newly discovered physical phenomenon called an electromagnetic resonance field to transmit power. The technology can enhance energy conversion efficiency because a resonance field is formed directly from the direct current power source. It can also reduce the number of times power is converted in the power transmission system and achieve greater simplicity and...

Due to its high theoretical power density, lithium-sulfur technology is regarded as a promising candidate for electric vehicle batteries. As an active cathode material, sulfur has a theoretical specific capacity of 1,672 mAh/g and an average discharge potential of 2.2 V. The energy density of Li-S batteries could be as high as 600 Wh/kg, compared to a maximum of 200 Wh/kg for lithium-ion batteries with intercalation cathodes. Additional benefits of sulfur include higher safety and lower cost...

When electricity is generated from intermittent sources of energy, energy storage devices are necessary to buffer electrical power fluctuations. One option is redox flow batteries, which store electrical energy in liquid electrolytes that flow through the battery into holding tanks. These electrolytes can later be circulated back through the battery to generate electricity.   Redox flow batteries offer several advantages: they are cost-effective, robust, durable, and can be customized....

Even the best silicon panels collect only about 20% of available solar radiation and they require additional devices to convert the energy to usable electricity. A new technique using nano-sized antenna arrays could theoretically harvest more than 70% of the energy in sunlight, but the technology required to build and test them has been lacking. These nano-antennas, called "rectennas" because they can both absorb solar radiation and rectify the radiation waveform to generate direct...

Microchip announces the MCP19111, the world’s first digitally enhanced power analog controller that integrates an analog-based PWM controller with a fully functional Flash-based microcontroller. This integration offers the flexibility of a digital solution, with the speed, performance and resolution of an analogue-based controller.  The new devices support operation up to 32 V, and have integrated MOSFET drivers configured for synchronous, step-down applications.   To accompany...

Researchers at Stanford University (USA) have developed novel peel-and-stick thin-film solar cells. Unlike standard thin-film solar cells, they do not require direct fabrication on the final substrate. This avoids the difficulties associated with putting solar cells on unconventional materials, vastly expanding the potential applications of solar power. Although thin-film technology promised to boost the flexibility of solar power, thin-film cells are conventionally fixed on rigid silicon...

In cooperation with the Industrial Technology Center of Fukui Prefecture (Japan), Sphelar Power Corporation has prototyped an energy-harvesting fabric with interwoven spherical solar cells. The novel solar cells, dubbed ‘Sphelar cells’, can  collect sunlight more effectively and more uniformly than conventional flat solar cells because they are less sensitive to the angle of incidence of the light.   Each spherical solar cell consists of a multi-layer bead with a pair of electrodes...

Researchers at the Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Science and Graphic Arts (LGP2) in Grenoble, France, in collaboration with the Polytechnic University of Torino, have developed a new paper-based Li-ion battery with paper electrodes instead of the usual polyester electrodes. The toxic solvent has also been eliminated, and the fluorinated binder has been replaced by cellulose fibres and microfibrils.   Using a simple filtration procedure with an aqueous medium, the fibres are destructured...

Texas Instruments has launched a pair of ICs designed to simplify wireless power solutions for mobile devices, consisting of a single-chip wireless power receiver with integrated battery charger and a ‘free-position’ transmitter that enlarges the charging area by a factor of four.   The bq51050B is the industry’s wireless power receiver compatible with the Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) 1.1 Qi standard. It features an integrated direct battery charger and enables faster, more efficient...

QBotix, a California-based startup company, has found a way to use robotics technology to increase the efficiency of solar farms while reducing their operating costs. Their novel dual-axis solar tracking system uses tracked robots instead of motors and other equipment to keep solar panels pointed at the sun. QBotix claims its automated approach costs no more than existing single-axis systems while yielding as much as 15% more solar power, or 40% more than with fixed solar panels. Solar...

Texas Instruments has announced the introduction of the PowerLab Reference Design Library, a collection of power management reference designs. The reference designs include relevant technical documentation, such as circuit schematics, printed circuit board layouts, lists of components and materials, Gerber files, and other design support tools. The library holds more than 300 power management reference designs for a variety of both isolated and non-isolated power conversion topologies...

CUI has added a new family of compact 300 W power supplies to its VMS ac-dc medical power portfolio. Offering a power density of 12.5 W/in 3 , the space-saving power supplies are housed in three optional case styles, including a compact U-frame measuring 5 x 3.2 x 1.5 inches (127 x 81.28 x 38.1 mm) and an enclosed version with top or rear fan. The power supplies meet EN60601-1 3 rd edition specifications for medical and dental applications,...