• Texas Instruments Extends its Lead at the Top of the Power ICs Market According to IMS Research
  
• Over 50% Want Electricity Usage Data Displayed In Their Homes
  
• CORNELL DUBILIER ACQUIRES ALUMINUM FOIL FORMATION FACILITY
  
• BEAR Power Supplies Earns ISO 9001:2008 Quality Management Systems Certification
  
• Lincoln International's Solar Energy DealReader: Q1 2010
  
• Second International Workshop On Power Supply On Chip Planned
  
• Power Electronics DealReader: Q1 2010
  
• Power Electronics Stock Index: Q1 2010
  
• Solar Energy Stock Index: Q1 2010
  
• Rosenfeld: A New Unit for Energy Saving
  
• Tribute to Dr. Middlebrook
  
• PELS And PSMA Working Together
  
• Solar Market Booms – But A Lack Of Inverters May Cause A Bust
  
• About Our Members
  
• Big Opportunities In DC Powering Ahead
  
• Meet Your Directors
  
• ON Semiconductor Acquires Sound Design Technologies, Ltd.
  
• ON Semiconductor to Expand Manufacturing Facility in Pocatello, Idaho
  
• ON Semiconductor Establishes Automotive Solutions Engineering Center (SEC) in China
  
• PSMA Now Providing Even More Networking Opportunities With LinkedIn
  
• PSMA Presentation
  
• Handbook of Standardized Terminology now available on "Members Only"
  
• Job And Resume Postings Added To PSMA Website
  
• Power Supply Designers Encouraged To Partner With ENERGY STAR®
  
• Technical Writing Guides
  
• Getting More From Your PSMA Membership
  
• An Engineer's Guide to using Google by Chuck Mullett
  
• Power Supplies - Make vs Buy
  

ugust 2, 2010 – IMS Research has just published its latest rankings for the power management & driver IC market revealing that Texas Instruments increased its lead in the market during the downturn in 2009 and held a share of 10.5%.

The initial findings from IMS Research’s 2010 study, reveal that Texas Instruments increased its lead over the other top ten suppliers in the market, growing its share by 1.1% from 2008 to 2009. This came in a year where the market declined by an estimated 14.4% and many suppliers reported a sharp drop in revenues. It is estimated that Texas Instruments held a 10.5% share of the global power IC market in 2009, almost 3% more than the second-placed supplier Infineon Technologies.

Ryan Sanderson, senior analyst in IMS Research’s Power and Energy research group commented, “An unpredictable and difficult 2009 owing to the economic downturn has driven a shift in rankings for the top 10 companies. STMicroelectronics moved up to 5th position ahead of Linear Technology, and Rohm and Intersil both moved slightly ahead of ON Semiconductor”. Sanderson went on to note, “However, we’re predicting the power IC market will grow around 20-25% in 2010 and it is very likely there will be major changes in the supplier rankings and market shares this year too”.

Market shares by product type also show significant changes from 2008 to 2009, with some suppliers weathering the downturn better than others, depending on their strategy during the downturn/recovery period and the demand from the key end equipment markets and customers they serve.

For more information, please visit www.imsresearch.com.

uly 5, 2010 – A recent consumer survey from IMS Research found that over half of respondents consider displaying current electricity usage information in their homes ‘very useful’. Over 90% considered it ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ useful.

This consumer survey analyzed the attitudes and expectations of 1,000 respondents (500 in the UK, and 500 in the US), to find out their views on a variety of smart home energy management functions, including attitudes to demand response, and willingness to pay for remote home management functions. Lisa Arrowsmith, Market Analyst at IMS Research explains, “Increasing environmental awareness, the rise of web portal-based household management services, and the roll-out of smart meters, are all driving increasing interest in ‘smart home energy management systems’.

Some findings from the consumer survey were somewhat expected. For example:

· Older respondents are less likely than younger respondents to choose to display household electricity data on their cellular handset.

· ‘Early adopters’ are most likely to be willing to pay for remote home management services (such as controlling the temperature of your home online).

However, other findings, such as which companies respondents would be most willing to pay a subscription fee to, in exchange for remote home management services; and which demographic group was most likely to refuse to participate in demand-response programs, came as more of a surprise.

For more information, please visit www.imsresearch.com.

une 30, 2010 Cornell Dubilier has acquired the Panasonic electrolytic foil formation facility in Knoxville, Tennessee. Last year this facility produced 10 percent of the world’s electrolytic foil with the industry’s most modern and efficient equipment.

“This acquisition guarantees Cornell Dubilier a consistent supply of our most critical raw material. With this resource our customers will continue to receive our highest level of service and perhaps the most competitive lead times in the industry,” says Jim Kaplan, President of Cornell Dubilier.

“With worldwide shortages of electrolytic foil and long term allocations of this material, Cornell Dubilier’s continued growth was becoming unsustainable. This addition of the foil facility will significantly reduce these lead times, secure our supply chain and give Cornell Dubilier a stronger leadership position in the global electrolytic market.”

For more information, please visit www.cde.com.

une 18, 2010 – BEAR Power Supplies has achieved ISO 9001:2008 certification, meeting the most current quality systems standard of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). This certification establishes that BEAR meets stringent requirements for quality systems and processes at its 32,000 square foot design and manufacturing center in western New York, ensuring that it can reliably provide quality products and services to its customers worldwide. BEAR designs and manufactures standard and custom power supplies for commercial, industrial and medical products.

