Renewables

STMicroelectronics has revealed its automotive-qualified silicon carbide (SiC) diodes for advanced On-board Battery Chargers (OBCs)  in EVs such as Plug-in Hybrids (PHEVs) that demand high power-handing capability within a confined space. These diodes allow designers to build smaller power modules, beneficial for automotive applications and suitable for tackling the Little Box Challenge presented by Google and IEEE.

Fraunhofer has successfully validated a wind lidar buoy, confirming the commercial acceptance of wind data from the on-board ZephIR lidar for use in floating offshore energy assessments, according to the Carbon Trust Offshore Wind Accelerator roadmap's criteria for the commercial acceptance of floating lidar technology.

ARBOR Technology (UK) has expanded its range of ultra-slim line Panel PCs with the launch of the LYNC-708. With features including a flexible modular design, low power consumption and ultra-slim dimensions, the PC can handle a multitude of deployments within the “smart building” including applications within air conditioning, fire detection, lighting, parking, energy management, access control and building management systems.

A series of hybrid ENergY storage capacitors, with low 2.5mm profiles that feature an energy density of 13Ws/g, has been released by Vishay Intertechnology. Available with a wide variety of layouts, capacitance values and voltage ratings, the 196 HVC ENYCAP series offers designers enhanced flexibility, charge and discharge performance for energy harvesting and power line backup applications.

Vishay Intertechnology has introduced the Trench-IGBT platform featuring Punch Through (PT) and Field Stop (FS) technologies. Designed to increase efficiency in motor drives, UPS, solar inverters, and welding machine inverters, the devices, offer low collector-to-emitter voltages, as well as fast and soft turn-on and -off for low conduction and switching losses.

The TEV Project has unveiled a detailed animation to demonstrate the simplicity of the proposed EV infrastructure that could transform the future of travel. The animation outlines the design of the TEV track, and how its modular construction will revolutionise road travel. The animation shows replacing the central reservation of a highway with two TEV lanes that can handle 20 times the traffic of two normal lanes.

ZephIR is now offering 3 years warranty and support, 3 year service interval and courtesy lidar cover as the standard support package on all new ZephIR 300 wind lidars. ZephIR Care is launched in response to the need for truly autonomous provision of wind data and allows users to operate ZephIR 300 in the field for unbroken measurement campaigns of 3 years.

International Rectifier has introduced a comprehensive family of IGBT modules with a broad array of configurations and current ratings offering designers the flexibility to easily implement high power systems. The 72 modules are available with voltage ratings of 600 or 1200V and a variety of speeds and short circuit ratings to allow designers to optimise systems based on application requirements.

The market for hybrid and pure electric cars that meet authorised standards is set to be $188bn billion in 2025 according to IDTechEx analysis. However, the world has changed for cars overall and now big is not always beautiful for mainstream car manufacture and EVs will reflect this writes Dr Peter Harrop, Chairman of IDTechEx.

Driving down any road, you will see an ever increasing number of PV panels on the roofs of homes and businesses. Along with the increase of these solar PV systems is an increased concern for the safety of those who come into contact with the high voltage portions of these systems. This concern is not only for installers and owners but also for firefighters and first responders to a scene that includes a PV system.