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Announcing APEC 2021 |
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The APEC Plenary Sessions continue a long-standing tradition of addressing issues of immediate and long-term interest to the practicing power electronics professional. This year's lineup includes seven distinguished invited professionals who will share their thoughts on six topics, ranging from automotive and wide bandgap technologies to energy storage and the future of power passives:
The Technical Program at APEC is peer-reviewed and papers are carefully selected in a review process that highlights the most innovative technical solutions at the highest quality possible. Selected papers cover all areas of technical interest for the practicing power electronics professional, with papers of broad appeal presented during lecture sessions and those with a specialized focus presented during dialogue sessions. Click here to access the preliminary Technical Session Presentations schedule. Industry Sessions present information on current topics in power electronics from industry sources and run in parallel with the traditional Technical Sessions track. Speakers are invited to make a presentation only, without submitting a formal manuscript for the APEC Proceedings. This allows APEC to present information on current topics in power electronics from sources that would not otherwise be present at an industry conference While many of these sessions are technical in nature, some also target business-oriented people such as purchasing agents, electronic system designers, regulatory engineers, and other people who support the power electronics industry. Click here to access the preliminary Industry Session Presentations schedule. This year's RAP sessions, a perennial favorite at APEC, will be back in full force. RAP Sessions allow for exciting dialogue among attendees and presenters and will take place Thursday, June 10. Here's the line-up:
Professional Education Seminars APEC Professional Education Seminars (PES focus on practical aspects of the power electronics profession and provide in-depth discussion of important and complex power electronics topics. Given by distinguished speakers and experts, each seminar combines practical application with theory, and is designed to further educate the working professional in power electronics or related fields. The preliminary list of seminar topics include:
Please visit the APEC website https://apec-conf.org/ for additional information and updates.
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You are Invited to Attend the 2021 PSMA |
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The meeting will include reports from the Executive Committee and each of the technical committees as well as stimulating discussions on new PSMA initiatives for 2021 and beyond. The APEC 2021 Conference Chair will report on the plans for APEC2021. There will also be an invited presentation from Liuchen Chang, President of IEEE PELS to review the society's activities and opportunities to continue to strengthen the relationship between PSMA and PELS. The detailed agenda is available at https://www.psma.com/2021_PSMA_Annual_Meeting_Agenda The PSMA Annual Meeting is traditionally held in person during APEC. Since APEC has been postponed to June, the Board of Directors decided to hold the meeting virtually in March to maintain the standard timing. One way to get more out of PSMA is to get involved with one of our active technical committees. The Capacitor, Energy Harvesting, Energy Management, Energy Storage, Industry-Education, Magnetics, Marketing, Power Packaging & Manufacturing, Power Technology Roadmap, Reliability, Safety & Compliance, Semiconductor and Transportation Electronics committees will all be presenting on the significant progress of the past year and their plans for the upcoming year. All of these committees welcome new members. You can see the schedule of upcoming meetings at https://www.psma.com/news/meeting-schedule. If there is a committee you are interested in, you are welcome to attend and monitor a committee meeting before making a decision to join the group. Participating in a committee is a great way to contribute added value to the subject, enhance your own knowledge, and network with your colleagues. If you plan to attend the 2021 PSMA Annual Meeting, please email the Association Office at power@psma.com for joining information. We look forward to "seeing" many of you at this important meeting.
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Friends of PSMA |
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In this article we introduce you to the Power Electronics Society (PELS). The Power Electronics Society (PELS), one of the 39 technical societies within IEEE, is among the fastest-growing IEEE Societies for its entire existence of over 30 years. Initially, the Power Electronics Council was formed in 1983 in addressing the emerging field and growing activities in power electronics. The Council established many of the activities that formed the foundations of the present Society, including IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics and the Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition (APEC), both of which started in 1986. The Power Electronics Society was inaugurated on June 20th, 1987, building on the success of the Power Electronics Council. John Kassakian was the first PELS president and many volunteers have devoted their tremendous efforts in propelling the growth and excellence of the Society. The picture below shows a rare moment when all the past presidents gathered in celebrating the 25th anniversary of PELS.
