1. APEC 2014 Sustains Role as Industry-Leading Conference
   
2. PSMA 2014 Annual Meeting Attracts Near Record Attendance
   
3. Committee Chairs Report at PSMA 2014 Annual Meeting
   
4. PSMA Special Call for Papers
   
5. Meet Your Directors
   
6. About Our Members
   
7. Welcome to PSMA
   
8. PSMA - IEEE PELS Energy Efficient buildings Workshop
   
9. 30th Anniversary of PSMA & APEC Coming
   
10. Overview of China Power Supply Society (CPSS)
    
11. Why Should You be Interested in the Power Supply Industry in China?
    
12. INTELEC 2014 - 'Resilient Communications Energy for our Connected World'
    
13. 2014 International Workshop on Power Supply on Chip
    
14. Solar Energy Stock Index Q1 2014
    
15. Solar Energy DealReader Q1 2014
    
16. EMS Stock Index Q1 2014
    
17. EMS DealReader Q1 2014
    
18. Events of Interest - Mark Your Calendar
    

If you or anyone in your company is interested in getting on the distribution list for future issues of PSMA UPDATE, please send e-mail to: power@psma.com. Be sure to include your name and the name of your company.

Previous issues of update: Q3_2013 | Q4_2013 | Q1_2014

---

PSMA UPDATE is published and distributed via e-mail quarterly by the Power Sources Manufacturers Association. Send editorial information and comments to:

Permission to reprint information and articles as published is granted: a courtesy line is appreciated.

Membership in PSMA is open to any organization or corporation involved in the power sources and supplies industry. For membership information, visit our website or contact us by fax, telephone or email.

If you or anyone in your company is interested in getting on the distribution list for future issues of PSMA UPDATE, please send e-mail to: power@psma.com. Be sure to include your name and the name of your company.

 

he reports are in. While the big topic on everyone's mind was "efficiency," the best word to describe the environment was "energy." The results of the annual attendee survey indicated that the conference exceeded expectations.

The return to the Fort Worth venue resulted in the second consecutive year with attendance in excess of 4,000 power electronics professionals. The expanded trade show space hosted 226 exhibitors. Nearly 950 paper digests were submitted for APEC2014, of which 534 were selected for presentation. Plus a record number of industry presentations (78) added to the choices offered to attendees.

The major social event was an evening at AT&T Stadium, the home of the Dallas Cowboys. Attendees were treated to a Texas-style buffet dinner right on the field, tours of the player facilities and a performance by the world-famous Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders.

APEC moves east in 2015 to Charlotte, NC, March 15-19. As energy efficiency continues to grow in importance, our conference and exposition fills a critical role in in delivering education and information. Plan to participate and Experience the APEC Energy. Be sure to visit the APEC website often for more information: www.apec-conf.org.

Provided by Greg Evans, APEC 2014 Publicity Chair

Some of the attendees at the 2014 PSMA Annual Meeting

Carl Blake turns over the gavel to the new Chair Ernie Parker

APEC 2014 General Chair Haidong Yu

Dr. Mark Dehong Xu, President of CPSS

Carl and Dottie Blake relaxing at the APEC Sponsors Dinner

Don and Melony Woodard also enjoyed attending the APEC Sponsors Dinner

Lucie and Arnold Alderman enjoying themselves at the APEC Sponsors Dinner

Judy & Joe Horzepa watch themselves and others appear on the Jumbotron at AT&T Stadium

There were a record number of exhibitors at APEC 2014. Many PSMA member companies who exhibited at APEC 2014 participated in a "Passport" game in which attendees visited their booths and had their passport booklets stamped. Attendees turned in their completed passports for a chance to win an iPod mini. Traffic to members' booths was brisk and the lucky winner was very happy with his prize.

The lucky winner of an iPod mini claims his prize

ach of the PSMA Technical Committees provided updates on the recent activities of their committees at the Annual Meeting. Each of the Technical Committees also held individual committee meetings during the week of APEC 2014.

Chavonne Yee and John McManus, Alternative Energy Committee Co-Chairs, reported that the committee has been meeting monthly with an average attendance of 6 people. For APEC 2014, the committee has organized a 4 speaker Industry Session. Together with IEEE PELS, the committee sponsored a workshop this past week on Engineering Energy Efficient Buildings. During the next year the committee is looking to attract more participants from Alternate Energy companies and plans to organize an Industry Session for APEC 2105.

Joe Horzepa reported that the Capacitor Committee has been meeting monthly via teleconference and is planning to organize an Industry Session for APEC 2015.

Dusty Becker, Energy Efficiency Committee Co-Chair, reported the committee has organized an Industry Session for APEC 2014 titled “Energy Storage and the Power Converters that Control Energy Storage. They continue to regularly update the Energy Efficiency Data Base which is available on the PSMA web site. For the next year the committee plans to organize and Industry Session for APEC 2015 that will focus on Smart Grid, Micro grids and hybrid systems.

Arnold Alderman, Energy Harvesting Committee Co-Chair, reported the committee has been very active this past year. Besides organizing a six speaker Industry Session for APEC 2014, the committee will include a working demonstration of 6 energy harvesting systems immediately following the presentations in the same meeting room. In addition, at the committee meeting that will be held during APEC, they plan a 2 hour workshop focused on “putting all the pieces together” for cost effective end-to-end energy harvesting solutions.

The Energy Harvsting Committee meeting was well attended.

Judy Horzepa, Industry-Education Committee member, reviewed the objectives of the committee to promote interaction between power electronics students and industry and to promote power electronics to pre-university students. The committee has spearheaded a joint program with PELS and IAS for Travel Support for students to attend APEC – a total of $40,000 will be awarded for APEC 2014. An on-going initiative of the PSMA Industry-Education Committee encourages student to submit their resumes for posting on the Members Only area of the PSMA website.

