1. Get Ready For APEC 2013!
   
2. Review Of The 2012 Planning Meeting And Upcoming Activities
   
3. Take Advantage Of This Exceptional Member Benefit
   
4. Why Should Your Company Be A Member Of PSMA?
   
5. Meet Your Directors
   
6. About Our Members
   
7. Welcome To PSMA
   
8. Report From PowerSoc2012
   
9. California: A State Of Power
   
10. INTELEC® 2012: A Great Success
    
11. Loop Control For Linear And Switching Power Supplies
    
12. Solar Energy Stock Index Q3 2012
    
13. Solar Energy DealReader Q3 2012
    
14. EMS Stock Index Q3 2012
    
15. EMS DealReader Q2 2012
    
16. 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: Q1_2012 | Q2_2012 | Q3_2012

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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.

 

PEC 2013 continues the long-standing tradition of addressing issues of immediate and long-term interest to the practicing power electronics engineer. Outstanding technical content is provided at one of the lowest registration costs of any IEEE conference. The conference will be held at the Long Beach Convention Center March 17 - 21, 2013.

APEC 2013 includes:

• 18 Professional development courses taught by world-class experts
• 35 Technical Sessions of peer-reviewed technical papers covering a wide range of topics
• 10 Industry Sessions on current issues
• A Plenary Session focusing on topics critical to the industry
• 3 Interactive Rap Sessions
• And the best power electronics exposition in the country

Attending APEC 2013 will not only be informative but will provide time to network and enjoy the company of fellow power electronics professionals in a beautiful setting.

So make your reservations and register now and plan to attend the best power electronics event in 2013.

APEC 2013 will allow you to expand your technical knowledge and skills by taking one or more of the professional development courses, to keep abreast of the latest technology by attending the technical sessions, and to follow the latest applications and trends by participating in the industry presentation sessions.

You will also have the opportunity to informally network with some of the leading people in the power electronics industry. All of this will certainly advance your career.

For more information visit the APEC web site http://www.apec-conf.org/.

Remember, if your company is a PSMA member, you and the people in your company are eligible to receive a discount on your registration.

PSMA Chairman Carl Blake introduced the Executive Team and members of the PSMA Board and presented an overview of the membership statistics and accomplishments since the last Planning Meeting. He reemphasized that the technical committees are the heart of the organization and it is in these committees that the real work of PSMA is done.

Some of the PSMA Planning Meeting attendees

Secretary/Treasurer Michel Grenon provided the latest 6-Quarter financial forecast which indicates that the Association will remain in good financial position and can provide funding to support Special Projects that promise to bring value to the membership.

Each of the technical committees summarized their accomplishments in the past year and ongoing programs. Six of the technical committees have submitted proposals to organize an Industry Session at APEC 2013.

• The Alternative Energy Committee is organizing an Industry Session “Evolving Alternative Energy to Mainstream Energy” which focuses on the market forces and technology advancements that will enable alternative energy to be economically and technologically feasible for widespread adoption.

• The Capacitor Committee is organizing an Industry Session that focuses on “Advances in Capacitors for Power Electronics”.

• The Energy Efficiency Committee is organizing a seven presentation Industry Session on energy efficiency and planning a joint workshop with EPRI: “Are You Smart Enough for the Smart Grid?” scheduled for the Saturday before APEC 2013.

• The Energy Harvesting Committee is organizing a seven presentation Industry Session: “Forging Ahead: Global Commercialization of Energy Harvesting Technology”. They also plan to have a demonstration of recent products at the conclusion of the session.

• The Nanotechnology Committee has organized a seven presentation Industry Session and has proposed a Plenary Presentation and an Education Seminar on Nanotechnology for APEC 2013. The committee is proposing a Special Project to develop Nano 300 e- learning course and program aimed at engineering students.

Nanotechnolgy Co-Chair Tony Laviano

The Packaging Committee has organized two seven-topic Industry Sessions for APEC 2013: “Power Electronics for Vehicular (transportation) Applications” and “3D Packaging for Power Electronics”. In addition, PSMA and the Packaging Committee are co-sponsors of the Third Power Supply on Chip Packaging Workshop which was held at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, CA Nov. 16th-18th, 2012.

