Electronica Update – Major Announcements Focus on Energy Efficiency
Energy efficiency was the subject of press conferences hosted by Fairchild Semiconductor and Infineon Technologies. In addition, Vicor announced a new power factor correction ac-dc front-end power converter and Interpower Components added a line of devices approved to NEMA and UL medical safety standards.
The Fairchild press conference started with Tom Beaver, Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing outlining the importance of energy efficiency to the company. "If each of the 260,000 households in Munich used an average of five 60 watt light bulbs and switched from incandescent bulbs to CFL bulbs that included Fairchild components, the city would save enough power, just from the bulbs, to light over 17,500 homes! And, if only 100,000 households switched from regular washing machines to machines using Fairchild components, the savings would be over 40.8GWh/year. This would be enough energy to roughly power 12,215 average Munich homes" Beaver observed.
"Designers of dishwasher inverters must contend with stringent energy-efficiency requirements as well as limited board space," observed Alfred Hesener, Fairchild's Marketing Director for Europe. "Fairchild's new Motion-SPM in surface-mount packaging improves system power efficiency by providing a high isolation voltage rating of 1500 Vrms for one minute and excellent thermal resistance."
Each Motion-SPM (Smart Power Module) integrates six fast recovery MOSFETs and three half-bridge high-voltage ICs into one thermally efficient package. Fairchild introduced three parts in the family; the FSB50325S (250V), FSB50250S (500V) and the FSB50450S (500V) available in 29m X 12m SMD packages. The new devices are specifically targeted at small (50-125W) inverter motor drive applications such as water pumps, dishwasher motors and fan motors.
While Fairchild was focused on the efficiency of white goods, lighting and induction heating, Infineon focused on the opportunities for energy savings in the emerging market for hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs).
WolfgangAdemmer, Senior Director of Consumer Power and Electric Vehicle Drives started the discussion by observing; "There is the equivalent of one entire six-inch silicon waver in the drive portion of hybrid vehicles. Infineon feels that we are in a strong position to achieve success in this important market."
There are currently 64 new HEVs on the roadmaps of various automobile makers in Europe, Asia and North America, all are expected to be launched by 2010. At that time, about 2 million HEVs will be sold annually. While that is a small fraction of the existing automobile market, it is a substantial opportunity for power electronics. Infineon has established a dedicated team of 14 designers working on various aspects of HEV powering.
"Infineon has a very strong intellectual property position in key HEV components including MOSFETs, IGBTs and power diodes . As the largest power semiconductor manufacturer in the world and the second-largest supplier of automotive semiconductors, Infineon intends to be the major supplier of HEV drive silicon," Ademmer concluded.
Continuing the theme of energy efficiency, Vicor announced the release of the 1RU, high power density PFC FrontEnd™ for use with various power modules. The low profile, fan-cooled, power factor corrected ac-dc front end operates from a wide range 85-264Vac input, providing 375V out with a power density of over 28W/in3.
Measuring 162.6 x 177.8 x 43.2mm, the PFC FrontEnd provides power of 1,100W at 115Vac or 2,200W at 230Vac through four non-isolated outputs. It also offers substantial control and signaling flexibility, supplying AC OK, power OK, temperature failure warning, and four discrete, isolated enable/disable lines for block control. The PFC FrontEnd meets Mil Std 810E for vibration. It also has worldwide safety agency approvals from CE and cTÜVus.
Interpower added the 853J2D01 and 853J2F00 lines of accessory power strips with medical safety approvals. These strips are approved for use as a component in medical rack systems, medical carts, dental carts and equipment, medical laboratories, medical computer systems, and so on. All four medical models are provided with a safety connector lock on the inlet for secure power. Locking the cord to the inlet prevents accidental power loss to critical equipment. The units also have a guard attached to the circuit breaker to prevent accidental tripping of the switch.
All Interpower medical power strip specifications include typical leakage current values under 40µA, far below the 500µA limit on equipment required by UL for safety. These power strips are approved to one or more of the following safety standards: UL60601-1, IEC60601-1-1, EN60601-1, CAN/CSA C22.2 No.601-1-M90, CAN/CSA C22.2 No.601-1S1-94 and CAN/CSA C22.2 No601-1B-98.
