CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Researchers report that wood-biochar supercapacitors can produce as much power as today’s activated-carbon supercapacitors at a fraction of the cost – and with environmentally friendly byproducts. The report appears in the journal Electrochimica Acta. “Supercapacitors are power devices very similar to our batteries,” said study leader Junhua Jiang, a senior research engineer […]
Power Electronic Tips
Force to be reckoned with: NIST measures laser power with portable scale
Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have demonstrated a novel method for measuring laser power by reflecting the light off a mirrored scale, which behaves as a force detector. Although it may sound odd, the technique is promising as a simpler, faster, less costly and more portable alternative to conventional methods […]
New device stores electricity on silicon chips
Solar cells that produce electricity 24/7, not just when the sun is shining. Mobile phones with built-in power cells that recharge in seconds and work for weeks between charges. These are just two of the possibilities raised by a novel supercapacitor design invented by material scientists at Vanderbilt University that is described in a paper […]
Solar panels can be used to provide heating and air conditioning
The use of solar panels to produce toilets hot water is standard practice, but researchers at the Madrid Universities Carlos III and Politécnica suggest that they may also be used to provide large offices with heating in the winter and air conditioning in the summer. Their proposal involves the incorporation of solar collectors into a […]
NTU scientists make breakthrough solar technology
Unique material is far cheaper to produce and generates almost as much power as today’s thin film solar cells In the near future, solar panels will not only be more efficient but also a lot cheaper and affordable for everyone, thanks to research by Nanyang Technological University (NTU) scientists. This next generation solar cell, made […]
Photos of the Day: Cleaner and greener cities with integrated transparent solar cells
Imagine buildings in which the windows allow the sun’s light to enter, and at the same time capture the energy from the sun needed to meet all their energy needs. In this seemingly futuristic scenario, the windows become productive solar cells that help us decrease our reliance on fossil fuels and advance towards a greener […]
Photos of the Day: Why lithium-ion batteries fail
Lithium-ion batteries are in our cellphones, laptops, and digital cameras. Few portable electronic devices exist that do not rely on these energy sources. Currently battery electrodes contain active materials known as intercalation compounds. These materials store charge in their chemical structure without undergoing substantial structural change. That makes these batteries comparatively long-lived and safe. However, […]
DC/DC converters provide three regulated DC outputs
[[{“fid”:”33828″,”view_mode”:”media_original”,”type”:”media”,”attributes”:{“height”:300,”width”:300,”style”:”float: right; margin: 5px;”,”title”:”HE Series DC\/DC converters”,”class”:”media-element file-media-original”}}]]Calex Mfg announces the availability of the 75 Watt Triple Output HE Series DC/DC converters. The HE Series offers a variety of models in an industry standard half brick package which provide three regulated DC outputs. All models are fully isolated input to output with output voltages of […]
Front end power supply delivers 80 Plus Platinum efficiencies
[[{“fid”:”33786″,”view_mode”:”media_original”,”type”:”media”,”attributes”:{“height”:300,”width”:300,”style”:”float: right; margin: 5px;”,”title”:”TFE3000-54″,”class”:”media-element file-media-original”}}]]Tectrol introduces its new TFE3000-54, a 3,000 watt 1U hot swap power supply delivering 80 Plus Platinum efficiencies with leading power density of 33.48W/in3. The TFE3000-54 offers a floating DC output of 54V which is adjustable from 42-55VDC making it ideal for Power-Over-Ethernet, Telecom and Networking applications. Measuring only 1.6 x […]
DC/DC converters provide 1W of output power
[[{“fid”:”33704″,”view_mode”:”media_original”,”type”:”media”,”attributes”:{“height”:300,”width”:300,”style”:”float: right; margin: 5px;”,”title”:”MD100xE series”,”class”:”media-element file-media-original”}}]]Available now from MicroPower Direct, the MD100xE series provides 1W of output power in a miniature 7-pin SIP package. These single & dual output DC/DC converters are specifically designed to provide the voltage conversion, miniature size, I/O isolation and economy required by a wide range of space critical board level […]