Power electronics drives the 21st-century energy revolution, as the enabler of nearly everything that processes or uses energy. PELS thrives to foster power electronics technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanity. Today PELS has grown to a global organization with more than 10,000 members, over 200 Chapters (including Student Branch Chapters) in all ten Regions of the IEEE around the world. The Society has 12 technical committees, which provide a welcoming technical home for all power electronics professionals working in the areas from power components, control and modeling, to transportation systems, and electronic power grid systems. Vibrant and growing, PELS is now a resource for power electronics practitioners, students, and researchers world-wide. To effectively serve its global membership and the ever-evolving power electronics field, PELS has numerous key publications, including IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics which has been the most downloaded IEEE transactions with a top-notch impact factor, IEEE Power Electronics Letters, IEEE Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics, IEEE Open Journal of Power Electronics, IEEE Transactions on Transportation Electrification, and IEEE Power Electronics Magazine etc. Each year, PELS organizes about 25 financially sponsored conferences and supports more than 15 technically co-sponsored conferences. The conference portfolio includes: (1) large conferences such as APEC, IEEE Energy Conversion Congress & Exposition (ECCE), ECCE Europe and ECCE Asia, covering the entire PELS field of interest; (2) technically thematic conferences such as IEEE Workshop on Control and Modeling for Power Electronics, IEEE Transportation Electrification and Expo, IEEE International Symposium on Power Electronics for Distributed Generation Systems, and Workshop on Wide Bandgap Power Devices and Applications (WiPDA); and (3) regional conferences serving our members in various geographic regions. In its effort to provide integrated solutions to energy poverty, PELS embarked its largest global competition called Empower a Billion Lives (EBL) during 2018 and 2019, involving over 450 teams from 70+ counties, and held 5 regional competitions in five different countries and one final global competition. PELS is planning to launch the second EBL during 2021. Through the extensive interactions via virtual meetings led by the PELS Strategic Planning Committee, PELS has developed its new Five-Year Strategic Plan for 2021-2025 which will be the guide for actions. Five strategic goals were identified, including Membership Growth, Industry Content, Agile Technical Programs, Sustainability, and Virtual Platforms. PELS has already established strong collaborations with PSMA through the partnerships in organizing conferences such as APEC, WiPDA, PwrSoC, IWIPP etc. PELS is looking forward to further strengthening the partnerships with PSMA in serving the dynamic needs of the power electronics industry and professionals.
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Friends of PSMA | ||||||||||
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Ansys
RGM S.p.A
Taiyo Yuden Co., LTD.
Ten Pao International Limited
Ultra Precision Control Systems
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1991-2000: Reminiscences from an early PSMA Board Member and APEC |
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As mentioned in my article in the last issue of the Update "In the Beginning", in 1990 PSMA joined IEEE IAS and PELS as a co-sponsor of APEC. I would opine that "1991 was a turning point for PSMA and APEC." APEC 91, the first conference sponsored by the 3 organizations, was led, as continues today, by a team of volunteers representing the 3 sponsors, including General Chair Chuck Harm, PELS; Program chair Dr. Tom Jahns, IAS; and Exhibits Chair Dave Kemp, PSMA. The conference was a huge success, though not without its challenges. The Gulf War had an impact with a reduction in our projected international attendance. Our initial concerns were confirmed when David Fields of TDK-Lambda U.K. a Plenary Session speaker, cancelled. His presentation was to address the world market for power supplies. I was asked to take his slot and presented "Global Power Supply Implication...the squeeze is on." I also led an evening rap session titled "Are Power Supply Manufacturers a Band of Liars and Thieves?" During his Keynote Speech, W. J. Warwick, President of AT&T Microelectronics, mentioned the topic of my rap session, saying "he will need to know if it's safe to go back to the office." Some notable moments from APEC social events in the 1990s:
One challenge I undertook as APEC Publicity Chair, that did not have much success, was to invite a local VIP to greet us. While most declined due to restrictions and other obligations, many did send nice letters welcoming APEC. Some of these VIPs include Presidents George H. W. Bush and Jimmy Carter; and Governors Mike Foster, Louisiana; George W., Texas; and Arnold Schwarzenegger, California.