• Eric Persson, Power Technology Roadmap Committee Co-Chair, reviewed the results of the committee meeting held earlier. He also discussed the series of Roadmap Webinars each of which feature a well known speaker to discuss a specific technology or market trends that should be considered in developing the 2013 roadmap. The webinars have been very popular and the PSMA membership have been invited to participate. The 2013 Power Technology Roadmap Report will be available prior to APEC 2013 and a summary of key results from the report will be presented in a plenary presentation at APEC 2013.

Technology Roadmap Co-Chairs Eric Persson and Aung Thet Tu

Some of the Technology Roadmap Workshop participants

The Marketing committee will sponsor a “PSMA Passport Game” to increase visibility and traffic of PSMA member exhibit booths during APEC 2013.

Marketing Committee Chair Frank Cirolia

The Magnetics Committee plans a third reprinting of Soft Ferrites the popular Eric Snelling book. The committee is completing the Phase III Magnetics project and considering a Phase IV project.

Carl Blake led an interactive “brain storming” exercise to identify activities that should be considered as recommended projects and goals for coming year. These will be further discussed at the October and November meetings of the PSMA Board.

PSMA members may view the minutes of the Planning Meeting together with the list of suggested initiatives on the “Members Only” section of the PSMA web site.

Many of the participants enjoyed an excellent dinner Saturday evening and took part in the APEC Technical Program on Sunday. The APEC Program Committee meeting on Sunday was a very busy one and we can all look forward to a very informative and successful APEC 2013.

Bob and Madeline White seem to be enjoying themselves at dinner Saturday evening

PSMA members and others at the APEC Program Committee meeting

The 2013 PSMA Annual Meeting will be held in conjunction with APEC 2013 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Long Beach, CA on Monday March 18. A buffet breakfast at 7:30 a.m. will precede the meeting and individuals from member companies as well as non-member guests are invited to attend and participate in a full agenda of topics of interest to the industry. Regular member company representatives will participate in the election of four new Directors to serve on the PSMA Board for a three-year term beginning immediately and ending at APEC 2016. The detailed agenda for the meeting will be posted in the News & Information section of the PSMA web site. The meeting will include summary reports from each of the committees and discussions on new PSMA initiatives for 2013 and beyond. In addition there will be informative presentations from invited guest speakers on current topics of interest to the industry.

The best way to get more out of your company membership in PSMA is to become involved with one of our active technical committees. The Alternative Energy, Capacitor, Energy Efficiency, Energy Harvesting, Industry-Education, Magnetics, Marketing, Nanotechnology and Packaging committees all plan to hold open meetings during the week of APEC 2013. You are invited to participate or just to drop in to hear and to provide input as the committee activities are being planned for the coming year.

We look forward to meeting and talking with you at the PSMA booth in the exhibit area and look forward to a good turnout and a very exciting APEC 2013.

For the latest information on all of the activities planned during APEC 2013, visit us at www.psma.com. We will post information as it becomes available closer to the date of the conference.

• What is the Grid? -- With emphasis on Grid dynamics and control.
  
  
• Keeping the Grid Working -- Normal operation, emergency response and recovery.
  
  
• What is the "Smart Grid"? -- With emphasis on aspects of the Grid that affect Power Converters.
  
  
• Influences on the Grid -- Regulations. Standards. Lack of Harmonization. Competing jurisdictions. Social consciousness. Human behavior. Carbon footprint –“Green.” Life-cycle costs. Energy costs. Variable rates. Maximizing profits (legitimate). Manipulating profits (unethical).
  
  
• Evolving Loads and Power Sources -- The increasing use of constant power loads and maximum power point tracking sources, particularly distributed sources, may make the Grid less stable and less resilient.
  
  
• Evolving Communications -- More and more data will be exchanged between the Grid and user's equipment.
  
  
• Security -- What are the security issues, and how can we protect against them?
  
  
• Grid Stability -- What are the stability issues, and how can we improve Grid stability and resilience?
  
  
• Energy Storage -- Energy storage is much more than just batteries. Maximizing energy storage and the control of that energy is essential to restoring Grid stability and resilience.
  
  
• Autonomous Response -- This is the response of equipment to measured parameters (as opposed to commanded response by a remote control). Autonomous response may improve stability, and it certainly is more secure.
  
