PCIM Europe is billed as the world’s leading exhibition and conference for power electronics, intelligent motion, renewable energy, and energy management. Recently wrapping up in Nuremberg, the exhibition portion of PCIM featured over 500 booths. Here are some of the more notable technology displays we saw in touring the event. NEXT PAGE: Smaller inverters for […]
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FAQ: Piezoelectric motors, Part 1: actuators
Unlike better-known electromagnetic motors, the widely used piezoelectric-based motor/actuator provides precise, repeatable linear motion over short distances, and requires a voltage drive rather than a current drive. When we think “motor”, we usually think of rotating motion or perhaps a special “linear motor” which is a rotary motor which has been rolled out flat. To […]
Gallery: Cool tech demos at APEC2018, IEEE’s Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition
APEC is considered the premier forum for power electronics developments in the U.S. Recently concluded in San Antonio, Tex., the conference and exposition focused on the practical and applied aspects of the power electronics business. In the pages that follow are a few interesting displays that could be found on the exposition floor. NEXT PAGE: […]
Solar cells and power, Part 2 – power extraction
Part 1 looked at the solar cells themselves; Part 2 looks at how a cell or panel is managed for maximum performance. Q: How can the useful output of a solar cell or panel be maximized? A: While an active, in-use load or a power-generating facility could be connected directly to the output of a […]
Solar cells and power, Part 1 – basic operation
Both small- and large-scale solar power on is an effective way of generating electrical power from an impinging light source, usually the sun. Colloquially, the term may also encompass a local light source such as overhead illumination; thus this, a more-accurate broad term is photovoltaic (PV) power. Although the physics of the solar cell is […]
What’s all this stuff about capacitive power supplies for LEDs?
A while back a viewer of our 60-W LED bulb teardowns posted a comment about the complexity of the power supplies found in the bases of these bulbs. We talked about some of the reasons these bulbs contain switching supplies in a previous article. But our latest post elicited this comment from another reader: Well, […]
Controller handles dual dc/dc switching circuits simultaneously
A new Digitally Enhanced Power Analog (DEPA) product for DC-DC power conversion is now available from Microchip Technology Inc. The single-chip solution controls DC-DC converters and is capable of accepting a high voltage input (up to 42V) while simultaneously regulating a wide output voltage range (300 mV to several hundred volts, depending on topology). The […]
Top power electronics threads on EDAboard.com – February
(editor’s note: Intrigued by these power electronics problems? Have a question or another solution? Then click the “Read more” link and follow the conversation on EDAboard.com or log in to EDAboard and participate in the power electronics forum thread.) Circuit to detect 240 or 380 V AC – I need to make a circuit that can […]
Advanced motor-control tool includes auto tuning and self-commissioning capability
An advanced motor control software plug-in for Microchip’s MPLAB® X Integrated Development Environment (IDE) with auto tuning and self-commissioning capability is now available from Microchip Technology Inc. The plug-in, called motorBench™ Development Suite, is a Graphical User Interface (GUI)-based tool with automatic tuning of feedback control gains and offline accurate measurement of critical motor parameters […]
The tough problems in power design
Leland Teschler, Executive Editor lteschler@wtwhmedia.com On Twitter @DW_LeeTeschler An annual ritual takes place in the upper echelons of the power electronics world. At the Applied Power Electronics Conference (APEC), considered a premier forum for applied power electronics, researchers present new ideas for power converters. Typically, these ideas are neither straightforward nor easy to understand. And […]