On the other hand, I was successful in getting APEC print and broadcast media attention with a few (Micro-) mice running around a maze. The APEC '93 Micro Mouse contest was broadcast on ABC in San Diego. The San Jose Mercury News had a full color photo of the contest in their Mar 6,1996 edition. And both the Orange County Register and FOX local channel 11 covered our 2004 event in the Disneyland Hotel ballroom. APEC 2016 in Long Beach was the last APEC I attended. It was overwhelming to see how much APEC has grown - the program committee had to sort thru 1212 Technical Session Abstracts submitted from 45 different nations. There were an amazing 370 booths in the exhibit hall! I learned a new topic called "Internet of Things." And I can reflect back to 1995 in Dallas where we offered 140 technical papers in 21 sessions with four parallel tracts. Wishing PSMA much success as you move forward into the future.
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Why Should Your Company Be A Member |
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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:
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.
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PSMA-CPSS Joint Workshop on Power Supply Technology Innovation (November 2021) Call | |||||||||
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In 2021 the workshop will again be part of the CPSS Conference. The conference will be in Shanghai, November 12th-15th. The CPSS conference committee expects over 1,600 attendees, 500 technical papers and a large exhibition hall. The workshop provides great exposure and networking opportunities to reach Chinese markets, customers and academics, and also acts to advertise benefits of membership in the PSMA. Previous PSMA participants / contributors include Conor Quinn, Dhaval Dalal, David Chen, Ernie Parker, Aung Tu, Eric Persson, Mike Hayes and Stephen Oliver.
Prior 'hot topic' presentations covered IoT, technology roadmaps, energy harvesting, mobile fast charging, gallium nitride (GaN), data center power, etc., with more information below: Details:
Abstract submission deadline: March 31, 2021 Please contact Stephen Oliver, PSMA Board Member, at Stephen.oliver@navitassemi.com, if you are interested in participating or for any questions. So, what are your ideas?! |
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Power Magnetics @ High |
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The target audiences for the 2021 Power Magnetics @ High Frequency workshop include the designers of power magnetic components for use in electronic power converters responsible to implement the most technologically advanced power magnetic components necessary to achieve higher power densities, specific physical aspect ratios such as low profile, higher power efficiencies and improved thermal performance. The target audiences also include people involved in the supply chain for the power magnetics industry ranging from manufacturers of magnetic materials and magnetic structures, fabricators of magnetic components, providers of modelling and simulation software as well as manufacturers of test and characterization equipment. The 2021 Power Magnetics @ High Frequency workshop morning session will open with a keynote presentation by Dr. Fang Luo of Stony Brook University followed by several lecture presentations regarding EMI issues caused by and solved by magnetic components. The afternoon session will be led by a keynote presentation by Dr Qiang Li of Virginia Tech's CPES followed by several presentations regarding integrated and coupled magnetics. In addition to the brief Q&A period after each individual presentation there will be a panel of the presenters at the end of the session who will address topics requiring more detail as deemed by the workshop attendees. During breakfast, lunch, and the networking hour at the end of the workshop an interactive session of tabletop technology demonstrations is planned, each addressing specific technical disciplines and capabilities consistent with the workshop agenda. Each technology demonstration station will include a ten-minute presentation at fifteen-minute intervals. Interaction between the attendees and the presenters is highly encouraged during this portion of agenda as a segue between the technical presentation sessions. If anyone would like to participate as a presenter for the technical demonstration session, please contact the organizing committee through PSMA via e-mail to power@psma.com with a description of your proposed technical capabilities topic. The preferred topics for technical demonstration session should be related to the following themes: EMI issues, integrated magnetics, magnetic coupling and emerging magnetic materials and structures. We are limited to a total of ten technology demonstration sessions. The specifics for the workshop structure and the presentations for the workshop are currently in progress and are not finalized. If anyone is interested in presenting on the topics of EMI issues associated with magnetic components or integrated magnetics, please contact the organizing committee through PSMA via e-mail to power@psma.com. More details regarding the agenda for the workshop will become available on the PSMA website (www.psma.com/technical-forums/magnetics/workshop) over the coming months. Click here to be notified by email when registration opens. Organizing Committee
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Design Techniques for the 21st Century – Behind the Scenes, Make Sure You Choose & Use the |
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PSMA and IEEE PELS Sponsor 2021 Capacitors in Power Electronics Workshop
The PSMA Capacitor Workshop Organizing Committee has a clear mission:
Along with so many of us, the Capacitor Workshop Committee learned a lot through the process of changing the traditional format of a face-to-face workshop at previous APEC events into a virtual workshop. For 2021 we are preparing for three possibilities: 100% live and on site, 100% virtual and a hybrid. Planning for these different options is part of our strategy to ensure that the 2021 workshop meets the needs of the attendees and is a success. Are you interested in learning more about the high temperature capabilities of EDLC Super-Capacitors, high voltage hybrid Aluminum Polymers? Have you asked yourself, what is the difference between the result of the simulation you did and the first measurements of your prototypes? How a capacitors' lifetime will differ when environmental conditions are changing? All those and many more questions are targeted to be answered in Phoenix. In fact, the 2021 workshop headline is: "Design Techniques for the 21st Century - Behind the Scenes, Make Sure You Choose & Use the Correct Capacitor". The 2021 Capacitor Workshop will offer value to everyone, from students and new engineers to advanced designers of DC-DC converters, frequency drives, inverters, and other power conversation applications. Multiple topics from industry, automotive and other application areas are included the agenda of this workshop. We look forward to providing information and answers to more and more Capacitor questions at the 2021 workshop. The Capacitor Workshop has always been planned in parallel with the Power Magnetics @ High Frequency Workshop, with attendees having the opportunity to visit the demonstration stations for both workshops. However, in 2021 we go even one-step further, bringing together – Magnetics & Capacitors. With a joint demonstration station of magnetics and capacitor specialists, we will demonstrate how to design a best-in-class filter. By combining theoretical content and practical lectures with topic related interactive demonstration stations, attendees get a full view of the technology from concept to practical implementation. The workshop agenda will address application-based challenges on capacitor technologies, the latest capacitor developments as well as the impact of market shortages on new developments and possible solutions to overcome actual problems. The 2021 Capacitor Workshop will cover the following topics:
The organizers aim is to provide an optimal balance between practical content delivered by leading capacitor manufacturers and content offered by worldwide renowned universities and their lectures on future capacitor research & development. There will also be presentations on ongoing advances in capacitor research and development. There will be keynote presentations from forward-thinking market players. In addition, there will be panel sessions of the presenters to address questions and expand on the materials they presented. The workshop will include interactive demonstration sessions to highlight many of the key concepts discussed during the presentations. These demonstration stations will be available during the breakfast prior to the opening session, lunch, and the networking session at the end of the day's events, giving attendees the opportunity to meet the presenters and professionals directly and get in-touch with the various technologies and their advantages. The formal presentations are designed to open new horizons of capacitor technologies to attendees and to address questions engineers have, or will have, when working with different capacitor dielectrics. If you have any specific areas or issues that you would like included, please email Pierre Lohrber of the Workshop Organizing Committee at pierre.lohrber@we-online.de. We look forward to your participation. More details regarding the agenda for the workshop will become available on the PSMA website (www.psma.com/technical-forums/capacitor/workshop) over the coming months. Click here to be notified by email when registration opens. Provided by members of the Capacitor Workshop Organizing Committee: |
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3D Power Electronics Integration and Manufacturing Symposium Opens |
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The Third Biennial International 3D-PEIM-21 Symposium Hybrid (live/virtual) event
will occur on June 21-23, 2021,
3D-PEIM has successfully re-invited all the postponed 2020 program world-class experts to present in 2021. Continuing the 2016 and 2018 Symposia's success, 3D-PEIM-21 again assembles world-class experts from academia and industry representing a far-reaching range of disciplinary perspectives exploring the path to the development and manufacture of future 3D power electronics systems. Created and supported by the PSMA Packaging & Manufacturing Committee, the Symposium encompasses additive, embedded, co-designed, and integrative packaging technologies. Sessions will address mechanical, materials, reliability, and manufacturability issues in deploying smart power-dense components and modules. PSMA is sponsoring the 3D-PEIM-21 Symposium as part of its ongoing commitment to educate and inform the power electronics industry. Some of the organizations involved in providing Technical Support for the workshop include CPES/Virginia Tech, Daicel Japan, and the IEEE Electronics Packaging Society. The Technical Program Co-Chairs are Prof. Katsuaki Suganuma, Osaka University, Japan, Dr. Minora Ueshima, Senior Manager, Daicel, Japan and Prof. Guo-Quan Lu, Virginia Tech. The detailed program with time zone information for virtual attendees is available at www.3d-peim.org/program. Due to time zone challenges, all sessions will be recorded and available to paid attendees after the Symposium.