  
• Changes to the User's Equipment -- We will explore anticipated and possible changes to Power Converters and related equipment as the Smart Grid evolves.
  
  
• System Optimization -- The Grid and the Power Converter will be examined as an interactive system, looking for ways that the whole can be optimized.

Regular and Associate Members of PSMA are invited to attend this valuable, all-day workshop at NO CHARGE! However, seats are very limited and interested attendees must contact the PSMA Association Office if they wish to register. PSMA Regular and Associate member companies will receive a copy of the final report, when available, as a benefit of membership. The Report will also be available to non-members at a price of ~$2500.  If your company is not already a member of PSMA, this is a great opportunity to get an instant return on your investment.

Provided by Greg Evans, APEC 2013 Publicity Chair

By joining with other leaders in the Industry, you and your company will have a greater voice and influence on the directions of the Power Sources Industry.  Some specific benefits of membership include:

• Networking: the opportunity to meet and interact with counterparts in other companies on an ongoing basis
• Involvement: the opportunity to be involved with the planning and managing of APEC—the Applied Power Electronics Conference-- sessions that focus on the specific interest of members
• Participation: the opportunity to participate in committees, workgroups and studies to derive a better understanding of market trends, industry  trends and better operational procedures  to improve performance
• Discounts: individuals from PSMA member companies receive discounts on registration fees for attending APEC
• Industry Trends: Increase awareness and  knowledge of trends and factors that can  impact your career and provide valuable inputs for product planning
• Company Profile: All member company profiles are listed on the PSMA Web Site together with a hyperlink directly to the company Web Site
• PSMA Publications: Regular and Associate member companies receive a copy of all new PSMA publications and reports with discounts for additional copies. Affiliate member companies can purchase PSMA publications at a discount.
• Benchmarking: the opportunity to participate in benchmarking studies with other companies in your industry
• PSMA Newsletter: Receive “Update” the quarterly newsletter of the PSMA, with informative articles on activities in the industry and a calendar of upcoming industry events
• Spotlight Banner: Your company’s products can be featured as a banner on the PSMA Home   Page

PSMA membership dues are modest in comparison to the benefits offered. Is your company a member of PSMA? If not, why not? You can find the membership application on the PSMA web site at http://www.psma.com/webforms/psma-membership-application.

our members of the PSMA Board of Directors are elected at the Annual Meeting held every year during the APEC conference. Each Director serves a three year term and is eligible to be reelected for one additional term.

In this issue we would like you to meet Jim Marinos, who was elected to his first term at APEC 2010.

Jim Marinos, executive VP Marketing and Engineering for Payton Planar Magnetics, has been involved in the design and development of switch mode power systems for military applications and magnetic designs since 1982.

Jim, in his present position, is managing all aspects of business activities to facilitate sales, marketing and engineering, hiring of technical representatives in North and South America, technical training of technical representatives, developing new major accounts and negotiating sales contracts.

Prior to his current position, Jim was the Director of Engineering for Lambda Novatronics (GE Aerospace now) and held design positions with Ceag, Bell Labs and Superior Manufacturing.

Jim is serving on the Executive Board of Directors of the PSMA, Power Sources Manufacturers Association, as the President.

Jim is a Senior Member of IEEE and a reviewer for Senior Member Applications and has served as Session Chair in many APEC lectures and has written numerous technical papers on switch mode power supplies and planar magnetics.

He holds a BSEE from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn NY.

Provided by Jim Marinos, Executive VP
Marketing and Engineering for
Payton Planar Magnetics
 

Leveraging the energy efficiency of its materials technology, Cree’s SiC power devices deliver reduced size, higher frequency operation, and increased efficiency for several applications, including power supplies, solar inverters, and industrial motor drives.  Designed to outperform silicon products and competitors’ wide bandgap devices, Cree’s quality power devices have established themselves in the global power supply and solar inverter markets with more than 200 billion device hours in the field.

Cree's new 1200V, 100A Silicon-Carbide Half-Bridge Module CAS100H12AM1

Cree’s industry-leading power products and dedicated SiC materials supply are the result of its long history, expertise, and intellectual property portfolio in the power semiconductor world.  As the company with the largest SiC product portfolio, the first company to produce 75mm, 100mm, and 150mm SiC wafers, the only company to offer a commercially available SiC MOSFET, and the producer of more than 90% of the world’s SiC wafers, Cree has earned its place as the SiC market leader.