Steve Carlsen, Magnetics Committee Co-Chair, reported that the committee has held monthly meeting this past year and has organized a 7-presentation Industry Session for APEC 2014 on “How are magnetics catching up to Sic and GaN?” He also discussed other activities including a possible virtual workshop on high frequency magnetics.

Frank Cirolia, Marketing Committee Co-Chair, provided an overview of the committee and highlighted some of the activities on its current agenda. He also reviewed the activities to increase the membership base and the value of membership.

Mohan Mankikar and Frank Cirolia

Kevin Parmenter, Nanotechnology Committee Co-Chair, reported that committee accomplishments for the past year have been outstanding. The Nano 300 course is now available to students worldwide. For APEC 2014, the committee organized a 7-speaker Industry Session. For the coming year, the committee plans to work with component experts on applications of nanotechnology in critical material and processes. All are invited to attend the Nanotechnology Technical Committee meeting during APEC and provide their inputs on the work of the committee.

Jeff Rosedale, Dale Teeters and Mike Rice

Ernie Parker, Power Electronics Packaging Committee Co-Chair, reviewed the activities and results of the committee this past year. It has been an outstanding year with the organizing of a 7-presentaion Industry Sessions for APEC 2014 and the publication of the report of the Special Project on 3D Power Packaging for Power Electronics. Brian Narveson will present an overview of the 3D Power Packaging for Power Electronics at a Plenary Session later that day. The committee has a meeting later in the week to consider a possible Phase 2 for this project.

Brian Narveson Garry Tomlins, Ernie Parker and Cian O’Mathuna with a copy of the latest PSMA report on 3D Power Packaging

Carl Blake, Semiconductor Committee Co-Chair, reported that in recent years the committee focused on supporting the Power Technology Roadmap efforts. However, based on a survey of the membership and with the advances and interests in wide band gap semiconductors, it has been decided to expand the objectives of the committee and to make it more proactive. An organizing meeting of the new Semiconductor Committee will be held during APEC 2014 and all are invited to join and participate in the committee.

Eric Persson, Power Technology Roadmap Committee Co-Chair, reported that there was a kick off meeting for the 2015 Power Technology Roadmap committee on Sunday. A team is being organized to address the major products to be considered, the applications and the associated technology trends for the next three to five years. The 2015 Roadmap will follow the same format as for the 2013 Roadmap with invited webinars and key leaders for each of the major topics considered. Participation by all interested individuals is invited and each participant can be guaranteed to benefit in excess of their contributions.

Ralph Taylor, Transportation Power Electronics Committee Co-Chair, reported that this a new committee was spun off from the Power Electronics Packaging Committee. The committee has held monthly meetings with 7 – 10 members attending and has organized a 7-presentation Industry Session for APEC 2014. The topics for the presentations range from thermal management, interconnection, wireless charging to wide-band gap devices for automotive applications.

Arnold Alderman, organizing committee chair for the 4th International Power Supply on Chip Workshop, reported that the workshop will be held in Boston MA October 6 – 8, 2014. The workshop is jointly sponsored with IEEE PELS and Northeastern University College of Engineering as the host for the workshop. Matt Wilkowski, chair of the Technical Program Committee is planning for a single track workshop with seven technical sessions plus a poster session. The website is being set up and the latest information will also be available from the PSMA website.

Doug McIlvoy, moderator for the Alternative Energy Committee’s workshop held the Saturday before APEC, presented an overview of the workshop and initial implications. The workshop was organized jointly by PSMA, PELS and NREL and the title was “Power Electronics and Electrical Challenges for Engineering Energy-Efficient Buildings: A Focused Workshop”. The workshop report is being prepared and will be available as a PSMA publication in the near future.

Workshop participants taking part in smaller group discussions

More information about the PSMA committees was made available during the week at the individual committee meetings. PSMA members and guests were encouraged to attend these meetings to learn more about the committees and to help plan activities for the coming year.

All of the PSMA Technical Committee meetings are held via teleconferencing and are open to individuals interested in learning about and participating in the work of the committees. This is an excellent way to network with others and to influence the technical direction of the committees.

PSMA SPECIAL CALL FOR PAPERS

APEC 2015

Thirtieth Annual
IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition

March 15- 19, 2015     Charlotte Convention Center     Charlotte, NC USA

APEC 2015 continues the long-standing tradition of addressing issues of immediate and long-term interest to the practicing power electronic engineer. Outstanding technical content is provided at one of the lowest registration costs of any IEEE conference. APEC 2015 will provide a) the best power electronics exposition, b) professional development courses taught by world-class experts, c) presentations of peer-reviewed technical papers covering a wide range of topics, and d) time to network and enjoy the company of fellow power electronics professionals in a beautiful setting in Charlotte, NC. Activities for guests, spouses, and families are abundant in the Charlotte area.

Papers of value to the practicing engineer are solicited in the following topic areas:

(Please see the APEC 2015 website for a more detailed description by subtopic.)

The following PSMA Committee Chairs may be contacted to provide guidance to prospective Authors in the preparation of their abstracts and papers. In addition most of the PSMA Technical Committees will be organizing Industry Special Sessions at APEC 2015 and anyone interested in participating and contributing in these sessions should attending one of the Technical Committee monthly meetings for more information. The schedule for the Technical committee meetings is available at www.psma.com.

The Association Office will provide contact information on request.

The terms of office for four of the Directors on the PSMA Board of Directors expired at the 2014 Annual Meeting held on March 17, during the APEC conference in Fort Worth, TX.