BEAR Power Supplies earned ISO 9001:2008 certification following extensive analysis of its quality management systems from independent auditing firm and accredited registrar Perry Johnson Registrars, Inc. The audit addressed all areas of the company's operation - from product design and manufacturing, to delivery and customer service.

"BEAR has a long-standing reputation for superior quality and service, and ISO 9001:2008 certification underscores our ongoing commitment to that," said Michael Allen, president of BEAR Power Supplies. "The significance of ISO 9001:2008 certification is internationally recognized and gives customers worldwide added confidence in our ability to reliably meet their needs."

BEAR's quality management systems cover its entire operations, which encompass design through manufacturing all under one roof. To maintain its certification the company will undergo ongoing auditing inspections and annual process verification.

For more information, please visit www.bearpwr.com.

embers of the PSMA Board of Directors are elected at the Annual Meeting held every year during the APEC conference. The Directors serve a three year term and are eligible to be reelected for one additional term.

We introduced you to the two newest Directors – Henry Lee and John McManus – in the last issue of the UPDATE. In this issue we would like you to meet Jim Marinos, who was elected to his second term at the PSMA Annual Meeting in February.
 
Jim Marinos

Jim has served on the Board of Directors of the PSMA for 3 years, and is a Senior Member of IEEE.

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

In his present position, Jim manages all aspects of business activities to facilitate sales, marketing and engineering including 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 (now GE Aerospace) and held design positions with Ceag, Bell Labs and Superior Manufacturing.

Jim has written numerous technical papers on switch mode power supplies and planar magnetics. He holds a BSEE from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn NY.  He is married, lives in Weston, Florida and his interests include mountain biking and traveling.

As a Director on the Board of PSMA Jim’s goals are:

• To work on providing the design community with the knowledge of all lessons to be learned from the 10 technical forums that PSMA has. PSMA can contribute to their success by providing ideas and lessons learned from others.

• To make sure that all special projects/committees address the needs of the member companies and how they can directly benefit from that information.

• To explore the synergy with the “new power supply” companies of the world, which includes automotive power, green energy power and military power.

With close to 30 years of experience in the power supply industry I can provide direction, knowledge and leadership to PSMA which in turn will benefit the industry.

Provided by Jim Marinos,
Executive VP, Payton America Inc.

he introduction of dc powering architecture is expected to play a large part in the effort to conserve energy in a number of industries that traditionally consume large amounts of electricity. These industries include data centers and telecommunications facilities, both of which use large amounts of electricity without much regard for efficiency. In fact it has been an acceptable practice to trade off energy efficiency and operating costs for the sake of system reliability. However, in recent years a number of factors have emerged that may change that practice, and a debate is taking place on how to cope with the increasing need for electricity and the associated costs to power these facilities.

Traditional ac power architectures for  data centers house a large amount of equipment, including individual servers, power supplies, back-up systems and additional energy consuming components. The individual power supplies within each server convert the ac input voltage into a voltage appropriate for the unit’s needs. Since the power supplies used in data centers are typically redundant, this results in an energy inefficient system which generates substantial heat which the room’s air conditioning system must remove at additional expense. The waste heat generated within these centers can also impose limits on the number of servers that can be housed within the data center and can jeopardize reliability if not handled properly. As a result, managers and other data center professionals are looking to dc power architectures as an alternative solution to the traditional ac power architectures.

Proponents for a dc power architecture claim that it has the potential to eliminate the biggest source of energy loss and waste in traditional ac systems: the multiple back and forth transformations and conditioning needed to step voltage down for use by the load equipment. There can be up to six or more power conversion stages between the facility input voltage and the voltage required by the microprocessor or other data processing circuits. The argument is that the adoption of a dc power architecture system would allow the conversion of the high-voltage ac input to a dc voltage earlier, keeping it in a dc distribution voltage format  and delivering it to rack-based servers.  This same principal also holds true for telecommunications facilities. Although they already use 48Vdc power, they are starting to look a lot like data centers. Both data centers and telecom COs have been installing lots of IT equipment; both are adding new services and capabilities; and both are running out of power, cooling and space. Further adoption of a dc power distribution system in this industry may help overcome traditional constraints in the development of new transmission capacity.  

Not all dc power opportunities are in large facilities. Dc power can also be used to improve efficiency at the lower-voltage levels. The addition of dc power delivery systems to homes, office building and commercial facilities offers the potential for significant improvements in energy delivery efficiency, reliability, power quality and cost of operation. Most of these facilities are currently dominated by fixed overhead lighting and a variety of electrical devices that are typically wired for the building’s lifetime rather than the occupants or residents evolving needs. As a result, building designers and owners are looking for systems to make buildings more adaptable and allow the integration of infrastructure, equipment and furnishings that can improve energy efficiency. Addressing these concerns will lead to the further deployment of new power, control and device-level technology designed for commercial interiors and developed around the use of safe low-voltage direct current power.

Provided by Richard Ruiz Jr., Research Analyst, Darnell Group

Fairchild Semiconductor was established in 1957 by the pioneering group known as the Traitorous Eight that included Robert Noyce, Jean Hoerni and Gorden Moore.  Named for Sherman Fairchild who agreed to fund the new company due to Noyce’s impassioned vision of using silicon substrate for a transistor, the goal of the original company was the development and production of silicon diffused transistors and other semiconductor devices. In 1958, Fairchild pioneered the planar process developed by Hoerni and with it a new industry of planer transistors.  Two years later Fairchild built a circuit with four transistors on a single wafer of silicon, thereby creating the first silicon IC (Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments had also independently developed an IC made of Germanium in the same year).  Fairchild quickly grew from twelve to twelve thousand employees, and became the cornerstone of the semiconductor industry spawning many new companies in the Silicon Valley (See Fig. 2). 

