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A new, somewhat clever means of managing and improving the efficiency of the power grid was recently unveiled by a coalition of some of the world’s largest automakers. To be precise, this new “means” is in fact simply a technology that allows for the direct communication of utility companies and plug-in electric vehicles, via the cloud. That doesn’t sound like

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Data centers waste an enormous amount of energy because they are designed for peak application workloads and high availability, and not for efficiency. However, there is no need to sacrifice energy efficiency to increase application availability. The ultimate goal of energy efficiency should be energy proportionality. That is, the energy being consumed should be directly proportional to the work being

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Many of the programmable logic, microcontroller and microprocessor IC’s on the market require multiple voltage rails for operation. Many interface standards also require various voltages to power transceivers, line drivers, sensors, data converters, etc. In a perfect world, all of these voltages are the same, have wide regulation accuracy requirements and draw very little current. We, however live in the

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According to the Clean Energy Pipeline, global clean energy investment jumped 11% in the third quarter of 2014 over figures a year earlier, clearing $64 billion. The third quarter figures represent a 3% decrease on Q2’14 numbers, but are still healthy growth over a year earlier. Specifically, project financing totalled $41.8 billion in Q3’14, reaching a seven-quarter high. “Despite a

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Just in case Night of the Living Dead becomes a reality, zombie enthusiasts across the globe are gearing up to plan for the potential zombie apocalypse. The folks at Architects Southwest have devised a fun contest for designers and architects to create a Zombie Safe House. One horrific entry is a self-sustaining vertical farm that uses a zombie-powered energy system,

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The need for improved energy efficiency is driving demand for better high power semiconductor devices. However, as their performance has improved, characterizing these devices has become increasingly complex. This article uses a typical design and development workflow to highlight important measurement challenges associated with each stage. Figure 1. Typical power semiconductor design and development lab-to-fab workflow. The Design Stage Today,

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Driven by integrated functionality and shrinking size for smart-phone and tablet devices, energy density of lithium-ion batteries have significantly improved during the last few years. Advancements in mobile devices and battery technology have led designers of battery charger to focus on improving power conversion efficiency, power density, operating temperature, charging time and output power with advanced power devices, circuit topologies

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Efficient Power Conversion Corporation (EPC) announce the publication of the second-edition of “GaN Transistors for Efficient Power Conversion,”a textbook written by power conversion industry experts and published by John Wiley and Sons. This textbook is designed to provide power system design engineering students, as well as practicing engineers, basic technical and application-focused information on how to design more efficient power

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Exhibitors from around the world will present the latest trends and developments for energy-efficient electronic components, systems and applications at electronica from November 11-14. For example, WEKA is organizing a panel discussion about “Energy Efficient Semiconductors – How They will Change our Lives. From Energy Harvesting to IoT, Smart Production, Smart Buildings, Smart Grids and beyond” on Tuesday at the

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ODU GmbH & Co. KG will again be showing its convincing implementation skills at this year’s electronica (Munich, 11 to 14 November). In addition to its established connector solutions for medical technology, industrial electronics, measurement and testing technology, military and security technology, energy technology and automotive technology, the company will also be presenting a new product family in the area

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