Congratulations to the new PSMA Directors for the term 2014-2017

In this issue, we would like you to meet Alain Chapuis, who was elected to his first term, and Stephen Oliver, who was elected to his second term.

Provided by Alain Chapuis,
CTO Power Solutions,
Power-One | A Member of the ABB Group

 
Stephen Oliver is Vice President of Marketing and Sales, V•I Chip Division, Vicor Corporation.

Stephen Oliver draws upon international experience in the areas of product development, manufacturing, and strategic product marketing in the AC-DC, telecom, processor power and automotive markets. Stephen was previously with International Rectifier in Los Angeles, California, and with Philips and Motorola in the U.K and holds a BSEE degree from Manchester University, U.K. and an MBA in Global Strategy and Marketing from UCLA, USA. He has presented at major conferences around the world and holds several power electronics patents.
 

Provided by Stephen Oliver,
Vice President of Marketing and Sales,
V•I Chip Division, Vicor Corporation

EAR Power Supplies designs and manufactures high-reliability custom and standard power supplies for commercial, industrial and medical systems. Design and manufacturing are both located in the USA, in our modern, 32,000 square foot facility near Rochester, New York. Our engineers average more than 14 years of experience in power supply design.

Our standard products include a rugged line of compact, encapsulated AC-DC and DC-DC power converters. We also excel at full-custom power supply design and manufacturing, and specialize in meeting our OEM customers’ most unusual and hard-to-meet requirements.

BP Series AC-DC power supplies are standard power supplies built for reliability and long life in the most demanding environments. These compact encapsulated AC-DC converters feature a wide operating temperature range. Patented modules with mini IEC input connectors accept standard line cords to eliminate exposed high voltage traces from the system board, improving safety and simplifying system design, testing and certification. All BP Series power supplies incorporate active inrush current limiting, fused input and Class B EMI filtering to save design time and board space. We offer 5 Watt to 30 Watt models with universal AC input and single output from 3.3 V to 48 V. BP Series power supplies are used in medical instruments, portable communications systems, industrial automation, transportation systems, and a wide range of outdoor instrument applications.

BPS Series high-voltage DC-DC converters feature up to five times better efficiency and ten times better load regulation than similar products on the market. These high-reliability isolated converters operate from -55°C to +85°C with no heat sink or electrical derating required. They have a single input voltage (configurable from 3 VDC to 15 VDC) and a single output voltage (configurable from 50 VDC to 300 VDC). BPS Series miniature, low-profile converters are used in RF transceivers, programmable filters and industrial or scientific instruments.

BEAR full-custom power supplies include AC-DC, DC-AC or DC-DC converters with power from mW to KW. We can include multiple inputs and outputs, self-monitoring and alarm systems, microprocessor-controlled output, CF-rated leakage current, custom form factors and much, much more. With both design and manufacturing in western New York, we move designs from concept to prototype to production without the communication issues and delays that are common with offshore manufacturing.

We offer full-custom designs with reasonable NRE, competitive production pricing, and lower production volumes than many other suppliers. We currently produce custom power supplies in quantities from 50 to 50 thousand per year in our upstate New York manufacturing center.

Using a custom power supply can be more cost-effective than choosing a cheaper standard product. Advantages of an expert custom power supply design include:

• BEAR can deliver exactly what you need, meaning you waste less time and make fewer compromises than you would by trying to working around the limits of an off-the-shelf supply.

• BEAR engineers can potentially help you eliminate other components (e.g. fans) and their associated costs from your system.

• BEAR gives you greater flexibility to optimize both the electrical and mechanical design for perform¬ance, manufacturability or whatever matters most.

With our design and manufacturing center under one roof, we excel at design for manufacture (DFM), quick prototype delivery, easy transition from design to pilot to full production, and long-term support. BEAR custom power supplies are used in a wide range of industrial, commercial and medical applications including telecommunications, smart grid, military, transportation, industrial automation and portable systems.

BEAR Power Supplies was formed in 2003 as a business unit of Z-AXIS, Inc., an upstate New York manufacturer founded in 1989 with a long-standing reputation for superior design and high-quality manufacturing of rugged electronic products for commercial, military, medical and industrial applications. Learn more at www.bearpwr.com

BEAR Power Supplies designs and manufactures high-reliability custom and standard power supplies for commercial, industrial and medical systems. Design and manufacturing are both located in the USA, in our modern, 32,000 square foot facility near Rochester, New York. Our engineers average more than 14 years of experience in power supply design.

Our standard products include a rugged line of compact, encapsulated AC-DC and DC-DC power converters. We also excel at full-custom power supply design and manufacturing, and specialize in meeting our OEM customers’ most unusual and hard-to-meet requirements.

BP Series AC-DC power supplies are standard power supplies built for reliability and long life in the most demanding environments. These compact encapsulated AC-DC converters feature a wide operating temperature range. Patented modules with mini IEC input connectors accept standard line cords to eliminate exposed high voltage traces from the system board, improving safety and simplifying system design, testing and certification. All BP Series power supplies incorporate active inrush current limiting, fused input and Class B EMI filtering to save design time and board space. We offer 5 Watt to 30 Watt models with universal AC input and single output from 3.3 V to 48 V. BP Series power supplies are used in medical instruments, portable communications systems, industrial automation, transportation systems, and a wide range of outdoor instrument applications.

BPS Series high-voltage DC-DC converters feature up to five times better efficiency and ten times better load regulation than similar products on the market. These high-reliability isolated converters operate from -55°C to +85°C with no heat sink or electrical derating required. They have a single input voltage (configurable from 3 VDC to 15 VDC) and a single output voltage (configurable from 50 VDC to 300 VDC). BPS Series miniature, low-profile converters are used in RF transceivers, programmable filters and industrial or scientific instruments.

