Peer-to-peer, engineer-to-engineer questions and answers from the EDABoard.com engineering community around power electronics. Click the “Read more” link and follow the entire conversation and maybe add your two cents by logging in to EDAboard.com Favorite low phase shift 240Vrms detector – I have a requirement for a very low phase shift, galvanically isolated, zero cross detector […]
Evaluating options for USB Type-C connections
Port controllers, transceivers, and special dc/dc converters now simplify the task of adding USB Type-C functions. DANIEL LEIH, MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INC. CONSIDER THE VIRTUES of the USB-C connector. In addition to its 10 Gbit/sec (Gbps) bandwidth and Alt Mode video capabilities, two attributes, in particular, make this form factor incredibly valuable: a reversible plug and […]
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 […]
Dual-mode power monitoring IC includes power calculations and event monitoring
In systems that use both AC and DC power, the implementation of dual-mode power monitoring traditionally requires multiple ICs to ensure superior performance and accuracy. Growing applications such as solar inverters, smart lighting and cloud servers often use both modes to maintain safe operation, with AC as the main power source and DC as backup […]
Single-chip power monitor targets FPGA, GPU circuits
Managing and reducing power consumption is crucial in low-voltage, high-power applications such as Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) and embedded computing devices. These devices must first accurately measure power before they can manageit, but precision power measurement solutions are often costly and require multiple ICs or power configurations to measure different rails. […]
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 […]
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