Vertically integrated with an unprecedented command of its material supply, Cree is committed to continuously investing in and expanding its current infrastructure and manufacturing capacity in order to provide the industry’s best performing devices at the lowest system cost for all applications.  Additionally, well-stocked distribution channels and flexible manufacturing capabilities allow Cree to provide the product and supply options that customers need, while a large network of local Cree distributors, as well as application and support teams, provide crucial design assistance and SiC expertise – a benefit unmatched by most competitors. 

With a technology roadmap for continuous improvement in SiC production and cost reduction, as well as global reach and a strong IP portfolio to maintain technology leadership, Cree is positioned to retain its position as the SiC market leader and purveyor of new benchmarks for the SiC power components that will replace silicon devices in critical power electronics applications worldwide.

Provided by David Cox, Director Partner Programs, Global Applications Team

R & D advantage: Huntkey has its own R & D centers, 280 professional R & D engineers, more than 40 patented projects, a research laboratory approved by TÜV and advanced laboratory equipment. Huntkey is able to provide EMC test, environmental exposure test, vibration test, MTBF test, heat analysis test as well as noise analysis, and simulate the operating environment of electricity grid. Besides, it has kept close cooperation with famous research institutes, universities and strategic partners such as Intel.

Scope advantage: Huntkey has full production lines processing hardware, injection molds, transformers and cables. It also has workshops manufacturing PC power supplies, server power supplies, communication power supplies, adapters and chargers, with the monthly output of millions of power supplies and universal notebook adapters.

Cost advantage: Huntkey integrates the resources from the upstream suppliers and produces transformers and hardware on its own; it also cooperates with famous semiconductor manufacturers as the strategic partner for many years.

Brand advantage: Huntkey has won remarkable popularity in Asia, America, Europe, Oceania and South Africa.

Huntkey has always been pursuing the philosophy of meeting customers' needs and holding the business motto of Integrity, Specialization, Innovation, Quality and Services. Huntkey will stick to this principle and continue to provide the best products with professional techniques and perfect service.

For more information about Huntkey, please visit http://www.huntkeydiy.com.

Provided by Megan Wei, Overseas Media Representative, Huntkey

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.

AdaClock

Ada Cheng
26943 Diamondhead Lane, Suite 2000
Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90275
E-mail: ada@adaclock.com

AdaClock provides marketing consulting services to the power management industry since 2008. Specialties include research and analysis of markets, competition, potential acquisitions/partners and products to help clients define keys ways to differentiate themselves.

The main consultant and analyst with AdaClock is Ada Cheng. Ada Cheng has extensive semiconductor and marketing expertise and experience. She has briefed many managers, sales professionals, and executives on various aspects of the semiconductor market.

Prior to AdaClock, Ada was a Senior Corporate Marketing Manager at International Rectifier. Prior to International Rectifier, Ada was a Principal Analyst with Gartner Dataquest covering the analog semiconductor market. Moreover Ada continues to serve as an invited member of the APEC conference committee. In addition she participates on the Power Sources Manufacturers Association (PSMA) marketing committee.

Before making her major career change into marketing, Ada had various engineering and project management roles at Motorola Semiconductor Products Sector (now Freescale Semiconductor and ON Semiconductor). Ada has both an MBA from Arizona State University and a BSEE degree from Carnegie Mellon.

PSI Technologies Incorporated

Thomas Moersheim
Electronics Avenue
FTI Complex
Taguig, Metro Manila 1633
Philippines
E-mail: tmoersheim@psitechnologies.com.ph
Web site: www.psitechnologies.com

PSi Technologies Inc. is a leading independent provider of power semiconductor assembly and test services to the power semiconductor market. They provide comprehensive assembly and test services to a diverse customer base, which includes most of the major power semiconductor manufacturers in the world. Their top ten power semiconductor customers represented over 90% of their revenues in 2011.

PSi Technologies Inc. focuses on assembly and test services for power semiconductors, making them a preferred service provider in the power semiconductor market. They provide customers with a broad array of packages and services designed specifically for power semiconductors used in telecommunications and networking systems, computers and computer peripherals, consumer electronics, electronic office equipment, automotive systems and industrial products.