BEAR full-custom power supplies include AC-DC, DC-AC or DC-DC converters with power from mW to KW. We can include multiple inputs and outputs, self-monitoring and alarm systems, microprocessor-controlled output, CF-rated leakage current, custom form factors and much, much more. With both design and manufacturing in western New York, we move designs from concept to prototype to production without the communication issues and delays that are common with offshore manufacturing.

We offer full-custom designs with reasonable NRE, competitive production pricing, and lower production volumes than many other suppliers. We currently produce custom power supplies in quantities from 50 to 50 thousand per year in our upstate New York manufacturing center.

Using a custom power supply can be more cost-effective than choosing a cheaper standard product. Advantages of an expert custom power supply design include:

• BEAR can deliver exactly what you need, meaning you waste less time and make fewer compromises than you would by trying to working around the limits of an off-the-shelf supply.
• BEAR engineers can potentially help you eliminate other components (e.g. fans) and their associated costs from your system.
• BEAR gives you greater flexibility to optimize both the electrical and mechanical design for perform¬ance, manufacturability or whatever matters most.

With our design and manufacturing center under one roof, we excel at design for manufacture (DFM), quick prototype delivery, easy transition from design to pilot to full production, and long-term support. BEAR custom power supplies are used in a wide range of industrial, commercial and medical applications including telecommunications, smart grid, military, transportation, industrial automation and portable systems.

BEAR Power Supplies was formed in 2003 as a business unit of Z-AXIS, Inc., an upstate New York manufacturer founded in 1989 with a long-standing reputation for superior design and high-quality manufacturing of rugged electronic products for commercial, military, medical and industrial applications. Learn more at www.bearpwr.com

Provided by Brenda Fultz, Sales Manager, BEAR Power Supplies

 
ower Systems Design (PSD) empowers global innovation by serving the power electronics industry worldwide as the leading resource for technical and community information, both in print and online formats.

Launched in 2004 and now celebrating our 10th anniversary, the PSD franchise has grown to become the global leader in providing power systems design-engineering professionals critically needed content, both in print and online formats.

Headquartered in Annapolis, Maryland, USA, PSD has staff in several North American locations, as well as Europe, China and India.

To learn more about PSD, go to: www.powersystemsdesign.com/about-power-systems-design

Our comprehensive websites deliver the latest in electronics industry news, product news, departments, design centers, audio podcasts and videos (in our multimedia section) and digital archives of all print content we have published.

As well as in-depth technical articles that are featured in our European, American, and Chinese print editions; PSD features a collection of online content offerings:

Websites:

Power Systems Design: Comprehensive English website: www.powersystemsdesign.com

PSDmobile: Responsive website designed to run on Smart Phones & Tablets: www.psdmobile.com

Power Systems Design China: Comprehensive Simplified Chinese website: www.powersystemsdesignchina.com

PSD Mobile Apps:

• iOS
  
• Android

• PowerSurge: English, delivered daily 7x/week
• Chinese PowerSurge: Simplified Chinese, delivered 2x/week
• “Must See” newsletters: specific to promote APEC, PCIM Europe, PCIM Asia, electronica exhibitions & conferences

Additional PSD online products:

• Client Specific video channels (Within Multimedia)
• Download and print any/all articles on PSD’s English website
• PSD email list rentals

To subscribe to PSD, go to: www.powersystemsdesign.com/subscribe-to-psd-magazines

To get the latest in power electronics and engineering, the “must go” choice is Power Systems Design: www.powersystemsdesign.com

Provided by Jim Graham, Owner / Publishing Director, Power Systems Design

Editors Note: We would like to feature your company in a future issue of the Update. Please contact the Association Office for information about how to submit an article for consideration.

Dell Inc.
Mehran Mirjafari
501 Dell Way
MS: RR5-19
Round Rock, TX 78682
E-mail: Mehran_Mirjafari@dell.com

For 30 years, Dell has empowered countries, communities, customers and people everywhere to use technology to realize their dreams. Customers trust Dell to deliver technology solutions that help them do and achieve more, whether they’re at home, work, school or anywhere in their world. Founded by Michael Dell in 1984, an unconventional PC startup, Dell has become a global technology leader.

Dell helps drive the course of future industry innovation through a time-tested process that puts customer needs first. Since the first Dell PC was introduced in 1986, Dell has continued to shape the industry by breaking new ground and pioneering critical developments in home, small business and enterprise computing. Dell's research and development (R&D) efforts now span the globe, driven by some of the industry's foremost product designers and engineers. At the core of Dell's innovation approach; however, remains an unwavering commitment to deliver new and better solutions that directly address customer needs.

Exar Corporation
James Lougheed
48720 Kato Rd.
Fremont, CA 94538
E-mail: james.lougheed@exar.com

Exar Corporation designs, develops and markets high performance analog mixed-signal integrated circuits and advanced sub-system solutions for data communication, networking, storage, consumer and industrial applications. Exar’s product portfolio includes power management and connectivity components, communications products, network security and storage optimization solutions. Exar has locations worldwide providing real-time customer support.

GeneSiC Semiconductor Inc.
Ranbir Singh
43670 Trade Center Place
Suite 155
Dulles, VA 20166
E-mail: ranbir.singh@genesicsemi.com
Website: www.genesicsemi.com

GeneSiC is a pioneer and world leader in Silicon Carbide technology, while also invested in high power Silicon technologies. The global leading manufacturers of industrial and defense systems depend on GeneSiC’s technology to elevate the performance and efficiency of their products.

