Washington, DC – US Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu and US Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced today that the two agencies, along with the Army Corps of Engineers, will cooperate more closely and align priorities to support the development of environmentally sustainable hydropower. The Memorandum of Understanding represents a new approach to […]
Power Electronic Tips
Cree LEDs Light Up Dallas American Airlines Center Video Screens
Cree, Inc. (Nasdaq: CREE), a market leader in LED lighting, announces that its high brightness LEDs are used in Lighthouse Technologies’ high definition video screens installed this season in the American Airlines Center, the Dallas home to both the NBA’s Mavericks and NHL’s Stars. Cree’s versatile 3-in-1 high-brightness LEDs are delivering crystal-clear, high definition images […]
High-Speed Pipeline Revs Up Biomass Analysis
Enlarge image Rob Sykes, a member of NREL’s Chemical and Catalyst Science Group, puts a sample of biomass on a carousel for rapid analysis in the new high-throughput pipeline. Credit: Pat Corkery A new pipeline at the National Renewable Energy Lab is analyzing 1,000 samples of biomass at a time, finding which one, combined with […]
Tool That Tracks Solar Installations is Open to All
Enlarge image Open PV’s Map Maker lets the user sort through a variety of graphs from the national to the zip code level. The photovoltaic (PV) market now has an eye-popping, interactive bevy of maps and charts that can let anyone know where PV panels are being installed, how big they are, how much they […]
New York State Funds new Battery Research at Cornell
A $200,000 award from New York state will allow Cornell researchers to develop new technologies for next-generation batteries. The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) recently announced a total of $8 million in research grants to help develop or commercialize energy-storage projects. The grant to Cornell went to a group led by […]
The “Greenest Fans on Earth” Go Solar
MacroAir Technologies introduces the first and only solar High Volume Low Speed (HVLS) Industrial Fan Solar energy has been called the wave of the future. MacroAir Technologies, a company founded on the very principal of innovation, is surfing that wave with the introduction of the MacroVoltaic fan. Receiving the highest certified rating, the MacroVoltaic fan […]
Green Phase-shifted Full-bridge IC Controls Synchronous Rectifier Output
Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) introduced a phase-shifted full-bridge PWM controller with synchronous MOSFET control outputs and light load power management. According to the company, the UCC28950 can achieve efficiencies above 90 percent from light load to full load, enabling it to meet 90+ Climate Savers efficiency standards. The device features a 10:1 wide range adaptive […]
Power politics
I recently had the great honor of moderating the Smart Grid Rap Session at this year’s Applied Power Electronics Conference (APEC). It brought home to me that in addition to the technical challenges facing the power industry, there are also political issues that must be addressed as we move forward. The old political arguments around […]
Companies Improve Power Conversion for Electric and Hybrid Cars
Wavre & Mont-Saint-Guibert, Belgium. March 2010. Mitra Energy & Infrastructure SA, provider of high reliability managed energy solutions and Cissoid SA, leader in high-temperature semiconductor solutions, have entered an agreement to cooperate on the design of high-efficiency, high-temperature, turnkey energy conversion solutions for the electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles (EV & P-HEV). Today’s battery chargers, […]
Balancing Renewables and Natural Resources
Enlarge image Newly installed solar panels at NREL’s National Wind Technology Center face skyward to follow the sun. NREL biologists are experimenting with native seed mixes to reestablish plants and wildlife habitat on the graded site. Credit: Joe Verrengia NREL’s newest source of clean energy — a 1 megawatt solar array — is supplying laboratory […]
