Every business day, PowerPulse provides readers comprehensive coverage of important Industry News announcements, spanning the globe from Asia to Europe and North America. PowePulse is the most-read power electronics publication in the world because we deliver the most information to the most readers. In 2016, PowerPulse published over 2500 news stories and delivered over 12 million email updates to subscribers of PowerPulseDaily, no other publication comes close.
The following is a listing (with links for the full story) of the most-read Industry News stories on PowerPulse.Net for 2016, thus providing a window into the "pulse" of the trends and interests in the Global Power Electronics Industry. This is the fourth article in the series, which will conclude tomorrow.
#10: Three Lessons on the Fifth Anniversary of Fukushima
It has been five years since the emergency sirens sounded at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi power plant following the massive 2011 earthquake and subsequent devastating tsunami. The partial meltdown of three reactors caused approximately 170,000 refugees to be displaced from their homes, and radiation releases and public outcry forced the Japanese government to temporarily shut down all of their nuclear power plants. The events at Fukushima Daiichi sent waves not only through Japan but also throughout the international nuclear industry. Rodney Ewing, an expert on nuclear materials with Stanford University, outlines three key lessons to be taken from the tragedy at Fukushima. More.
#9: Wendelstein 7-X Stellator Fusion Device now in Operation
The first helium plasma has been produced in the Wendelstein 7-X fusion device at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (IPP) in Greifswald, Germany. After more than a year of technical preparations and tests, experimental operation has now commenced according to plan. Wendelstein 7-X, the world's largest stellarator-type fusion device, will investigate the suitability of this type of device for a power station. More.
#8: Gallium-Oxide may be a New Frontier for Power Semis
Several recent news stories seem to indicate that gallium-oxide power semiconductor devices may be on the commercial horizon. Kyma Technologies, Inc., of Raleigh, North Carolina, announced the addition gallium-oxide epiwafers with a beta orientation to its growing offering of advanced materials. In its announcement, the company points out that crystalline beta gallium oxide (β-Ga2O3) is a promising wide bandgap semiconductor material due in part to its large bandgap of 4.8 - 4.9 eV. It has a high breakdown field of 8 MV/cm, and a high dielectric constant of 10, along with an electron mobility of up to 300 cm²/V-s. More.
#7: CE+T Power Wins Google Little Box Challenge
CE+T Power has won the Google and IEEE Little Box Challenge. The company was awarded the $1 million prize at the ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit in Washington D.C. last night after its winning design was chosen over 18 other finalists and hundreds of applicants from all over the world. CE+T Power's Red Electrical Devils (named after Belgium’s national soccer team) were declared the winner by a consensus of judges from Google, IEEE Power Electronics Society and NREL. Honorable mentions go to teams from Schneider Electric and Virginia Tech's Future Energy Electronics Center (FEEC). Impressively, the winning team exceeded the power density goal for the competition by a factor of 3, which is more than 10 times more compact than commercially available inverters. More.
#6: GaN enables 2.6 kW/l / >97% Efficient Level 2 EV Charger
Automotive electronics specialist Hella, in collaboration with GaN Systems and charging technology researchers at Kettering University's Advanced Power Electronics Lab, have developed a Level-2 electric vehicle (EV) charger prototype with efficiency exceeding 97% with a power density of 2.6 kW/l. Prior to this achievement, Level-2 EV chargers reached maximum efficiency of 94%. Using GaN Systems' 60A, 650V GS66516T switches in an innovative two-stage architecture, the Kettering University research team, led by Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering, Dr. Kevin Bai, were able to increase the wall-to-battery efficiency to more than 3% greater than previously obtained. More.
#5: Infineon to acquire Wolfspeed for $850 Million in Cash
Infineon Technologies AG and Cree, Inc. announced that Infineon has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the Wolfspeed Power and RF division of Cree. The deal also includes the related SiC wafer substrate business for power and RF power. The purchase price for this planned all-cash transaction is $850 million (approximately €740 million). This acquisition will enable Infineon to provide the broadest offering in compound semiconductors and will further strengthen Infineon as a leading supplier of power and RF power solutions in high-growth markets such as electro-mobility, renewables and next-generation cellular infrastructure relevant for IoT. More.
#4: Solid-State Batteries operate to 100C with Lower Leakage
Ilika plc today announced the launch of its Stereaxâ„¢ M250 solid-state battery. This is a new, miniaturized solid-state battery technology for IoT devices. Addressing the key challenge of always-on, self-charging and efficient energy, Ilika's Stereaxâ„¢ battery family will enable smaller, higher energy-dense batteries to accelerate IoT products to market. More.
#3: GaN used to Design 2.5MHz 3kW Resonant DC-DC
Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE in Freiburg, Germany, together with partners, have investigated how GaN power devices can be used to make power electronic systems in aviation applications more efficient. In the project 'GaN-resonat – Efficient, highly compact, high-frequency power electronics with GaN transistors', consortium partners SUMIDA Components & Modules GmbH, Liebherr Elektronik GmbH and Fraunhofer ISE complement each other in the fields of inductive components, aviation technology and power electronics. More.
#2: FINsix Pens Strategic Partnership with Lenovo
FINsix Corporation</b announced its partnership with Lenovo, the largest PC manufacturer in the world, to bring Lenovo's global customers the smallest ever 65W charger option for ThinkPad laptops. The two companies have collaborated under a joint development agreement, and Lenovo is set to offer the new charger, dubbed the ThinkPad 65W Micro Adapter, as an option for the newly announced ThinkPad X1 Carbon and X1 Yoga. More.
#1: Implications of Germany's Renewable Energy Success for other Nations
Underwriters Laboratories, Inc. (UL) recently conducted a study to learn what Germany is doing to successfully add increasing amounts of renewable energy sources to its power grids. The study and its result is available in a free white paper titled "Putting the Pieces Together: Transition and Transformation in Global Energy Markets," written by UL Chief Economist Dr. Erin Grossi. The full white paper is available for download at UL's online library in a variety of languages. More.
