50 Most-Read Industry News Stories of 2013: 20 to 11

The following is a listing (with links for the full story) of the most read Industry News stories on PowerPulse.Net for 2013, thus providing a window into the "pulse" of the trends and interests in the Power Electronics Industry. This is the fourth article in the series, which will conclude tomorrow.

20: Efficiency isn't Enough

This week, PowerPulse will be running a series of exclusive stories as a wrap-up of last week’s Darnell’s Energy Summit (DES ’13), hosted in Richardson, Texas. The Keynote and Plenary speakers at DES ’13 all pointed in a common direction when discussing the future of the power electronics industry. Opening the Summit, Scott Barbour, Executive Vice President with Emerson and the Business Leader of Emerson Network Power (Systems) summed up that common theme when he observed, “efficiency isn’t enough.” more

19: Rivals Powermat and PowerKiss to Become One

Powermat Technologies, Inc. and PowerKiss Oy have entered into a definitive agreement to combine their companies under the Powermat Technologies umbrella. According to a joint statement from the companies; today’s news offers the promise of settling the issue of conflicting standards within the wireless power industry. In the past, Powermat and PowerKiss had backed incompatible standards, and today both are committed to the same Power Matters Alliance (PMA) standard, which also enjoys the backing of AT&T, Procter & Gamble, Starbucks and many others. more

18: BMW i3 Li-Powered EV Wins "Breakthrough Products" Award

In announcing the award, Popular Mechanics stated, “With a range of up to 100 miles from its lithium-ion battery pack, the BMW i3 is a lot like other electric vehicles. What’s innovative is the way it’s built: A passenger cell made from carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic means a curb weight of around 2800 pounds—light for any kind of car. And by reexamining the production process all the way down to the raw materials, BMW found a way to offer a car made from exotic materials for a little over $40,000. Affordable, mass-produced carbon fiber has the potential to make every vehicle safer and more fun to drive. The i3 goes on sale in Europe late this year and will be available stateside in spring 2014.” more

17: Power-One Gets $1 Billion – ABB Gets Inverters

ABB and Power-One, Inc. today announced that their boards of directors have agreed to a transaction in which ABB will acquire Power-One for $6.35 per share in cash or $1,028 million equity value. The transaction would position ABB as a leading global supplier of solar inverters -- the "intelligence" behind a solar PV system -- to a market forecasted by the International Energy Agency to grow by more than 10 percent per year until 2021. more

16: Upsolar and SolarEdge Introduce Suite of Smart Module Solutions

Upsolar, Inc. announced a range of smart module products optimized by SolarEdge Technologies, Inc. Integrating Upsolar’s PV modules with SolarEdge’s advanced power optimization technology, the smart solar products will offer customers a full range of intelligent solutions for residential, commercial and utility scale applications. Upsolar’s smart modules integrate seamlessly with SolarEdge technology to increase the energy output of each module and expand design flexibility. By embedding SolarEdge’s optimizers directly into their modules during the manufacturing process, Upsolar can offer a lower balance of systems cost while maximizing roof utilization and power harvesting. In addition, users of the new smart products can remotely access performance monitoring software and ultimately enjoy safety with SolarEdge’s SafeDC™ feature, which automatically shuts down modules’ DC voltage levels when the inverter or grid power is down. more

15: Battery Over-Voltage May Have Caused Fire on Boeing 787

According to a statement from the Japan Transport Safety Board, the Li-ion battery that was located beneath the cockpit of the Boeing 787 that recently caught fire while on the ground at Boston’s Logan Airport may have been subjected to "voltage exceeding the design limit." The suggestion is that the fault may not be in the battery itself, but in the battery protection circuitry. A clear understanding of the cause is important not only for the future of the 787, but also for the Airbus A350 and the International Space Station (ISS), both of which have announced their intent to use the same or very similar Li-ion batteries from GS Yuasa Lithium Power, Inc. more

14: Avogy Gets Multiple DOE Awards to Develop Vertical GaN Transistors

U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency – Energy (ARPA–E) recognized the potential value of Avogy Inc.'s power semiconductor technology by awarding them several million dollars to develop highly-efficient low-cost vertical gallium-nitride (GaN) transistors. Avogy has been awarded $1.7M under ARPA-E's SWITCHES program to develop vertical GaN transistors that can operate at very high power while being an order of magnitude smaller than the best-in-class silicon transistors. The company was also selected as a subcontractor within another ARPA-E award granted to Kyma Technologies who will develop a cost-effective technique to manufacture high-quality GaN substrates. Avogy will design its vertical GaN transistors on Kyma's substrates. more

13: Nanomaterials Company Sol Voltaics Lands $6 Million from Swedish Energy Agency

Sol Voltaics AB announced that the Swedish Energy Agency (SEA), Sweden’s national authority for energy policy issues, has provided the company a $6 million conditional loan to further the commercial development of Solink, an economical nanomaterial that promises to increase the efficiency of solar modules by up to 25% percent. Sol Voltaics also announced that Erik Sauar, who for more than ten years served as the Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President at solar manufacturer REC and a longtime leader in the European solar industry, has become an investor. more

12: Tesla Repays DOE Loan Nine Years Early - Only U.S. Car Maker to Pay Back Government

Tesla Motors, Inc. announced that it has paid off the entire loan awarded to the company by the Department of Energy in 2010. In addition to payments made in 2012 and Q1 2013, today’s wire of almost half a billion dollars ($451.8M) repays the full loan facility with interest. Following this payment, Tesla will be the only American car company to have fully repaid the government. more

11: ABB Demonstrates Technology to Power Flash Charging Electric Bus in 15 Seconds

ABB Group has developed a new technology that will help power the world’s first high-capacity flash charging electric bus system. ABB announced at the 60th congress of the International Association of Public Transport (UTIP) in Geneva that it is working together with the city’s public transport company (TGP), the Office for the Promotion of Industries and Technologies (OPI) and the Geneva power utility SIG on the TOSA electric bus system pilot project. more