In addition to power semiconductor assembly and test services, they also provide assembly and test services for standard non-power semiconductor packages used for industrial, automotive, military and computer peripheral applications. In 2011, approximately 1% of their revenue was from assembly and test services for standard products.

Green Technology Leadership Group

Shaina Brown
980 Ninth Street, Suite 2060
Sacramento, CA 95814
E-mail: sbrown@greentechleadership.org
Web site: greentechleadership.org

The Green Technology Leadership Group (GTLG) is a non-profit organization committed to providing policy leadership for the sector by connecting innovators with policymakers. GTLG founded The Smart-Electronics Initiative (SEI), which is a unique collaborative of consumer electronics developers, manufacturers, and retailers working together with policy-makers, academia and technical analysts to develop a framework to incentivize the production and use of energy efficient consumer electronics devices.

Their goals include:

• Fostering dialogue between policymakers and the green technology sector 
• Providing insight and education 
• Supporting green economic development 

Members of GTLG are interested in promoting the clean technology sector in California, including policies that facilitate its growth and economic development.

Members include:

• Regional business associations
• Clean technology companies
• Clean technology investors
• Non-governmental organization working on energy issues and environmental policy
• Local and State public officials
• Public policy leaders and experts
• Academia

Some of the PSMA Planning Meeting attendees

he Third International Workshop on Power Supply on Chip (PwrSoC2012) was held in the Palace Hotel in San Francisco on the weekend of November 16th to 18th, just before Thanksgiving. This was the first time the workshop was held in the US, and the first time it was jointly sponsored by PSMA (Power Sources Manufacturers Association) and the IEEE Power Electronics Society (IEEE PELS). The workshop was an astounding success with almost 200 attendees representing more than 50 companies and 60 academic research groups from 20 different countries around the world. Participating companies included AMD, Anagensis, Analog Devices, Apple, Cree, Dialog Semiconductors, Enpirion, Ericsson, Fairchild, Freescale, GE, Global Foundries, Huawei, IBM, Infineon, Intel, LSI, Maxim, Microsemi, Nvidia, NXP, Panasonic, Qualcomm, ST Ericsson, ST Microelectronics, Sumida, Teledyne, Texas Instruments, TSMC, Volterra and Western Digital and Wurth Electronics. 

The workshop focussed on complete monolithic integration of power managment functions on-die (PwrSoC) and/or integration within an IC package (Power Supply in Package). These issues are becoming critical for system power management with current and emerging applications demanding ever greater granularity in voltage and control, form-factor reduction, increased efficiency and cost reduction.

At the workshop many of the presentations focused on the path to integration and form-factor reduction of dc-dc converters – that is, the difficulty of integrating energy handling passive components (i.e inductors and/or capacitors) together with conventional semiconductor processes. Strategies addressing circuit topologies and system approaches, as well as advanced technologies for the design and manufacture of these passives, were focal topics for the workshop. 

Originally, the brainchild of Dr. Cian Ó Mathúna, of Ireland’s Tyndall National Institute, PwrSoC2012 followed the very successful formula developed in the two previous workshops, hosted in Cork, Ireland in 2008 and 2010. These workshops were extraordinarily successful in attracting the leading industry and academic players, from around the world, to discuss the technical and commercial challenges and opportunities in bringing this emerging technology to the market.  As a result of this success, PSMA and IEEE PELS have  adopted and sponsored the workshop as the flagship event in this emerging space.

The General Chair for this year’s workshop, Prof. Seth Sanders, UC Berkeley, is one of the pioneers of Power Supply on Chip technology, using both inductive and switched capacitor platforms. In welcoming the opportunity to host the workshop in San Francisco, he commented “this workshop addressed the broader context of PwrSoC – as well as addressing the concept of board mounted dc-dc converters that replace linear regulators in terms of size and cost but with much higher efficiency. This years workshop has placed particular emphasis on the concept of granular power delivery for large system on chip platforms, such as microprocessors, microcontrollers and DSP chips, where multiple independent power rails enhance system performancee”.  

