Energy Efficiency

Boost for Energy Storage Systems

Batteries could get an upgrade from an Oak Ridge National Laboratory discovery that increases power, energy density, and safety while reducing charge time. The results could also have significance for...

Inverter Testing and Certification for Global Markets

Inverters/converters are a key element of most renewable energy systems where the power generated is not suitable to either be used locally or to provide power directly to the electric...

Inexpensive, Efficient 60-W LED Bulb

Lighting Science Group (Satellite Beach, FL) and Dixon Technologies India Pvt. Ltd (New Delhi, India) have announced that a high-performance, sub-$15 omnidirectional 60-watt equivalent A19 LED bulb will be...

Innovative Heat-Regulating Building Material

Researchers at the University of Nottingham Ningbo, China (UNNC) have invented a material that can retain and release heat according to specific temperature requirements. The material could be used...

Human Gait to Power Portable Electronics

Engineering researchers Tom Krupenkin and J. Ashley Taylor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have developed a new energy-harvesting technology that could reduce our dependence on batteries and...

DC Filter for PV Systems

SCHURTER Inc. (Santa Rosa, CA) presents the DC filter series FMER SOL suited for use on the DC side of the inverter in photovoltaic systems. FMER SOL filters are designed for rated currents from 25 A to 1500 A at 55°C...

Power Transistor

Efficient Power Conversion Corporation (El Segundo, CA) introduces the EPC2012 enhanced-performance eGaN FET. The EPC2012 is lead-free, RoHS-compliant, and halogen-free. The EPC2012 FET is a 1.6 mm2 200 VDS device with a...

New Supercapacitor Offers Robust, Versatile Energy Storage

Rice University researchers have created a solid-state, nanotube-based supercapacitor that combines the best qualities of high-energy batteries and fast-charging capacitors in a...

Funding for Solid-State Lighting R&D

The Department of Energy has announced the availability of up to $12 million in funding for energy-saving lighting technologies. The DOE will invest in projects to accelerate research and development of...

Updated ENERGY STAR Specifications

The EPA is introducing new ENERGY STAR requirements for home dishwashers and furnaces, and evaluating how to best address and encourage smart grid functionality in ENERGY STAR specifications like refrigerators...

GaN-Ready Aluminum Nitride Substrates

The objective of this project was to develop and then demonstrate the efficacy of a cost-effective approach for a low-defect-density substrate on which aluminum indium gallium nitride (AlInGaN)...

LED Display Engineering

The primary objective of this project was to develop and implement a method that compensates for the inefficiency of the green light-emitting diode (LED). The proposed engineering solution was to use RGBW combination...

Self-Activating and Doped Tantalate Phosphors

LED Video Displays

Compact Multi CHIPLEDs developed by OSRAM Opto Semiconductors raise the image quality in FormoLight Technologies' high-performance LED Matrix TVs. Multi CHIPLEDs are the smallest RGB LED currently on the market, and their...

Hybrid Solar System For Rooftop Hydrogen

Instead of systems based on standard solar panels, Duke University engineer Nico Hotz proposes a hybrid option in which sunlight heats a combination of water and methanol in a maze of glass tubes on a...

Solar Battery Charger

Texas Instruments (Dallas, TX) introduces the bq24210, a Li-ion linear charger targeted at space-limited portable applications. The high input voltage range with input over-voltage protection supports low-cost...

With Photovoltaic Polarizers, Devices Could be Powered by Sunlight

UCLA engineers have created a novel concept for harvesting and recycling energy for electronic devices — one that involves equipping these devices' LCD screens with...

Enhanced Fuel-Optimal Trajectory-Generation Algorithm for Planetary Pinpoint Landing

60-Watt Replacement Bulb Is A Winner

Yesterday, the DOE announced that Philips Lighting North America won the first award under the Department's Bright Tomorrow Lighting Prize (L Prize) competition. DOE's L Prize challenged the lighting...

LAUNCH: Energy Challenge Is Open For Submissions

NASA, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. Department of State, and NIKE formed LAUNCH to identify, showcase, and support innovative approaches to global challenges through a...

Unusual Effect May Lead to More Efficient Thermoelectric Devices

Berkeley Lab scientists have found that temperature gradients in semiconductors, when one side of the device is hotter than the opposite side, can produce electronic vortices...

Power Module for Electric Vehicles

Mitsubishi Electric (Tokyo, Japan) recently introduced a transfer molded power module (T-PM) designed for hybrid and electric vehicle applications. The J-Series T-PM, incorporating proprietary technology that...

Illumination Design and Analysis Software

Synopsys, Inc. (Mountain View, CA) introduces version 7.2 of its LightTools® illumination design and analysis software with features that will help users graphically analyze simulation results, compute...

Supercapacitor Charger

Linear Technology Corporation (Milpitas, CA) has introduced the LTC3226 inductorless supercapacitor charger with backup PowerPath™ controller for Li-ion or other low-voltage system rails in applications that require...

New 3D Photonic Crystals Are Electronically and Optically Active

Researchers at the University of Illnois at Urbana-Champaign have demonstrated the first optoelectronically active 3D photonic crystal - an advance that could open new avenues...

UV LEDs

Lumex (Palatine, IL) has expanded the QuasarBrite™ UV family of LED technologies to include three new standard wavelengths, and announces the availability of custom UV LED arrays. The RoHS-compliant QuasarBrite UV LEDs are now...

Making Biomass Economically Viable

Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory and Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center have found a potential key for unlocking the energy potential from non-edible biomass materials such as corn leaves and...

Solar Panels Act as Roof Shades

A team of researchers led by Jan Kleissl, a professor of environmental engineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering, determined that during the day, a building’s ceiling was 5 degrees...

Method for Doping Nanocrystals Could Up Efficiency of Solar Panels

A team of researchers have demonstrated how semiconductor nanocrystals can be doped in order to change their electronic properties and be used as conductors. This opens a world...