GeneSiC’s mission is to deliver the best customer driven designs possible, with leading performance and quality while maintaining a highly competitive price. Their targeted markets include: Downhole drilling, Aerospace, Alternative Energy, Commercial, Industrial, and Military. It is their goal to break down road blocks faced by customers by offering highly efficient and ground breaking solutions that deliver superior thermal performance, minimal losses and compact performance.

Green World Conferences
Sachin Salle
Mari plex Complex tower 3 -4th floor -A
Kalyani nagar
Pune, Maharashtra 411001 India
E-mail: ss@greenworldconferences.com

Since its official launch in April 2008, Green World Conferences have been successfully delivering incisive conferences and expos focused on the renewable energy industry. Complimented by roundtables, trainings and field trips our events provide practical and specific advice in all areas, helping drive improvement and development of participating companies. Organized in close co-operation with leading renewable energy experts their events enjoy a strong reputation for their content and as business meetings between buyers and sellers.

Every year thousands of experts representing renewable energy companies, technology and service providers, governments, finance providers and consultants attend our conferences. Suppliers use Green World Conferences to generate targeted sales and marketing opportunities.

Kulicke & Soffa
Christoph Luechinger
1821 E. Dyer Road #200
Santa Ana, CA 92705
E-mail: cluechinger@kns.com

Kulicke & Soffa is a global leader in the design and manufacture of semiconductor assembly equipment. As one of the pioneers of the industry, K&S has provided customers with market leading packaging solutions for decades. In recent years K&S has expanded its product offerings through strategic acquisitions, adding wedge bonding and a broader range of expendable tools to its core ball bonding products. Combined with its extensive expertise in process technology, K&S is well positioned to help customers meet the challenges of assembling the next-generation semiconductor devices.

Kulicke & Soffa, incorporated in 1951 and comprising of approximately 2,200 employees worldwide, provides equipment and tools that are used in the production of a wide range of semiconductor devices. Their customers produce the "chips" that drive the information economy and enable products such as computers, smart phones, media tablets, LED TVs, and pacemakers.

Precision Inc.
Welly Chou
1700 Freeway Blvd.
Minneapolis, MN 55430
E-mail: welly.chou@precision-inc.com

Precision, Inc. is an industry leading designer and manufacturer of custom magnetic components and assemblies for the electronics industry. For over 40 years, Precision, Inc. has designed, manufactured and marketed magnetic components used in demanding applications serving Medical, Telecommunications, Electronic Instrumentation, Industrial Controls, Consumer Electronics and Avionics/Aerospace/Defense markets. Engineers working on everything from avionics to heat pumps to pacemakers depend on advanced magnetics from Precision.

Based in Minneapolis, MN Precision, Inc. engineers draw upon years of design experience to bring innovative and sophisticated methods to solving their customers’ magnetic needs. High reliability, quality materials and engineering skill are an integral part of Precision, Inc. Their customers know that they are getting the highest value products and technology solutions for their most challenging application.

Juan M. Rivas-Davila
Stanford University
420 Via Palou Mall
Stanford, CA 94305
E-mail: jmrivas@stanford.edu
Website: www.stanford.edu

Professor Juan Rivas-Davila came to Stanford as an assistant professor in January 2014. Previously, he had been an assistant professor in Electrical Engineering at the University of Michigan. Before becoming a faculty member in 2011, he worked for the General Electric Global Research Center developing power electronics for medical imaging and aviation systems. He received the B.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from the Monterrey Institute of Technology (Mexico) in 1998. He obtained his masters (2003) and doctoral degree (2006) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His research interests are in power electronics, RF power amplifiers, resonant converters, soft switching topologies and design of power converters for operation in harsh environments.

Huai Wang
Aalborg University
Pontoppidanstraede 101
Aalborg, North of Jutland 9220
Denmark
E-mail: huaiwang@ieee.org
Website: www.en.aau.dk

Huai Wang is an Assistant Professor at the Center of Reliable Power Electronics (CORPE), Department of Energy Technology, Aalborg University. His research interests include reliability of power electronic components (e.g. capacitors, IGBT modules) and systems, medium-voltage dc-dc power converters, passive component reduction in power electronic systems, advanced time-domain control (e.g. boundary control) for power converters, and power electronics for electric traction and renewable energy applications. He was an undergraduate student in Electrical Engineering and Automation at Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), Wuhan, China and a PhD student in Power Electronics at City University of Hong Kong (CityU), Hong Kong.

he Saturday prior to APEC 2014, at the OMNI Hotel in Fort Worth, TX, PSMA and the IEEE PELS combined their efforts to bring industry and academia experts together in a workshop focused on the impact of power electronics on the design of large energy efficient buildings. The workshop, chaired by Dr. Phil Krein of the University of Illinois, featured seven speakers from the US and Taiwan.

The workshop was conducted in two sessions; the first focused on large buildings, their planning and design process as well as life cycle costs analysis and tradeoffs. Dr. Jim Cale of NREL in Golden Colorado gave an enlightening talk on what the National Renewable Energy Lab has designed and built in Golden, Colorado. Dr. Cale explained how a large building can be designed for Zero-Net Energy performance, what truly innovative thinking can produce when a team of stakeholders works through the planning, design, and construction together. The result of the Effort and NREL was presented and discussed in detail from renewable energy generation, energy storage, microgrids, appliance testing, behavioral research and analysis of results in real time. There is a lot that impacts power electronics in his presentation.

Dave Bodenshatz of KJWW Engineering Consultants followed Dr. Cale with a fascinating discussion of Life Cycle Analysis and Cost Tradeoffs in large buildings. Dave presented his work with Dr. Phil Krein on the new Engineering and Computer building at the University of Illinois. What he presented opened a lot of minds to the energy savings technologies that were considered and thrown out, as well as to the ones that did provide savings over the life cycle. The analysis of the life cycle costs considering 1st costs of construction, maintenance costs, and warranty and replacement costs proved surprising. Dave explained that doing this type of analysis can really provide payback in the life cycle of the building and while Zero-Net energy buildings are not cheap, they can save significant energy.