Dr.  Ó Mathúna, who, in 2007, led the first ever study on Power Suply on Chip (PSiP2PwrSoC), funded by PSMA, was Programme Chair for the San Francisco workshop. Dr. Ó Mathúna commented that “the presentations and discussions at PwrSoC2012, reflects the significant increase in state and commercial investment in this emerging area over the last 2 years. The workshop’s single-track focus, it’s informal ambience and the extensive networking opportunities is clearly facilitating the strategic discussions needed to articulate the technical challenges to be faced, the business opportunities that are emerging and the nature of the supply chain that needs to be in place to enable commercial success”. 

Dr. Ó Mathúna is scheduled to make a presentation at the APEC 2013 Plenary Session (IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference), on the technologies, challenges and opportunities presented and discussed at the workshop.

It is planned to make most of the workshop presentations available to the workshop attendees via the PwrSoC2012 website www.powersoc212.org  with public access available from April 2013.

Cian and Seth relaxing after a busy session

Provided by Cian Ó Mathúna,
Tyndall National Institute, Program Chair and
Seth R. Sanders, UC Berkeley, General Chair

Here are some facts about California:

Recently the World economic Forum awarded its Technology Pioneers awards for 2013 in energy and environment category to eleven worldwide companies that included four US-based companies. They were Coulomb Technologies of Campbell, EnPhase Energy of Petaluma; Liquid Robotics of Sunnyvale, and Transphorm of Goleta, - all based in California.

At PSMA's (Power Sources Manufacturer's Association) Power Technology Roadmap three companies gave presentations on the GaN (Gallium Nitride) devices, considered the future of the power devices. They were Efficient Power Conversion (EPC) and International Rectifier (IR), both based in El Segundo, near Los Angeles, CA and Transphorm. In addition, Qualcomm, based in San Diego, California gave a presentation on the wireless power, another futuristic topic in power electronics. Alliance for Wireless Power, a consortium of companies interested in creating standards and providing direction for the emerging wireless power is based in Fremont, CA.

Some of the largest OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) who use power supplies and power semiconductors extensively are based in California. These include Apple Computers, Cisco Systems and HP to name a few, but there are hundreds of them. Of course there are other companies that are large users of power supplies, like IBM in New York and Dell Computers in Texas. California does not hold any monopoly in this area but for the overall power supply market California remains the largest. Some of dominant software-related companies who are also involved in servers and data centers are based in California. Think about companies like Google, Facebook and Twitter.

In order to follow their customers, many power supply manufacturers have established their major administrative operations in California. For example, Emerson Electric, which is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, located its embedded power systems in Carlsbad, CA. Others include Delta Electronics is based in Fremont, California, Lambda Electronics, a onetime largest East Coast company, has moved to California and TDK-Lambda is based in San Diego, California.

While significant part of established embedded power users and manufacturers has found their place in California, it is the future of power electronics that provides the allure of the place. The future energy market challenges and opportunities are all coming from California:

• Solar Market: California remains the largest market in the United States. Power-One, based in Camarillo, California, is the second largest inverter manufacturer in the world and is focusing its future growth in the US by targeting California market. SMA Solar Technology AG, the Germany-based largest solar inverter manufacturer has located its US operation, SMA America, LLC in Rocklin, CA.

• Hybrid/EV Automobiles: California is the largest market for electric/hybrid cars. Toyota sells more Priuses in California than any other state. Tesla Motors, the electric car company is based in Palo Alto, CA and makes its products in Fremont, CA, in the old one time abandoned GM/Toyota facility.

• Net-Zero Energy Buildings: The future of energy usage in buildings known as The Net-Zero-Energy Building initiative is a California initiative. This initiative calls states by 2020, there will be no waste/emission from residential buildings and by 2030 there will be no waste/emission from the commercial buildings. New power/energy technology will need to be developed and deployed to meet these new initiatives. This will result in a new paradigm in building construction due to California's initiative.

• Smart Grid: Many of the Smart Grid research, initiatives and ideas have come from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), which is very active in this field. EPRI has many offices and research centers around the world and one of them is based in Palo Alto, CA.  

There are many surveys that state California is a dysfunctional state with sky high housing prices, marred by an overburdened regulatory climate, and high taxes. As conventional thinking goes, California is not a good place to either start or expand the business. Though most of this is true as related to the general business climate, it may not apply for the electronics and the power/energy business. In this area California's pros outweigh its cons.