General Chair Professor Tsuyoshi Funaki states, "I am glad we are the first to host the 3D-PEIM Symposium outside the USA. It is very appropriate that 3D-PEIM 2021 is held here because there are many power device and peripheral packaging material manufacturers in Japan. We are planning on providing an amazing on-site or virtual experience for all attendees. I also believe that all attendees will gain significantly advanced packaging knowledge through discussions at this event". The Symposium will feature table-top exhibits during the breaks, lunch periods, and evening networking sessions. On the last day of the Symposium, in-person attendees are invited on a guided tour of the Osaka University Laboratory for Power Electronics and Electrical Energy and the Graduate School of Engineering Gallery. Additional information and registration details are available at http://www.3d-peim.org/. Interested in being an Exhibit Partner for 3D-PEIM 2021? Information can be found at
Technical Sponsors:
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2021 International Power Supply-on-Chip |
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University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Sponsored by PSMA and IEEE PELS
Throughout its history, each workshop has spotlighted advanced technologies needed to build granular and modular power supplies and provided compelling demonstrations of commercialized products that make a clear case that PwrSoC and PSiP technologies are becoming more prominent and mainstream. The technical program chairs for the 2021 International Power Supply-on-Chip (PwrSoC) Workshop are Hanh-Phuc Le of University of California at San Diego and Matt Wilkowski of EnaChip. Hanh-Phuc and Matt have both been presenters, session chairs and program chairs for past Power Supply on Chip workshops. A team of world-renowned experts, innovators and pioneers of the Power Supply on Chip technology has been assembled to chair the workshop's nine sessions. The technical program chairs for the 2021 workshop are Hanh-Phuc le of University of California at San Diego and Matt Wilkowski of EnaChip. Hanh-Phuc and Matt have both been presenters, session chairs and program chairs for past Power Supply on Chip workshops. A team of world-renowned experts, innovators and pioneers of the Power Supply on Chip technology has been assembled to chair the workshop's nine sessions.
The planning of the technical program, supporting activities as well as identifying workshop partners to contribute to its success are in process. If interested in being a workshop partner, please contact the workshop financial chair, Trifon Liakopoulos, at the following e-mail address: trifon@enachip.com Continuing the tradition of the enthusiasm, market relevance and success of past workshops, we are looking forward to the International Power Supply-on-Chip (PwrSoC) Workshop 2021 in Philadelphia, PA. during the week of October 24 thru 27 2021 bringing to light the technology and market application developments since the most recent in-person PwrSoC workshop in Taiwan during October 2018. General Chair: Technical Program Co-Chairs For more information about previous and coming PwrSoC events, visit http://pwrsocevents.com. |
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Invitation to the International Workshop on Integrated Power Packaging (IWIPP) 2021 |
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A Virtual Corridor Event August 23-27 sponsored by PSMA
Corridor Webinar series - IWIPP 2021 The IWIPP corridor webinar series will consist of three (3) 2.5-hour webinar sessions highlighting the most recent technology developments. Each session will address a different set of applications and technology advances. The sessions will be on Monday August 23, Wednesday August 25, and Friday August 27. Each session will begin at 7:00 AM CDT (3 PM CEST). There will be three live presentations per session followed by a panel-style question and answer session for the technical presentations. Each of the webinar sessions will remain open until the presenters have responded and answered all the questions submitted. The agenda of the webinar events is as follows:
Past workshop attendees have always recognized the IWIPP Workshop as a high-value event that brings together leading global academic and industry experts to formally and informally discuss issues to advance and productize packaging, materials, and system technologies. As Dr. Francesco Iannuzzo, Professor, Aalborg University, Chair for the 2022 Workshop and the 2021 Corridor Webinar has indicated, "… the 2021 webinar series will fill a void in the timing of the live workshop series created by the COVID-19 situation by taking advantage of experiences with virtual workshops that have become more prevalent this past year. Our objective is to further develop the interactive experiences of a virtual format which may become more usual in the future … " Registration for the corridor webinar will open April 1. Registration details will be available at Registration – IWIPP. The webinar series will be free of charge but the number of attendees that can register will be limited; therefore, we advise you to register early. Registered attendees for the workshop will have access to the presentations prior to the webinar series. This will allow registered attendees to submit questions in advance of the webinars. Recording of the presentations and panel Q&A will be made available to registered attendees after the webinar series is completed. This will allow registered attendees across global time zones to conveniently access the presentations and submit questions. Throughout its history, the workshop has spotlighted advanced technologies to build granular and modular power supplies and compelling demonstrations of commercialized products. International Workshop of Integrated Power Packaging (IWIPP) 2022 The technical program chair for the 2022 workshop is Dr. Nick Baker, Aalborg University. A team of world-renowned experts, innovators and pioneers of the Packaging, Materials and Systems technology has been assembled to create the technical program. The planning of the technical program and supporting activities, as well as identification of industry partners to contribute to the workshop's success are in process. If interested in becoming workshop partner, please contact the IWIPP financial chair, Dr. Andrew Lemmon, Associate Professor, The University of Alabama, at lemmon@eng.ua.edu. Continuing the tradition of the enthusiasm, market relevance and success of past workshops, we are looking forward to the virtual corridor event in August 2021 bridging discussions and developments since the most recent IWIPP workshop in Toulouse, France during April 2019, while looking ahead to the in-person IWIPP 2022 in Aalborg, Denmark.
Sponsored by: Power Sources Manufacturers Association (PSMA) IEEE Power Electronics Society (PELS) IEEE Electronic Packaging Society (EPS) IEEE Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Society (DEIS) European Center for Power Electronics (ECPE) |
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WiPDA 2021 Workshop |
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The 8th Workshop on Wide Bandgap Power
The organizing committee is committed to provide engineers and scientists with opportunities to share their expertise in wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductor technology. The workshop will feature tutorials as well as keynote sessions, panel sessions, technical sessions, and a poster session that covers four technical tracks: silicon carbide (SiC) power devices, SiC applications, gallium nitride (GaN) power devices, GaN applications, and new this year, Gallium Nitride (GaN) RF devices and applications and International Technology Roadmap for Wide Bandgap Power Semiconductors) (ITRW). Topics in emerging WBG materials will also be solicited. Keynote Sessions:
Full bios for keynote speakers can be found at wipda.org/keynote-sessions/ There will be many opportunities to network with leading WBG specialists in industry, academia and national laboratories, especially at the Industry and Sponsors Exhibition, which occurs simultaneously with the workshop. The workshop is brought to you by the IEEE Power Electronics Society (PELS), the Power Sources Manufacturers Association (PSMA), and the IEEE Electron Devices Society (EDS). The General Chair is Sameh Khalil, Senior Principal Engineer, GaN Device Reliability and Product Engineering Management at Infineon Technologies. He is supported by Vice Chair Helen Li, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, FAMU-FSU college of Engineering
Call for Abstracts:
The committee is deeply appreciative of our sponsors and valued audience members during these uncertain times. Continue to stay safe and well and we look forward to seeing everyone in Redondo Beach in November 2021! Please subscribe to stay informed of the latest news and receive deadline reminders for WiPDA 2021. Also, join the WiPDA group on LinkedIn. Stay safe!
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International Future Energy Challenge (IFEC 2020) |
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The following teams received the Certificate of Excellence:
Initiated in 2001, the IFEC is sponsored by Power Sources Manufacturers Association (PSMA), IEEE Power Electronics Society (PELS), IEEE Power & Energy Society (PES), and IEEE Industry Application Society (IAS). In all, the IFEC 2020 was a big success, despite the challenges associated with COVID-19 and the contingency plans for the technical workshops and final competition. All participating teams and, in particular, the finalists showed excellent skills in teamwork and solving technical problems. Congratulations to all the teams on their remarkable work and innovation. We look forward to future IFECs, more importantly, to see more brilliant students disseminate and share knowledge across continents and institutions. More information can be found on IFEC 2020 website: http://energychallenge.weebly.com/ifec-2020.html.