Dr. Tsai Fu Wu of the National Tsing Hua University of Taiwan treated us to a look at Taiwan’s Efforts in renewable energy and an insight into the research projects his EPERL lab is conducting. Dr. WU explained the plans of the Taiwan government in renewable energy and how his research in harmonizing the energy of the AC and DC grids in Taiwan through the use of DC nanogrids. Dr. Wu’s research into the use of Bi-directional inverters provides a way to effectively balance the energy use of the AC and DC grids the nation is creating.

The morning session finished with four breakout sessions that discussed key points that invited further discussion.

Dr. Krein presented a lunch review of the new Engineering and Computer building at the University of Illinois. Where the planning, research and analysis we have discussed was put into play and resulted in a building that introduces many of these leading edge concepts in energy savings. The building is in the last stages of completion and will be home to classes in August of this year.

The second session in the afternoon introduced the topic of Non Invasive Load Monitoring (NILM). Dr. Tom Habetler of Georgia Tech covered many of the basic concepts and driving functions for being able to apply Artificial intelligence and power electronics to electrical load detection, categorization, control and analysis for residential applications. Most of these techniques will enable significant savings in terms of energy but also in terms of behavioral modification and pre-failure detection of electrical equipment.

Dr. Steven Leeb of MIT then presented a fascinating presentation and demonstration of NILM as applied to large installations such as military posts, hospitals, and commercial structures. Dr. Leeb gave fascinating demonstration of position detection through injecting a signal into lighting within a room and detecting position of within the room through receivers. One example of detection involved placing a detecting device around a conduit and being able to identify activities as they occur on a military outpost from remote locations, then using artificial intelligence to take action on those observations to improve service and supplies to the facility.

Dr. Dushan Boroyevich of CPES at Virginia Institute of Technology presented a discussion of the use for Nanogrids within Net-Zero energy buildings. Dr. Boroyevich discussed Nanogrids that could be isolated from the grid but not necessarily be a DC voltage. They could be AC or DC. His theme was that every piece of equipment in the home now has a power electronic converter in it and those can be utilized to provide control that combined with renewable can achieve Net-Zero. He also stated this is not likely to happen in the next five years but certainly within 50 Years.

The presenting speakers and, on the left, Doug McIlvoy, workshop facilitator, gather for discussion after the workshop.

The PSMA is preparing a full report of the workshop that will include all the presentations and discussion for those PSMA members unable to attend this workshop. Look for it this summer.

Provided by Doug McIlvoy, Power Electronic Strategies, Workshop Moderator

an you believe that the PSMA & APEC will be 30 years young next year? Last year we celebrated the 30th anniversary of the cellphone. Next year we will look back on our accomplishments and look forward to what we will achieve in the next decade. That means that there is still time to add to the list of accomplishments. For inspiration, here are some PSMA accomplishments over the years:

• Sponsored APEC (Applied Power Electronics Conference)
  
• Created and ran various APEC Industry Sessions
  
• Pioneered APEC Presentation Awards
  
• Pioneered APEC Travel Support Grants
  
• Helped with Future Energy Challenge
  
• Provided input on regulations and standards
  
• Created the Energy Efficiency Database, a collection of various international energy efficiency regulations.
  
• Pioneered the Power Technology Roadmaps
  
• Pioneered the PwrSoC & 3D Packaging reports
  
• Republished several out of print industry reference books on magnetics
  

• Contact the Power Technology Roadmap committee on how you can help the upcoming Power Technology Roadmap 2015.
  
• Contact the Energy Efficiency committee on how you can help shape the PSMA & EPRI (Electric Power Research Institute) Task Force on the Smart Grid.
  
• Contact the Magnetics committee to investigate core loss issues.
  
• Contact the PSMA Marketing committee on ideas of how we can celebrate these anniversaries.
  
• Contact the Transportation Power Electronics Committee to understand the electrification of automobiles.
  

In addition, many of the PSMA committees welcome your help in planning and organizing various industry sessions for APEC 2015. Raise the bar for APEC 2015 and invite different users to present their perspectives for these industry sessions. People are sure to attend APEC to get the scoop on what they have to say.

Provided by Ada Cheng, Strategic Market Consultant, AdaClock

t the 2014 PSMA Annual Meeting in Fort Worth, Mark Dehong Xu, President of CPSS, presented an overview of CPSS and suggested some areas for discussion on possible future cooperation between PSMA and his organization. This is a summary of the presentation.

CPSS was founded in 1983 as a national society in China. The vision of CPSS is to advance power supply technology and industry in China and build a top level society of both academia and industry.
The organization has grown to 3000 individual members (primarily from academia) and 520 Enterprise members. The enterprise members include companies involved with the design and manufacture of:

• Switching power supplies
  
• Drivers for LED lighting
  
• UPS
  
• Inverter and motor drives
  
• Inverters for photovoltaic and wind power
  
• Components including semiconductors, capacitors, inductors, transformers batteries, heatsinks and cooling for packaging

The organization of CPSS includes the Secretariat (Association Office), seven working committees and ten technical committees. The primary activities of the society involve organizing and sponsoring technical conferences, exhibitions, publications and training. Together with the Ministry of Science and Technology, CPSS confer a number of recognition awards including Technology Invention, Science and Technology Progress, Outstanding Contributions and Youth Scholars.