Recently Delta Electronics, based in Fremont, California, decided to expand its offices due to business growth. For its expansion, Delta Electronics did not leave California seeking a new venue, because there are good reasons to be in the Silicon Valley. California provides significant market opportunities not only from its current customers but also from the future and emerging ones. It broke new ground in a nearby location in Fremont with the blessing from the Fremont city administration. For the power electronics industry there is no place like my home state - California.

Provided by Mohan Mankikar, President, Micro-Tech Consultants

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. There were 531 attendees to this year’s conference and exhibition and 42 guest attendees that enjoyed the partner program. There were 59 attendees to the 4 tutorials sessions presented. Fifty four companies provided interesting displays of their latest products at the technical exhibition.

The INTELEC 2012 conference program featured a key note speech by General Russel Honoré, leader of Task Force Katrina, which highlighted his experiences and the importance of reliable backed-up communications infrastructure in a disaster recovery situation. There were also several invited plenary papers by Mr. Tao Hongming of Huawei, by the DOE on Fuel Cells and by Mark Mills on The Future of Energy Storage and on HVDC for data centers by Scott Barbour of Emerson. The technical program also included many interesting papers, workshops and poster sessions. Manuscripts of presented papers were included in the conference proceedings.

The technical exhibition consisted of displays of products and services in the areas of; advanced energy storage systems, AC and DC equipment and systems for central office and outside plant, green power solutions, energy efficiency, powering through disasters and many components that are critical to operational success.

The tutorial program included sessions on zone de-powering, distributed generation, batteries, failure analysis, renewable energy and communications power systems.

An extensive social program included two evening exhibit receptions, afternoon tours such as river rafting and desert 4-wheeling, a banquet with stargazing helped by astronomers with telescopes, and a comprehensive partner program.

INTELEC will be held in Hamburg, Germany in the fall of 2013 and in Vancouver, Canada in 2014. For more information on INTELEC please see www.intelec.org

Provided by Donovan Davidson, INTELEC 2012 Publicity Chair

This new book published by Artech House Publisher “Designing Control Loops for Linear and Switching Power Supplies: a Tutorial Guide”, explores a different path. Christophe Basso, the author, purposely narrows down the field to what power electronics engineers really need to know for compensating or stabilizing the system they are working on. The book not only builds the necessary theoretical foundations but also clearly shows how to apply what is analytically explored to practical cases. For this reason, this book will not only please the practicing engineer but also appeal to students looking for a link between theory classes and their future work.

For example the TL431 is a complex device and its implementation in compensation stage is often overlooked, especially if an optocoupler is added in the chain. In his new book Christophe Basso dedicates an entire 70-page chapter to the TL431, detailing internals of this popular component. The book reviews the three compensation types (1, 2 and 3) for isolated and non-isolated converters built around the 3-leg self-contained reference voltage op amp. The book also explores in details other compensation structures made with op amps but also transconductance amplifiers and popular shunt regulators.

The author, Christophe Basso, is an Application Engineering Director at ON Semiconductor, in France. SPICE simulation is one of his favorite subjects and he authored two books on the subject. In his work, he promotes the combined usage of SPICE as a design companion which, associated to an equation-based approach, helps to understand how complex circuitries operate. Developing new integrated circuits but also helping and teaching design engineers is part of his professional activity in the field of ac-dc power conversion for the last 15 years.  Christophe maintains a webpage where documents and models are available for download: http://cbasso.pagesperso-orange.fr/Spice.htm. A complete description of the book content and documents pertaining to switching power supplies is available on the author’s website at: http://cbasso.pagesperso-orange.fr/Spice.htm

• 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_energy_stock_index_q3_2012.pdf (86k 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.

• Solar Energy Industry Q3 2012 deal volume comparison by total transactions, deal type, geography, and sector of the target company
• Recent Solar Energy transaction announcements
• Margin Performance in the Solar Energy Industry

solar_energy_deal_reader_q3_2012.pdf (90k 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.

• 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_stock_index_q3_2012.pdf (348k 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.

• Q3 2012 deal volume comparison by total transactions, deal type, geography and size
• Recent EMS transaction announcements
• An analysis of growth trends affecting the EMS Industry

ems_deal_reader_q3_2012.pdf (422k 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.