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As IoT Devices Proliferate, More Eyes are on |
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One of the truly exciting developments in EH has been the explosion of IoT/IIoT/wearable applications, which are opening more eyes to the capabilities of EH solutions. That's a very good thing. Historically the rate of adoption of EH technologies has been held back due to two common misperceptions: The first misconception is that EH provides negligible energy to do anything "real" with it. In general, if you compare EH to battery technology simply from a size and cost perspective, it does have limitations. But the fatal flaw I have observed goes back to that philosophical approach that sets up the choice between increasing the energy source vs. decreasing the system power budgetary requirements. To be fair, batteries are often not given the appropriate consideration in terms of specs and performance for a sufficient analysis to determine power budget margin. Put more simply, practically any battery-powered design I have ever seen or heard about comes with some "sticker shock" when the first prototypes are received, and realization that the life is not close to the initially calculated value. The second misperception is that EH exists only as an academic curiosity lacking a production ecosystem. I have observed these common misperceptions since I started getting into the EH world seriously in 2014, and I am pleased to see industry get past these misperceptions to get us to the point we are at today: "Energy Harvesting" is no long a dirty word that draws groans, laughs, and skepticism from the audience, but rather now elicits more curiosity and/or requests for how to implement and expand upon the cost/ benefit analysis. The fact is that although the EH ecosystem could be considered nascent, that isn't to say that it is only made up of players with a low Manufacturing or Technology Readiness Level. Moreover, the most critical system components have been around for a long time. For example, one of the most key enablers in any EH system is the power management IC, which typically combines the energy extraction direct from the EH source along with power management and even an integrated battery management system or modem (more in the case of SoCs), where appropriate. Some of the biggest players in the entire semiconductor industry (i.e. – Linear Tech-now also part of ADI, TI, ADI, etc.) have had production solutions shipping for decades. And, there is the rest of the ever-growing component ecosystem, comprised of all the other things necessary to enable full development. Not only does this include some of the more obvious things such as EH transducers, energy storage, and the things facilitated by Moore's Law (i.e. – ultra-low power, or ULP micros, SoC communications modules, etc.). But also, things that were not obvious early on, such as software and test/measurement techniques. Advancements in sensors have been key though this can be a real mixed bag of improvements due to things like MEMS and Moore's Law and intelligent power management. In the end, the most exciting thing for me has been the reduction in component power on the load side. The PSMA Energy Harvesting Committee (EHC) (which I co-chair along with Mike Hayes, Tyndall National Institute) has been working to address these misperceptions in a handful of ways, primarily in the form of education. From the lowest- to the highest-power systems, it is very common to think an application's needs must be met by implementing a larger power source (i.e. – bigger battery, bigger power supply, higher-efficiency converters, etc.). But this kind of narrow thinking overlooks the other side of the equation, which comes in the form of reducing the system power budget (either by using lower-power components and/or IPM, to be much smarter with the utilization of what you have—the do more with less approach). The true disconnect is that most designers do not seem to realize it is typically much lower-hanging fruit to reduce the system budget than it is to increase the available power source. For example, it can be quite astonishing to see just how much you can do with a single milliwatt of power given today's ULP microcontrollers, sensors, and communications, etc. This even applies to wireless applications such as wireless sensor networks and IoT/IIoT stuff. One more example of this kind of oversimplified thinking comes in the form of a question a reporter asked me recently about the range and applications that EH is best suited for today. That of course is the $64,000 question that could be an entire discussion in itself. Generalizing, I would say this can be a very loaded question (thus deserving of a very loaded answer, of course) because far too many of the misperceptions outlined earlier have been driven by the desire to oversimplify EH capabilities/solutions. Depending on the EH modality, this can also be highly dependent on the operating environment. One cannot just grab a value from a spec sheet and expect to see the same thing on the bench. This applies all the way from source (i.e. – huge manufacturing variability of PV cells) to load (i.e. – a BLE modem covering several orders of magnitude from min to max utilization). The best guidance I can offer is to provide some very rough and relative figures (in terms of typical