The publications available include:

• Journal of Power supply (a bimonthly publication)
  
• Power supply Information (magazine featuring information on the power Supply industry)
  
• CPSS Newsletter (issued semimonthly and distributed via email)
  
• China Power Supply Industry Yearbook (published in July each year)

The CPSS website (www.21dianyuan.com) was established in 2006 and currently has over 150,000 registered members. The site provides news about technology, new products, buying leads, posting of job opportunities for power supply professionals. In addition, the site hosts four Webinars each month on new technology and products.

Since 2006, CPSS has organized and sponsored the “China International Power Supply Exhibition” (CPSEXPO) held in Shenzhen and Shanghai. These Exhibitions have been very popular with 136 to 378 exhibitors participating and 7100 to 15,300 visitors attending.
At the conclusion of his presentation, Mark Dehong Xu, President of CPSS, reported that cooperation between CPSS and PSMA began in 2002 and was highlighted by the participation of Arnold Alderman (PSMA Chairman at that time) at the CPSS biannual national conference. Arnold also took part in the China & USA Power Supply seminar during the conference. However, in recent years the relationship between the two organizations has become dormant.

Mark Dehong Xu, President of CPSS suggested the following areas of possible future cooperation between CPSS and PSMA:

• Membership cooperation between the organizations and encourage CPSS companies to join and participate in the PSMA Technical Committees
  
• Cooperation in exhibition – recruit members to join exhibitions at CPSEXPO and APEC
  
• PSMA to become a technical co-sponsor of CPSEXPO, give a keynote presentation on PSMA at the 2014 conference and participate in the exhibition with a complimentary exhibit booth
  
• CPSS website to post PSMA news and the PSMA website to post CPSS news
  
• Introduce PSMA reports and publications to CPSS companies
  
• Provide internet links on each website

The presentation was well received and the PSMA Board of Directors will be discussing possible initial areas of cooperation between PSMA and CPSS.

At a luncheon held during APEC 2014, representatives of CPSS and PSMA discussed possible areas of future cooperation. Top Left to right: Zhang Lei (Executive Director CPSS), Joe Horzepa (Executive Director PSMA), Jim Marinos (President PSMA), Liu Jinjun (CPSS Executive). ^ At table Left to Right: Carl Blake (Chairman PSMA), Mark Dehong Xu (President CPSS), Arnold Alderman (Advisory Council PSMA)

Provided by Joseph Horzepa,
Executive Director, PSMA

rom the power supply industry perspective, mainland China remains a mystery to many. China is a manufacturing powerhouse with over two-thirds of all power supplies currently "Made in China". China is also considered a significant and emerging market for sales of power supplies. But the power supply manufacturers and users in China are mostly unknown to outsiders, the non-Chinese companies. It is estimated that there are thousands of power supply companies in China, but they are not visible on the global scale and except for a very few, none have emerged as the world class companies ready to do global business with global blue-chip OEMs. So who are these companies, and what is the state of the Chinese power supply industry? Who can solve this mystery?

There is one organization that is capable of providing an insight into the Chinese power supply industry is CPSS.

CPSS: The China Power Supply Society gave a presentation during the PSMA Annual Meeting in March held during APEC2014. The CPSS presentation focused on the activities, mission and goals. The mission and goals were tied to an impressive list of activities for a single organization to undertake.

CPSS is defined as a National Society of China and, judging from the material presented and interviews of the knowledgeable individuals, it seems one cannot start an organization in China without the blessings of the government and usually a government representative is present during important meetings or dealings.

The presentation at APEC2104 stated that CPSS was founded in 1983, making it more than a 30-year old organization. In 1983 China was barely visible on the power supply map. Astec in Hong Kong was probably the most visible power supply company in the Far East region. Even the mighty Delta Electronics was yet to make its mark on the power supply industry. But CPSS was already formed with its mission and goals. So CPSS had an early start and since its inception it has come a long way.

CPSS now has about 3000 individual and 520 enterprise or business members. In addition to its significant membership, the products covered by the CPSS members are also extensive. CPSS also organizes the annual China International Power Supply Exhibition (CPSEXPO) in Shenzhen and Shanghai. In 2013, the Shanghai exhibition had more than 400 exhibitors and more than 17,000 visitors, making it one of the largest or the largest power supply-related (dedicated) exhibition in the world.

CPSS publishes many journals and reports including: The Journal of the Power Supply (bi-monthly), Power Supply Information Magazine (monthly), CPSS Newsletter (semi-monthly) and an annual China Power Supply Industry Yearbook. In addition, it publishes government planning policies and regulations, and various aspects of economic data. CPSS publishes and provides an enormous amount of information for its membership.
CPSS has two kinds of memberships available; an individual and an enterprise member. The individual membership is an open to any participant, while the enterprise membership is available to companies that are based in China. A foreign company with a Chinese office is qualified. So a membership is relatively easy and many US companies are already members.

Beyond membership, the issue is language. CPSS has two web sites. Its official web site is www.cpss.org.cn and the business web site is www.21dianyuan.com with 150,000 registered members. But currently all the information on both web sites is in Chinese so not very useful for non-Chinese participants. Mr. Zhang Lei, Executive Director CPSS, told me (via email) that an English language version is in the works for the global participants and it will be available soon. Hopefully, all this information will provide an insight into the power supply industry in China.

CPSS is organizing its next conference, IEEE PEAC 2014 in Shanghai, from November 5 to November 8. For more details visit:
http://www.peac-conf.org/InsidePage.asp?sid=99FC91BE15895DE8AE68971987A71BEE.

CPSS is a great resource that can provide an insight into China; its power supply companies, technology, products, regulations and its future. China is an interesting subject and market for the power supply industry. Perhaps one of the CPSS representatives should be invited to give a presentation at APEC on this subject.