In 1997, Fairchild became the industry's first multi-market semiconductor company producing logic, memory, and discrete technology.  Today, the company is known as a leading global supplier of high performance power and mobile products, delivering energy-efficient, easy-to-use and value-added semiconductor solutions for power supplies, mobile, lighting, motor, computing, consumer and automotive applications.  Along with the internal developments such as the PowerTrench® family of MOSFETs in 1998, Fairchild made many key acquisitions including the semiconductor division of Raytheon, Intersil’s discrete power business (making Fairchild the second largest power MOSFET supplier in the world), Impala Linear Corporation, Power Device Division of Samsung Electronics in South Korea, and System General of Taiwan. 

Figure 3 summarizes the Fairchild power portfolio today. Fairchild’s key products for ac-dc, dc-dc and inverter solutions include:

• A wide portfolio of power MOSFETs, IGBTs, Diodes and Rectifiers
• Smart Power Modules (SPM®) with integrated power components
• Fairchild Power Switches FPS™ devices with integrated controllers and power       devices
• Mobile handset solutions including analog switches and high frequency voltage       regulators
• High efficiency PFC and PWM controllers for off-line and isolated dc-dc     solutions
• Primary Side Regulator or PSR solutions with low-standby power
• Integrated dc-dc converters solutions
• Integrated motor drive solutions (50VA to 10kVA).
• High-voltage HVIC drivers and High-Speed Low-side Gate drivers
• Automotive power steering control modules
• Optoelectronics
• Logic Components

With a long and rich history in the semiconductor industry, Fairchild is a leading global supplier of high performance power management products that maximize power efficiency at every opportunity.  Additionally, Fairchild offers a wide portfolio of analog and power IP to support handset manufacturers’ specific requirements. These include complementary chipsets in signal path for audio, video, USB, and ASSP/logic and power management for peripheral cores, lighting and RF.  The entrepreneurial spirit of the early Fairchild is alive and well today.  Its leadership in energy efficient solutions and mobile connectivity makes Fairchild as important and relevant for the next 50 years as it has been for the last 50.

Provided by Aung Thet Tu,
Product Line Director,
Fairchild Semiconductor

A 12-mm thick, 300 watt, non-interleaved, CCM boost converter stage for flat screen TV applications (> 95% efficient at 120 Vac)

Qspeed has Sales and Distribution in Asia Pacific, Europe and the North America, along with strategically placed logistics hubs, for JIT delivery.  For more information about Qspeed Semiconductor, visit our website at http://www.qspeed.com.  Data sheets and Application Notes can be downloaded from the website, and samples of our products can be ordered, using our 'Request Samples' online form.

Provided by John Jovalusky,
Technical Marketing Manager,
Qspeed Semiconductor

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.

n the past, inverters have often been an overlooked part of the solar Photo Voltaic (PV) supply chain – probably because they account for only a small proportion of PV system costs. Recently however, inverters have become critically important, because their poor availability delayed the connection of hundreds of solar installations at the end of 2009.
A new report from IMS Research reveals that the total solar power new installed capacity grew to 7.4 GW in 2009, more than half of this being in Germany alone.  There was an even greater growth in PV module and inverter shipments; inverter shipments grew some 35% over the previous year, despite the very slow start to 2009 and the collapse of the largest market at the end of 2008. Installations surged in the second half of 2009, partly fueled by speculation of cuts to Germany’s feed-in-tariff; and strong demand continued well into Q1’10.
The total industry production capacity of inverters, unlike that of PV modules, is not massively higher than annual demand. In addition, whilst there are several hundred module suppliers to fill the gap between supply and demand quickly in a rapidly growing market, the much more consolidated inverter market was not able to adapt quickly enough to the rapid increase in demand seen at the end of 2009. The industry was not able to ramp up the production required. Thus a lack of inverters caused a major bottleneck at the end of 2009, which is continuing to affect the entire PV industry in a big way.
This spiraling demand has left PV inverter suppliers also facing major problem of supply. Very long lead times (of up to 6 months) for critical components, such as IGBTs, have left manufacturers limited not only by their own production capacity, but also by the availability of components.  Hence the long lead times for inverters are continuing to limit the expansion of the PV market further, with PV system integrators already reporting harm to their business caused by this bottleneck.
While the fulfillment of demand is being limited by the current inverter supply, demand will undoubtedly slow in the Q3 when the German market stagnates. However, annual installations in 2010 are still forecast to grow by some 60-70%. This would lead to a PV inverter market of about $5 billion – far from insignificant!
Demand in 2009 was extremely volatile and varied significantly by country. Thus supplier market shares and rankings have changed significantly in the last year. SMA retained its position as the world’s largest supplier with an annual market share that has increased each year for several years and reached close to 40% of total global revenues in 2009. However, several new entrants have entered the IMS Research’s top supplier rankings and many, perhaps with better access to components, may be better placed to take advantage of the booming market.

Provided by Ash Sharma, Research Director for IMS Research’s Power & Energy Group

EEE’s Power Electronics Society is working with PSMA today and looking towards the future!

IEEE is noted to be the world’s largest professional association. The core purpose of the IEEE is to foster technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanity. Keeping this purpose in mind, the Power Electronics Society (PELS) is working with many organizations around the world to enhance electronic technology.

