Tag: industry news

Allegro MicroSystems, LLC has introduced a new Hall-effect based IC that provides a user-friendly solution for true zero-speed digital ring magnet and gear tooth sensing in two-wire applications. Allegro’s A1688 wheel speed sensor IC is targeted at the automotive market and contains features such as outstanding pitch deviation accuracy, consistent ICC distribution: >6 sigma, low jitter and enhanced EMC performance,

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Apple this week signed a development agreement with the City of Claremont, which will allow it to build its third massive solar farm in North Carolina. When finished, the 100-acre farm is expected to produce 17.5 megawatts at a development cost of $55 million. The new development will be the company’s third solar farm not only in North Carolina, but

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The PNNL researchers developed the porous material to replace the graphite traditionally used in one of the battery’s electrodes, because silicon has more than 10 times the energy storage capacity of graphite. A paper describing the material’s performance as a lithium-ion battery electrode has been published in Nature Communications. “Silicon has long been sought as a way to improve the

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By Charles Ferer “Always Be Closing” is the mantra of any sales team, and especially those in solar, where small to midsize installers have formidable competition. If they don’t build proposals with compelling financing options quickly enough, impatient customers typically go somewhere else. “Every step along the sales proposal process has inefficiencies. It’s these soft costs that are a big

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Three Washington State utilities with big investments in wind power have just signed on to a new $14.3 million energy storage and smart grid demonstration project. The end payoff will be further proof that wind power and other intermittent forms of energy can be integrated into a utility scale electricity provider while keeping up a steady stream of reliable, durable

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The results of the Solar Decathlon Europe Engineering Award were just announced, and the winner is… Team Mexico’s tiny, space-saving CASA home! Mexican students developed this tiny solar-powered home to fit into the interstitial spaces and empty lots in Mexico City. The design of CASA addresses the issues regarding contemporary urban living in Zona Metripolitana del Valle de Mexico (ZMVM)

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Market research firm Yole Développement’s new “Power GaN Market” report forecasts a $600 million market for gallium-nitride (GaN) devices by 2020, which translates to approximately 580,000 six-inch wafers. Dr. Philippe Roussel, Yole’s business unit senior manager, says that starting in 2016, compound annual growth rate (CAGR) will be an estimated 80% through 2020, based on the assumption that electric vehicle/hybrid

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As today’s home electronics and appliances offer ever-lower standby power, new smart-meter chips from STMicroelectronics enable utility companies to improve billing by measuring accurately down to extremely low power levels. Meters featuring ST’s new STPM32, STPM33 and STPM34 ICs will help utilities minimize revenue losses and ensure consistent billing for even the most frugal customers. Although existing meters are highly

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TDK Corp. has added 12 V and 15 V models to its TDK-Lambda ZWS300BAF series of high reliability power supplies. Operating from a universal input of 85 to 265 Vac, the ZWS300BAF features a 10-year electrolytic capacitor lifetime demanded by manufacturers of industrial, test & measurement, broadcast and communications equipment. The ZWS300BAF series now comprises of 12 V, 15 V,

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TDK Corporation has expanded its technical support tools for MLCCs: The new DC Bias Model enables designers to simulate DC bias characteristics of MLCCs, even when the DC bias applied to the MLCCs varies. As a result of TDK’s advanced electronic component model, the capacitance in the simulation changes dynamically with a changing DC bias voltage, an industry first. Until

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