Leland Teschler • Executive Editor For some cheap thrills, try Googling the words “battery breakthrough.” You’ll be presented with page after page of articles breathlessly chronicling one research result after another in energy storage. But you might wonder why, with so many earth-shattering developments, electric vehicles can’t travel 1,000 miles before needing a recharge. The […]
Power Electronics Handbook
Applying large banks of supercapacitors
It pays to know techniques for mitigating leakage current and over- voltages in uses where several supercapacitors work in parallel. Michele Kinman Advanced Linear Devices Inc. In applications requiring rapid charge/discharge cycles or short-term energy storage, you’ll often find supercapacitors connected in series or parallel. However, there’s a potential problem when supercaps are wired together […]
How wide bandgap technologies stack up
Cutting-edge power device technologies all have a niche. Here’s a rundown on the applications in which each one likely fits. Dr. Gerald Deboy, Dr. Peter Friedrichs Infineon Technologies The process of converting electrical power to different ac and dc levels and to mechanical motion has changed dramatically over the years. The development of “switched-mode” techniques […]
Can a three-phase power supply operate from wye and delta ac inputs?
A few guidelines help clarify what three-phase input voltage best suits a particular large power system. TDK Lambda Technical Marketing AC-DC power supplies rated higher than 2.5 kW frequently have a three-phase ac input. In the U.S. the voltage can be 208/220 Vac or 480 Vac. In Europe, it is a “harmonized 400 Vac” which […]
The try-before-you-buy route to energy efficient power design
Evaluation platforms help pick SiC components in power conversion circuits. Xuning Zhang, Levi Gant, Littelfuse, Inc. The quest for greener energy production and consumption has put a premium on high-efficiency power circuitry. In that regard, many modern power supplies and converters operate at much higher voltages that allow use of lower currents to minimize I2R […]
Key factors in power supply selection
It pays to understand a few important electrical parameters that can dictate the kind of applications specific power supplies can handle. Florian Haas | Traco Power Group A few basic factors go into the selection of low-voltage dc/dc and ac/dc power supplies for OEM use. At the risk of stating the obvious, the key objective […]
Switchers say bye-bye to EMI
Electromagnetic interference can emanate from high di/dt loops found in some switch-mode supply topologies. New controllers overcome these difficulties by integrating key components inside the chip package. Tony Armstrong | Power by Linear, Analog Devices Inc. It goes without saying that PCB layout sets functional, electromagnetic interference (EMI) and thermal behavior of every power supply […]
Power operating limits: How to choose the right power supply
Not all power supplies react to over and under-voltages and currents in the same way. It pays to know the tradeoffs of different approaches to protection. Ron Stull | CUI Inc. Power supplies can experience operating conditions outside normal specified limits, such as input under- or over-voltage, or variations in load and ambient temperature. These […]
Where SiC outperforms GaN
Silicon carbide and gallium nitride transistors both have their niche, but it pays to understand the applications in which each excels. Zhongda Li, United Silicon Carbide Inc. Wide band-gap (WBG) devices such as silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) are the hot topics of the moment, promising anything from universal wireless charging to power […]
Measuring current with shunt resistors
Here are a few tips for selecting resistors that will accurately gauge current. Bert Weiss, Rutronik Elektronische Bauelemente GmbH Today, practically every control and monitoring circuit uses shunt-based current measurements as an alternative to sensors. To make these measurements accurately, it is useful to understand how shunts work. Because the method is categorized as a […]