Provided by Mohan Mankikar, President, Micro-Tech Consultants

NTELEC 2014 announces that registration is now open for the 36th annual conference held September 28 - October 2 in the Vancouver Convention Center in Vancouver. To register for the conference go to www.intelec2014.org/registration.

This year's technical program will focus on communication power systems, energy storage, power conversion equipment and site support. From batteries to power supplies, disaster recovery to renewable energy, INTELEC 2014 is the place to see where the industry is heading, what new products are being introduced and will be the place to personally interact with the key suppliers and decision makers in the industry.

INTELEC©, the International Telecommunications Energy Conference, is the annual world-class technical forum which presents the latest developments in communications energy systems and related power-processing devices and circuits. This Conference, which serves the broad community of researchers, suppliers and operators, explores new technologies of power conversion, energy storage and systems for telecom applications and environment.

For more information including Conference Venue, Technical Program, Exhibition and Social Program please go to www.intelec2014.org.

Provided by John P. Gagge, Jr,
INTELEC 2014 Publicity Chair

2014 International Workshop on Power Supply on Chip

Call for E-Posters

E-Poster abstract submissions due: July 1, 2014
Workshop Website: http://pwrsoc2014.org

The 4th International Workshop on Power Supply on Chip (PwrSoC2014) will be held in Boston on October 6-8, 2014.

The form of electronic posters (e-posters) will be adopted for the poster session. Each presenter will use a 47” LCD screen instead of a traditional paper poster. Up to 5 e-poster slides are allowed.

The workshop will focus on the integration of both modular and granular commercially successful electrical power converters for multiple applications by accessing a broad range of leading-edge technologies. Complete on-die integration and integration-within-package are of prime interest. System performance requirements presented by current and emerging applications demand ever-greater current density, voltage regulation and optimized control, form factor reduction, efficiency, and cost reduction. A major challenge on the path to integration and form factor reduction of dc-dc converters is the difficulty of integrating energy-handling power passive components with conventional silicon processes. Advanced technologies for the design and manufacture of these passives are focal topics for the workshop. Strategies addressing circuit and system approaches will also be addressed.

Issues to be addressed include but are not limited to the following topics:

• On-Chip Power Applications and Systems
• Power Semiconductor Technologies
• Integrated Magnetics
• Integrated Capacitors for Power Electronics
• Packaging and Manufacturing
• Topologies and Control
• Granular Power

If your work is relevant to any of the above topics, you are encouraged to submit your work for inclusion in the e-poster session. The e-poster session will provide an opportunity for researchers to present new and innovative works-in-progress and obtain feedback from their peers in an informal setting. Since e-posters are not considered to be formal publications, work submitted as an e-poster is eligible for future publication in other venues.

Submission Instructions:

If you wish to present an e-poster, please

• Submit a short abstract (approximately 300 words) describing the topic of the e-poster. Do not exceed one page. Allowed formats are MS word (.doc, .docx), Adobe (.pdf) and the most common picture formats (.jpg, .png, .bmp, .gif, .tif).
• Include the title of the e-poster and the names and affiliations of the authors in the abstract.
• Indicate the corresponding author as well as his/her email address in the abstract.
• Submit the e-poster abstracts to eposter@pwrsoc2014.org.
• Include the corresponding author’s name and the title in the subject line of the email.

You will have an opportunity to revise the final e-poster abstract before the workshop. Accepted abstracts will be published in the workshop program.

The deadline for abstract submission is: July 1, 2014
Notification of acceptance: August 4, 2014

If you have any questions regarding the e-poster session, please contact the e-poster session chair Dr. Xing Xing at eposter@pwrsoc2014.org.

incoln International’s™ Renewable Energy Group is pleased to present the latest Q1 2014 Solar Energy Stock Index Report, which tracks relevant solar company metrics in this growing industry.

The Solar Energy Stock Index Report, published by their Renewable Energy team each quarter, provides you with information on the following:

• Quarterly performance of the Solar Energy Stock Index versus the S&P Index
• Relative market valuations of each Solar Energy Category
• Current financial data for each company in the index

solar_stockindex_q12014.pdf (557k pdf)

This data is included with the permission of Lincoln International. For more information, you may contact John McManus (jmcman@optonline.net) or the Association Office.

incoln International is pleased to present you with the latest DealReader from our global Renewable Energy Industry group. This will provide you with:

• Q1 2014 deal volume comparison by total transactions, deal type, geography, and target company sector
• 2013 deal volume comparison by total transactions, deal type, geography, and size
• Recent Solar Energy transaction announcements

solar_dealreader_q12014.pdf (508k pdf)

This data is included with the permission of Lincoln International. For more information, you may contact John McManus (jmcman@optonline.net) or the Association Office.

incoln International™ is pleased to present you with the Q1 2014 EMS Stock Index from our global Electronics industry group. This report will provide you with:

• Quarterly performance of the EMS Stock Index versus the S&P Index
• Relative market valuations of each EMS Tier
• Current financial data for each company in the index

ems_stockindex_q12014.pdf (377k pdf)

This data is included with the permission of Lincoln International. For more information, you may contact John McManus (jmcman@optonline.net) or the Association Office.

incoln International™  is pleased to present you with the latest EMS DealReader from our Global Electronics Industry Group. This will provide you with:

• Q1 2014 deal volume comparison by total transactions, deal type, geography and size
• Recent EMS transaction announcements
• Terms & Turns: Revisiting the Cash Cycle

ems_dealreader_q12014.pdf (408k pdf)

This data is included with the permission of Lincoln International. For more information, you may contact John McManus (jmcman@optonline.net) or the Association Office.

If you or anyone in your company is interested in getting on the distribution list for future issues of PSMA UPDATE, please send e-mail to: power@psma.com. Be sure to include your name and the name of your company.