For more than 25 years, Power Sources Manufacturers Association (PSMA), IEEE’s Power Electronics Society (PELS) and IEEE’s Industrial Applications Society (IAS) have sponsored “APEC” Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exhibition.  As one of PELS flagship conferences, APEC proves to be a very successful technological event that showcases the strength and symmetry between these three societies.  Working together provides a venue within which we can learn and network with peers, industry and academic professionals, government leaders and students.

The need for energy efficiency and sustainability is constantly in front of us.  Today’s challenges will continue to rely on power electronics technology research and growth. Power electronics technology is crucial to electrical systems, development of the power grid, energy sustainability and growth in the field of power conversion, transmission and distribution.  It is important that the public understand that collaboration across corporations, institutions, countries and societies is essential.  The solutions come from networking with people and crossing the boundaries of multiple sciences linking with the political and financial related issues.

PELS is collaborating with other societies within and outside of the IEEE on many levels.  There are numerous opportunities emerging from PSMA and PEL’s ongoing relationship.  Power Electronics Society’s partnering with other not-for-profit organizations such as universities, corporations and societies like PSMA can create highly successful conferences, tutorials, publications and workshops.

Below are some of the interests PELS has and would welcome the collaboration of PSMA members.

The Power Electronics Society covers wide area of interests within its Technical Committees.  Anyone is welcome to participate in a Technical Committee.  You just need to contact our VP for Operations or the Chair of a committee and express your interest.  The following are the names of PELS seven Technical Committees.  For a more detailed breakdown of each Technical Committee please refer to Table 1.  Technical Committee Chair information can be found on our website.

• Communication Energy Systems (INTELEC)
• High Performance/Low Cost Applications
• Motor Drives and Actuators
• Power and Control Core Technologies
• Power Conversion Systems and Components
• Sustainable Energy Systems
• Vehicle and Transportation Systems

STUDENT COMPETITIONS

PELS financial sponsors for two student competitions: Solar Splash and the International Future Energy Challenge. 

• Solar Splash:  This student competition involves solar/battery powered boats. The competition for 2010 is being held in Fayetteville, Arkansas.  For more information you can go to www.solarsplash.com. Solar Splash will be held June 9 – 13, 2010
• International Future Energy Challenge:  This student competition encourages student teams to design and build prototypes within technical topic areas of power electronics.  The 2011 competition is still being outlined and more information will be on our website within the next few months. PSMA will sponsor an award that is still being determined. For history of past events you can go to www.energychallenge.org

PELS is involved in sponsoring several workshops.  Links to these workshops can be found under upcoming events on the PELS website:  www.ieee-pels.org

• PELS Workshop on Emerging Technologies: Power Converter on Chip
  • Co-sponsored with PSMA
• PELS Workshop in Emerging Technologies: Solid-State LED
  • New
• PELS Workshop on Emerging Technology: Wireless Energy Transfer
  • New, in works

IEEE is seeing increased activity in standards related to Smart Grid and Power Electronics for applications.

The current chair is in need of volunteers to get to meetings where standards are being worked on. 

If you have an interest in development of a new standard or review of a old one please contact Prof. H. Alan Mantooth BEC 3217, Department of Electrical Engineering University of Arkansas Fayetteville, AR 72701 Ph. (479) 575-4838 FAX (479) 575-7967 e-mail: mantooth@uark.edu
webs: http://mixedsignal.eleg.uark.edu, http://ncrept.eleg.uark.edu, http://grapes.uark.edu

PELS has recently launched its new website:  www.ieee-pels.org.  The new PELS website is be state of the art with an interactive forum for Power Electronics Professionals.  Anyone can sign up and create an account.  PELS Administrative Committee Members will be able to maintain their own pages within the website.  Others can submit articles to post and add new information easily by submitting it to us for approval.

Our thanks to VP of Products, John Shen - University of Central Florida; Webmaster, Grant Pitel- Magna Power; Layout Specialist, Adam Pitel – Magna Power; and Web Support, Thomas Monaco - IEEE PELS Staff for doing a spectacular job of putting together this new website and content management system. 

The content management system has several modules as well.  They include:

• Future E-Commerce site for instructional videos and voice over PowerPoint presentations
• Career Forum for Job seekers and Employers
• E-community: Question and Discussion Forum
• Article Submissions
• Live RSS Feeds of news

If you would like to network with other Power Electronics Professionals, we invite you to create an account on our new website, join our Society Group on Linked In or one of the Technical Committee groups for Power Electronics.  We also have a new Facebook page (IEEE Power Electronics Society). These social media arenas allow us to network, ask questions, comment on a discussion, write news or just connect with professionals in the power electronics field.

Provided by Donna Florek, IEEE PELS Executive Office

Dr. Middlebrook

rofessor R. David Middlebrook passed away on April 16, 2010 short of his 81st birthday. He will be remembered by all of us as the founder of modern Power Electronics and a founder of Caltech's Power Electronics Group, which under his guidance graduated 36 Ph.D.s and hundreds of M.S. and B.S. students, many of whom are now Professors, engineers, and key members of their communities. Professor Middlebrook greatly contributed to development of Power Electronics as an academic discipline through his research and teaching.

We all remember his unique teaching style that has earned him accolades worldwide. I had the honor to be at many of his lectures and seminars and witnessed the generations of engineers who greatly benefited from his deep understanding of the Power Electronics and Analog Circuit Design and his ability to transfer that knowledge effectively. His seminal book Introduction to Junction Transistor was his "translation of transistor invention into practical models for engineers". Dr. Middlebrook made broad and lasting impact to the engineering world.

He will be sorely missed by all of us who knew him.

