Tag: new energy news

In an effort to foster the adoption of more electric vehicles, China has announced that all electric, hybrid and fuel cell vehicles will be exempt from the purchase tax until 2017. Currently China’s car buyers have been slow to adopt electric and hybrid vehicles because of the higher prices and charging infrastructure, but the Chinese government hopes that the new

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Texas Instruments has introduced the MSP430 ULP (ultra low power) FRAM LaunchPad development platform which incorporates embedded FRAM (Ferroelectric Random Access Memory). The MSP-EXP430FR5969 evaluation module for the MSP4305969 microcontroller incorporates embedded FRAM, a non-volatile memory with high speed write access, for applications such as metering, wearable electronics and energy harvesting devices. Embedded FRAM opens up MCU design Available from

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Microchip’s new RN4020 Bluetooth 4.1 Low Energy (BTLE) module, carrying both worldwide regulatory certifications and Bluetooth SIG certification, is pre-loaded with a Low-energy Data Profile (MLDP), enabling streaming any type of data across the BTLE link.  The stack-on-board module can connect to any microcontroller with a UART interface, or it can operate standalone for basic data collection and communication, such

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Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. broadened its optoelectronics portfolio with the VOW3120-X017T, a new IGBT and MOSFET driver for motor drives, alternative energy, welding equipment, and other high working voltage applications. The VOW3120-X017T features a minimum 10 mm clearance and external creepage distance. In addition to its high isolation distance, it provides high isolation voltage ratings of VIORM = 1414 V and

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Dynex Semiconductor today announced that its parent company, Zhuzhou CSR Times Electric Co Ltd. held a ceremony at its facility in China to mark the opening of a new $240 million IGBT production base in Zhuzhou. The new production base, the first of its kind in China, and the second worldwide, will produce high-power IGBT chips and modules using 8-inch

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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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