Energy

Thermal Energy Harvesting Solution

Nextreme Thermal Solutions (Durham, NC) and Arkansas Power Electronics International, Inc. (APEI) (Fayetteville, AR) are developing a thermal energy harvesting solution for a wireless sensor system to monitor...

Non-Spring Return Actuators

ProMation Engineering (Brooksville, FL) offers P1 series quarter-turn electric, non-spring return actuators, which feature a compact industrial grade design for use with all ball and butterfly valves or dampers...

Isolated Monolithic Flyback Regulator

Linear Technology Corporation (Milpitas, CA) offers a high-reliability (MP-grade) version of the LT3511, a high-voltage isolated monolithic flyback regulator that operates over a -55°C to 150°C junction...

Lithium-Ion Batteries

Panasonic (Rolling Meadows, IL) has introduced a high rate lithium-ion cell, the CGR18650CH. The cell’s Nickel Manganese-based cathode material delivers higher discharge rates and better energy density and voltage than...

Combatting Wind Turbine Noise

Acoustics researchers at the University of Adelaide in Australia are developing a computer model to predict the noise output from wind farms so they can accurately and quickly assess the effectiveness of...

Lightweight Magnetic Cooler With a Reversible Circulator

A design of a highly efficient and lightweight space magnetic cooler has been developed at Goddard Space Flight Center that can continuously provide remote/distributed cooling at temperatures in the range of 2 K with a heat sink at about 15 K. The innovative design uses a cryogenic circulator that enables the cooler to operate at a high cycle frequency to achieve a large cooling capacity.

Photoluminescent Nanofibers for High-Efficiency Solid-State Lighting

Polymer nanofibers are nanoscale materials whose properties can be adjusted to provide desirable light management performance for high efficiency solid-state lighting...

Splitting Water to Create Renewable Energy: Simplified

An international team of scientists led by a team at Monash University of Melbourne, Australia has found that the key to the hydrogen economy could come from a very simple mineral -...

Researchers Counteract Biofuel Toxicity in Microbes

Advanced biofuels are highly touted as potential replacements for gasoline, diesel, and jet fuels. Equally touted is the synthesis of these fuels through the use of microbes. However, many...

Microinverters Are Launching a Solar Renewable Revolution

Given that solar-photovoltaic (PV) generating technology has been around for decades, one might think its general application in commercial and consumer circles might be a little more...

Testing Smart Energy-Management Systems

In the SmartEnergyLab, scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE in Freiburg, Germany are investigating how to network various electrical household appliances and operate...

Green Engineering Grant

Today, National Instruments announced its 2011 Green Engineering Grant program for the rapid design, prototyping, and commercialization of new green technology. The grant will provide access to up to $25,000 equivalent...

Multi-Core Voltage Regulator for Energy-Friendly Data Centers

Harvard graduate student Wonyoung Kim has developed and demonstrated a new device with the potential to reduce the power usage of modern processing chips. The advance could allow...

Self-Cooling Observed in Graphene Electronics

With the first observation of thermoelectric effects at graphene contacts, University of Illinois researchers - led by mechanical science and engineering professor William King and electrical...

Replacement for Rare Material Used in Solar Cells

Researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands have developed a replacement for indium tin oxide (ITO), an important material used in displays for products such as TVs,...

Photovoltaic System ICs

National Semiconductor Corp. (Santa Clara, CA) introduced new SolarMagicTM integrated circuits (ICs) to reduce cost, improve reliability, and simplify design of photovoltaic (PV) systems. Ranging from a full-bridge gate...

Dual Ideal Diode

Linear Technology Corporation (Milpitas, CA) introduces the LTC4227, a compact, dual ideal diode with Hot Swap™ controller that provides PowerPath™ and inrush current control for redundant supplies operating from 2.9V to...

Power Factor Correction ICs

International Rectifier (El Segundo, CA) has introduced the IR115x family of µPFC™ power factor correction (PFC) ICs for a wide variety of AC-DC applications including lighting, LCD/PDP TV and game console Switch...

Funding Opportunity for Applied R&D in Hydrogen Storage Technologies

The DOE's Fuel Cell Technologies Program is offering up to $12 million to advance hydrogen storage technologies for use in fuel cell powered vehicles and other applications....

From Aircraft Wings to Wind Turbine Blades: NASA Software Comes Back to Earth with Green Energy Applications

You might think a wind turbine would have more in common with a plane’s propeller than an aircraft wing, but wind blades actually...

30V Power MOSFETs

The NexFET™ power MOSFET from Texas Instruments (Dallas, TX) has been designed to minimize losses in power conversion applications. The MOSFET features ultralow Qg and Qgd, low thermal resistance, and Pb-free terminal...

High-Power Transformers

Payton Planar Magnetics (Deerfield Beach, FL) offers high-power transformers with 99%+ efficiencies. These types of transformers are used in battery charging stations for HV and can be connected in series to achieve...

Insight into Bacteria for Solar Energy

Researchers from Washington University in St. Louis and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have used small-angle neutron scattering to analyze the structure of chlorosomes in green photosynthetic...

Advanced Diodes

Power Integrations (San Jose, CA) announced the availability of the Qspeed family of advanced diodes. Qspeed diodes use a unique silicon-based process to combine an extremely low reverse recovery charge (QRR) with a very soft...

Improving the Vanadium Redox Battery

Though considered a promising large-scale energy storage device, the vanadium redox battery's use has been limited by its inability to work well in a wide range of temperatures and its high cost. New...

Better Turbine Spacing for Large Wind Farms

Large wind farms are being built around the world, but operators are still searching for the most cost-effective and efficient way to arrange the massive turbines. To help steer wind farm owners in...

Black Silicon Enhanced Thin-Film Silicon Photovoltaic Devices

An enhanced thin-film silicon photovoltaic device with improved efficiency has been developed. Thin-film silicon solar cells suffer from low material absorption characteristics,...