Dr. Slobodan Cuk

riting in Environmental Research Letters (January—March 2010 Issue) Dr. Jonathan Koomey and more than fifty other scientists, engineers and researchers, associated with energy efficiency and savings issues have proposed a new unit to measure energy savings. It will be called The Rosenfeld, in honor of Arthur Rosenfeld widely acknowledged to be the Father of Energy Efficiency.

In the Energy Environmental community Arthur H. Rosenfeld holds one of the unique reverent places and is widely admired by colleagues for creating policies that have been at the forefront of environmental movement that is currently shaping the worldwide discussion of power generation, energy consumption, and climate change. Dr. Rosenfeld had a foresight to imagine these energy issue more than 30 years ago, when he switched his field from particle physics to the study of energy and environment in 1975. Rosenfeld’s name for the energy saving unit is well deserved and similar to the names associated with Volt (Alessandro Volta), Watt (James Watt), Joule (James Prescott Joule) and Coulomb (Augustine de Coulomb). There is a great tradition in scientific community to assign a scientist or a major contributor’s name to the unit that is assigned to the emerging respective science.

In simple terms, one unit of Rosenfeld is equivalent of avoiding one coal fired power plant with 500MW of electricity generation capacity. This is equivalent of saving 3 billion kWhr of electricity at the meter, which is equivalent of saving 3 million metric ton of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year.

Dr Jonathan Koomey’s paper “Defining a standard metric for electricity savings” provides details about the selection criteria for this unit such why “avoidance of 500 MW of coal fired power plant” was selected. Though at first it looks arcane, Dr. Koomey makes a fairly easy to understand argument for choosing this criteria. However, the main point of selection is succinctly summarized in the conclusion or the abstract of the paper; “...The Rosenfeld can best be used in rough back-of-the-envelope calculations and high-level summaries of analysis results for less technical audiences… These parameters satisfy the initial criteria of simplicity of presentation, ease of recall, intuitive plausibility, physical meaning, and policy relevance…”

The original idea for this unit was thought out by Chris Calwell of Ecos Consulting, a well known personality in the power supply community due to his participation in APEC and his contact through PSMA’s Energy Efficiency Committee. Dr Jonathan Koomey (another know personality) made this proposal into reality. The power electronics community should be very proud of Dr Arthur Rosenfeld and his contribution to the energy savings policy.

The US EPA can take steps to make Rosenfeld Unit to be widely accepted and used. Every year EPA, through its ENERGYSTAR program, announces amount of savings in electricity. For example, in 2009 through the ENERGYSTAR programs, the United States saved 191 billion kWhr of electricity which would be 67.7 Rosenfelds. If EPA charts its graphs in Rosenfeld, the unit will be widely used by the electrical engineering community. Coincidently, US Energy Secretary Dr Steven Chu was a former Director of Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory at University of California, Berkeley, the same organization where Dr Arthur Rosenfeld worked as a scientist before joining the California Energy Commission. A simple mention of Rosenfeld by Dr. Chu in one of the numerous press conferences will go a long way to popularize Rosenfeld as a new unit of electrical energy saving.

You can read the entire article “Defining a standard metric for electricity savings” by Jonathan Koomey www.erl.iop.org and read Dr. Arthur H. Rosenfeld’s bio on www.energy.ca.gov (California Energy Commission web site). ______________________________________________________________________ This article first appeared in the April issue of MTC Power Electronics Industry Newsletter.

The views expressed in this article are solely of Mohan Mankikar's alone. They do not represent view of PSMA. Mohan Mankikar has been a part of the power supply industry for over twenty years, has been an active member of PSMA since its founding, and has been on the Board of PSMA and currently acts as an advisor.

Provided by Mohan Mankikar, President, Micro-Tech Consultants

Following the overwhelming positive feedback from PwrSOC`08, a second International Workshop on Power Supply on Chip will once again bring together the key players from both the industry and academic communities active in the emerging area of system-in-package (SiP) and system-on-chip (SoC) solutions for power supply miniaturisation.  Organized by Tyndall National Institute, one of Europe’s leading research centres, PwrSOC’10 plans to build on PwrSOC’08, which drew an international audience of over 120 experts from companies, universities, and research institutions.  

A major challenge to the further miniaturisation of DC-DC converters is the inability to integrate passive components on silicon due to their relatively large size at today’s operating frequencies of 0.5 to 5 MHz. Increasing the switching frequencies into the 10 to 100 MHz region offers the potential for the reduction of passive component values to the point where, with the right technology, their size becomes compatible with silicon device dimensions.

Currently, significant R&D and product development activity is evident in advances in semiconductor, magnetic, capacitor and packaging material technologies that will deliver products operating at multi-MHz frequencies. The ultimate target is to develop new miniaturised product formats that can be referred to as power supply-in-package (PSiP) and power supply-on-chip (PwrSoC). This space has been under increasing focus from semiconductor companies due to their ability to deliver advanced silicon processing technologies and functional integration with increased reliability.  This proliferation of functionally-integrated hardware solutions can be seen as an inflection point in the power supply industry which is seeing a dramatic move away from traditional power supply manufacturing (with a focus on the assembly of power supply modules or bricks from discrete components) to an increasing emphasis on power supply products derived from semiconductor and microelectronics platforms and technologies.

The speakers and conference organizers agreed that the interdisciplinary approach of PwrSOC’08 workshop was essential to the successful development of power supply-on-chip technology.  Application needs, technologies, manufacturing ability, and packaging have all converged to the point that a power SoC solution is not only possible but quite likely required in certain applications.  Semiconductor manufacturers, materials researchers, system makers, and power supply designers all need to come together to address the problems of functional and packaging integration.  The first PwrSOC workshop was thus a significant step in that direction and the upcoming second workshop is positioned to result in further significant progress in this field.

Dr. Cian Ó Mathúna, co-chair of the PSMA Packaging Committee put the value of the workshop in context: “this concept of integrated power solutions presents a significant disruptive opportunity in power management solutions and warrants an international forum for its discussion and for the elucidation of the key challenges that lie ahead”.

Tyndall is supported in the organisation of the workshop with technical co-sponsorship by the IEEE Power Electronics Society (PELS) (http://www.ieee-pels.org), the Power Sources Manufacturers Association (PSMA) (http://www.psma.com), and the European Centre for Power Electronics (ECPE) (http://www.ecpe.org

Information updates for the workshop will be available in the coming weeks on www.powersoc.org

For further information, contact Dr. Cian Ó Mathúna, cian.omathuna@tyndall.ie or Brice Jamieson, brice.jamieson@tyndall.ie

Provided by Dr. Cian Ó Mathúna, Head of Microsystems Centre, Tyndall National Institute

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

• Q1 2010 deal volume comparison by total transactions, deal type, geography, and sector of the target company
• Recent Solar Energy transaction announcements
• A look at cash cycles in Solar Energy
  
  

solar_energy_dealreader.pdf (52k 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 issue of the Power Electronics DealReader from their global Electronics industry group. This will provide you with:

• Q1 2010 deal volume comparison by total transactions, category, geography, and size
• Recent transaction announcements within the Power Electronics sector
• Terms & Turns: A Look at Cash Cycles in Power Electronics
  

power_electronics_dealreader.pdf (52k 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 2010 edition of the Power Electronics Stock Index from their global Electronics industry group.

The Power Electronics Stock Index provides you with information on the following:

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

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.

power_electronics_index.pdf (75k 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’s™ Renewable Energy Group is pleased to present the latest 2010 Solar Energy Stock Index Report, which tracks relevant solar company metrics in this growing industry. Their Renewable Energy Group is at the forefront of the growth and development of the worldwide renewable energy industry.  Whether through acquisition, divestiture, capital raising, or strategic investment, Lincoln’s industry expertise and global reach provide a valuable resource to companies seeking to implement their renewable energy initiatives. Areas of focus include biofuels, fuel cells / batteries, geothermal, hydroelectric, smart-grid technologies, solar and wind energies.

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_energy_stock_index.pdf (52k 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.

Canadian Acquisition Solidifies ON Semiconductor as a Leading Supplier of Ultra-Low-Power DSP Technology for Hearing Aids and Audio Processing Applications
 
une 09, 2010 - ON Semiconductor Corporation, a premier supplier of high performance, energy efficient silicon solutions for green electronics, today announced it has acquired privately held Sound Design Technologies, Ltd. (SDT) from an affiliate of Global Equity Capital, LLC, in an all cash transaction for initial consideration of approximately $22 million.

Under the terms of the acquisition, the seller will also have the ability to receive additional earn-out proceeds of up to $10 million if, among other things, SDT is able to meet certain revenue thresholds in 2010, 2011 and 2012. The initial consideration value represents approximately one times SDT's first quarter 2010 annualized sales levels. SDT will now become an integrated part of ON Semiconductor's Medical Division, based in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

"The acquisition of Sound Design Technologies solidifies our position as a leading supplier of ultra-low-power digital signal processing (DSP) technology for hearing aids and audio processing applications," said Robert Tong, vice president of ON Semiconductor's Medical Division. "In addition, the acquisition strengthens the company's talent base and adds an experienced design and applications engineering team for the audiology segment. SDT's advanced manufacturing expertise in chip-scale capacitors and high density packaging will also expand our capabilities in delivering advanced, highly miniaturized packaging technology, crucial for hearing aid and similarly size-constrained applications that demand medical-grade quality."

Michael Hirano, executive vice president, operations of Global Equity Capital, stated, "Matching SDT's cutting-edge technology with ON Semiconductor's worldwide presence and industry expertise is a natural next step in the evolution of the business, also benefiting SDT customers building sophisticated hearing products."

SDT is a leading designer and manufacturer of ultra-low-power semiconductor solutions for hearing aids and portable, battery-powered DSP applications, and a leading provider of advanced high density interconnect technologies used in custom miniaturized packages. Based in Burlington, Ontario, Canada, SDT has a 37-year history of innovation in developing miniaturized audio processors. The hearing instrument products and manufacturing operations of Gennum Corporation were acquired in 2007 to form SDT. For more information, visit www.sounddesigntechnologies.com.

For more information, please visit www.onsemi.com.

$11 Million Expansion Will Increase Capacity and Production at the Eight-Inch Wafer Fab
 
un 03, 2010 - ON Semiconductor, a premier supplier of high performance, energy efficient silicon solutions for green electronics, today announced plans to add $11 million in production equipment to its eight-inch Pocatello, Idaho, wafer manufacturing facility.

The company plans to begin installing additional equipment at its Fab 10 manufacturing facility in Pocatello beginning immediately and expects to realize increased capacity and product production for customers by the end of the year. This capital investment further secures current jobs at the Pocatello facility, will lead to some additional hiring, and is a key indicator of ON Semiconductor's commitment to its operations in Pocatello.

"Having weathered the economic storm brought on by the recession, we are now focused on moving forward to address the increased demand and opportunities in the semiconductor market," said Chuck Spinner, ON Semiconductor vice president of eight-inch manufacturing operations at the Pocatello facility. "Expansion in Idaho is part of the company's overall strategy to maximize its in-house manufacturing capabilities to address increased customer demand. This is positive news for our employees, for the Pocatello community, and for our global customers."

According to John Spicer, ON Semiconductor's Pocatello site manager, governmental incentives provided by the Idaho governor's office, the Idaho Department of Commerce, the City of Pocatello, Bannock County and the Bannock Development Corporation all played a role in the company's decision to invest and expand its operation in Pocatello.

ON Semiconductor's Pocatello facility currently employs approximately 630 people in its manufacturing and business operations. The local Pocatello campus houses Fab 10, an eight-inch wafer production facility specializing in the manufacture of application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and standard products for the automotive, medical, industrial and mil/aero markets.

For more information, please visit www.onsemi.com.

New Shanghai SEC to Provide Regional Automotive Customers Support and Technical Expertise for the Development of High-Value, Energy Efficient, Power Management Solutions
 
pr 27, 2010 -ON Semiconductor, a premier supplier of high performance, energy efficient silicon solutions for green electronics, has announced the expansion of its worldwide network of Solutions Engineering Centers (SEC) with the opening of a new SEC facility in China. Located within the company's existing Shanghai campus, the new SEC will drive new automotive product initiatives and expand the company's local service capabilities by providing on-site technical expertise.

The China SEC will focus on the development of advanced energy efficient solutions for a variety of automotive applications including body, HVAC, powertrain, safety, infotainment and LED lighting. It will provide development platforms and local product support to better service customers who design and manufacture electronic automotive sub-systems in the Asia-Pacific region. The facility will be staffed and equipped with all of the resources necessary for regional automotive electronics manufacturers to tap into the vast power management experience ON Semiconductor has available.

"We expect automotive electronics industry growth in China to easily exceed 20 percent annually for the next five years," said Andy Williams, ON Semiconductor senior vice president and general manager of the company's worldwide Automotive and Power Group (APG). "Establishing an automotive-focused SEC in Shanghai further demonstrates ON Semiconductor's commitment to business in China and to strengthening relationships with key automotive customers throughout Asia Pacific. Like all seven of ON Semiconductor's Solution Engineering Centers, the new Shanghai facility is a direct investment in our customers' future and the success of their next-generation product lines. By situating technical experts closer to our customers, we are able to more effectively and efficiently translate their problems into solutions and combine our expertise with theirs to solve platform problems together."

The Automotive SEC in Shanghai will look for opportunities to source additional ON Semiconductor components in modules where it already supplies core components. During the next 12 to 18 months, the company plans to rapidly expand the technical engineering staff at its Shanghai SEC.

According to David Chow, ON Semiconductor vice president of Sales for Asia Pacific, "China is the world's largest car market, which has stimulated rapid development of its automotive electronics industry. As indigenous manufacturers have a strong demand for world-leading expertise and localized products and service, our SEC in China is well positioned to ride on this wave to expand our automotive solutions coverage in Asia Pacific. The Shanghai-based SEC will work with our regional and global automotive application and system experts to offer our automotive customers in Asia Pacific efficient power solutions that drive new products and revenues."

ON Semiconductor's automotive solutions target overall energy efficiency, such as fuel efficiency and CO2 reduction, safety critical systems such as steering and parking assistance, and highly advanced body electronics systems such as adaptive front lighting. The company's automotive product offerings include sensor interface circuits, in-vehicle networking transceivers, power management circuits, and mixed-signal application specific integrated circuits (ASIPs).

For more information, please visit www.onsemi.com.

rom the earliest days of commerce, networking has always been an important part of business.  We like to buy from, collaborate with, work for, and hire people we know and trust.  At a minimum we want someone we know and trust to vouch for the credentials and integrity of those with whom we are planning to transact business.  When we are looking for products, services, opportunities, information, advice, perspective or employment we turn to our network.  The more robust your network is, the more fruitful your search is likely to be.

PSMA has always recognized that a key benefit of membership is networking.  It is not only essential to what we do as an organization but PSMA is and has been very intentional about providing networking opportunities.  Whether it is our sponsorship of APEC, the hosting of a reception or providing conference scholarships to students, PSMA provides opportunities to meet and interact with others throughout industry and academia that are involved in power electronics.

Through LinkedIn, PSMA is now providing yet another opportunity to not only network but to help manage that network.  Internet-based social networking has seen incredible growth in the last few years.  Facebook now boasts over 300 million members worldwide.  It growth is the result of its ability to help friends connect (or reconnect) and stay in touch.  While valuable for networking friends it isn’t really much of a tool for the working professional.

LinkedIn, on the other hand, is a business-oriented networking tool designed to help professionals manage a wide variety of contacts and to identify relationships that might help them to further their network.  It also allows you to manage the information that is publicly available about you as a professional.  LinkedIn has recently grown to over 50 million members in about 200 countries.  Half of the members are outside of the United States.  Membership is free and you can easily join by visiting www.linkedin.com

In order to facilitate networking within the power electronics industry, PSMA has established a group specifically for its members and those interested in the activities of PSMA.  You can join the group by visiting http://www.linkedin.com/groupRegistration?gid=1918832

If you have been wondering if there is a better way to manage your network of contacts than keeping a box full of outdated business cards, on-line networking may provide you with the tool you are looking for.  Joining the PSMA LinkedIn group is a great way to start.

Provided by Marshall Miles, Senior Partner, Power Perceptions

he PSMA Marketing Committee has prepared this presentation describing PSMA. You can use this presentation to inform your colleagues about the benefits of PSMA membership. You can also show this presentation at meetings you are attending on behalf of PSMA.

PSMA Presentation

he Handbook of Standardized Terminology For The Power Sources Industry-Third Edition - has been made available as a download on the Members Only area of the PSMA website.

Revised and expanded, this unique publication includes definitions for more than 1200 terms related to power electronics which were especially selected for the power electronics professional. The Third Edition also contains illustrations and four new appendices, including a listing of EMI specifications, excerpts from international standards of units and symbols, along with guides for authors of technical papers.

Many new magnetic terms are described in this new 126-page third edition that are of particular interest to the practicing designer and marketer of power supplies and related products. Valuable information regarding worldwide power sources, standards agencies, and military specifications has been retained, updated and expanded from the previous edition. Titles of the appendices are:
Testing and Standards Agencies; Designer's Reference; World Voltages and Frequencies; Military Specifications; EMI Specifications; Writing Technical Papers for Archival Publications; Units, Symbols and Style Guide; A Brief Writing Guide. These added resources provide concise, easy-to-use references for engineeers involved in technical writing and presentations.

If your company is a member of PSMA, you may register for the "Members Only" area using your email address. The registration form requires you to enter your company PSMA member number. You may contact the Association Office if you do not know the member number.

ave you visited the PSMA website lately? You might be surprised at all the information you can find. Press releases about PSMA members, notices of conferences in the Calendar of Events, a schedule of PSMA meetings, a number of Technical Forums and a "Members Only" section are some of the items posted on the website. A new addition to the site is the posting of job openings from member companies. Please let your HR department know that this feature is now available.

Another new feature is the posting of student resumes in the "Members Only" section. If you are an undergraduate or graduate student in the field of power electronics, you are invited to send your resume to the Association Office. It will be posted on the PSMA website "Members Only" section, where PSMA members can review it for up to 90 days. We hope member companies will take advantage of this resource and that college professors in the field will inform their students about this opportunity.

any efforts are underway across the globe by governments and advocates of energy efficiency to increase the production and use of high efficiency external power supplies. Recently in the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched a new ENERGY STAR specification for single voltage external ac-dc and ac-ac power supplies. This standard was carefully coordinated with other countries - most notably Australia, China, and Europe. Many PSMA member companies worked with EPA during the process of specification development to ensure that the final requirements were challenging as well as being technically and economically feasible.To qualify for ENERGY STAR status, external power supplies must meet stringent energy-efficiency criteria for both the active and no-load modes. If all external power supplies in the United States met ENERGY STAR levels, the EPA estimates Americans would save over 5 billion kWh of energy and prevent more than 4 million tons of greenhouse air pollution.
 
There are many benefits of joining ENERGY STAR (which does not have an initiation fee for participating) including:

• A head start in complying with power supply standards in California, Europe, and China;
• Ability to drive sales by meeting customers’ growing need for ENERGY STAR qualified external power supplies; and
• Product differentiation with the ENERGY STAR mark, the recognized symbol for energy efficiency.

Provided by Arnold Alderman, Anagenesis, Inc.

he following documents are provided to assist you in your technical writing. Please note that if you would like a hard copy of the Units, Symbols & Styles Guide in a handy one-page format, you may purchase copies in the Publications Section.

Units, Symbols and Style Guide

A Brief Writing Guide

A letter to the Membership from Chuck Mullett, PSMA Chairman March 18, 2003
 
n a recent monthly teleconference of our Membership Committee we had a lively discussion about how we are serving our membership, what projects we are doing, and how we might communicate better with you, our member companies. Realizing that communication is always a key ingredient, I volunteered to write to you and give you a personal snapshot of what’s going on.

ears ago we had to surround ourselves with printed reference material to provide the data on components used in our designs and applications papers to help in their use. Many of these were free, but some others cost over $100 each and became obsolete almost as fast as we obtained them. Today, the picture has changed dramatically. Most of this information is available at no cost through the Internet; the amount of information is so huge that the new challenge is sorting it out. When the semiconductor committee of PSMA began to study the problem of helping engineers find the information needed, the change in the way we do our jobs became blatantly obvious. Even this task has been made easier, because of help from the Internet.

Here is our conclusion: Google is perhaps the most advanced search engine in the world at this time. Surprisingly, it’s not just for lay people who are looking for new recipes or ways to remodel their bedrooms. Its capability to provide us with the sophisticated technical help we need is astounding. It has the capacity to improve its performance, on its own, as it is used. Our job in helping our members and others in the industry has been reduced from one of searching, rating and cataloging materials to one of simply providing a few hints about using Google. We suggest you try it for yourself, get familiar with its capability, and use it the next time you need information. Here are some examples for you to try:

1. Go to Google.com and type in power factor correction. Our result was that 2,190,000 references were retrieved in 0.23 seconds. Now, type in “power factor correction” and see the difference. We got 155,000 references in about the same amount of time. What is even more amazing is that the references were valid! Even in the first case---we looked through the first 120 on the list, and didn’t find even one irrelevant citing.

2. Try “mag amp” and retrieve 8,870 references. All were valid until we got down to the 29th one on the list, which referred to a slow-release garden fertilizer. 28 out of 29 is a validity score of 96.6%---not bad for software!!!

 discussion of criteria to consider when deciding whether you should make or buy power supplies when creating equipment.

Power Supplies - Make vs Buy

Also see "The Economics of Power Modules", courtesy of Ericsson. The Economics of Power Modules