voltage and power density ranges), which should only be used as a starting point for a general comparison of EH technologies, but not be used to calculate expectations of solution performance. EHC members Lorandt Foelkel of Wurth Electronics and Mike Hayes of Tyndall National Institute have provided some excellent summaries in that regard, which I urge folks to reference. For engineers looking for additional resources on EH, the PSMA Energy Harvesting Forum is a great jumping-off point as the committee continues to populate it with useful resources ranging from design guidance to industry events to key contributors to the ecosystem. The PSMA EHC is a very open and co-petitive community, so we all win together by bringing EH and related tech to the mainstream! The Energy Harvesting Committee, as well as all other Technical Committees within PSMA, are freely open and do not require PSMA membership to participate though it is encouraged in order to get access to all of the benefits. The best way to get involved in the EHC is to reach out directly to myself (bz@powerrox.com) and/or my co-chair, Mike Hayes (michael.hayes@tyndall.ie). Folks are even welcome to be a wallflower in their first, monthly meeting in order "try before you buy." All that we ask first-time attendees is for an elevator pitch intro. Other than that, no pressure! Speaking of PSMA EHC resources, we are currently in the process of putting together a major, comprehensive white paper (led by committee members Thomas Becker of Thobecore and Michalis Kiziroglou of Imperial College London) on the topic that addresses major current issues in detail. The report will be available later this year so keep checking back for that. We are also looking forward to the next EnerHarv International Energy Harvesting Workshop. Watch for an announcement in an upcoming issue of the PSMA Update. I hate to sound like a broken record, but really the education to fight the misperceptions and a maniacal focus on reducing system power budgets (particularly via employing IPM best practices) will really be the biggest difference makers. There is no magic here and folks just sitting around waiting for a "Moore's Law-like" advancement on the EH/energy storage side of things will be sorely disappointed.
Editor's Note: This article was first published in February 2021 by Fierce Electronics
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When Efficient Power Solutions Meet Light in |
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From Max Planck to Tattoos From Planck's discovery it was another 60 years of publications, inventions and innovations up to March 22, 1960 when two researchers at Bell Labs, Charles Townes and Arthur Schawlow, were granted US patent number 2,929,922 for the optical maser, now called a LASER (Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) (Figure 01).
2020 marks the 60th anniversary of the birth of LASER technology, it is also the anniversary of the first application in the medical field.
May 16, 1960: Theodore H. Maiman constructed the first laser using a cylinder of synthetic ruby measuring 1cm in diameter and 2cm long, with the ends silver-coated to make them reflective and able to serve as a Fabry-Perot resonator, using photographic flash-lamps as the laser's pump source. In 1962 a dermatologist named Leon Goldman experimented with a version of the Maiman ruby-laser to remove unwanted tattoos. In fact it is fair to say that Maiman's and Goldman's inventions and discoveries have contributed to one of the most popular uses of the medical-laser in the year 2020 - to remove unwanted tattoos (Figure 02). If removing tattoos seems anecdotal, from that early application medical lasers have found their way into a wide variety of medical applications and without naming all, there are many examples of laser treatments in ophthalmology, oncology and other forms of surgery that we have all either benefited from or heard about. When a power supply makes light emission possible If the nature of the laser source is specific to the targeted treatment, i.e. generating light emission in the range of 193 nanometers (Excimer ArF) to 10.600 nanometers (CO2) (Figure 03) and pulses from 5 nanoseconds to 1 millisecond, they all have something in common - a power supply.
A function of the final application, each type of laser requires a different type of power supply which can vary from a current generator for continuous-wave diode laser, to complex power solutions in the case of gas-lasers or lamp-pumps using flash-lamps as a light generator. We could probably identify as many power supplies as there are types of laser used in the medical space, although as a power supply manufacturer we simplify it to two:
Powering LED lasers Originally limited in their power, diode lasers were not very common in medical applications, however with the development of a wide range of diodes generating wavelengths from 405 nanometers to 2200 nanometers, they become popular in the field of photodynamic therapy where the wavelength is more crucial. As it is for other applications using LEDs (e.g. lighting) the power supply is often defined as an LED Driver. Used both in the new generation of solid-state lasers or as a generator as such, laser LED drivers require particular attention to the stability of the current and compensation of the energy delivered in terms of the temperature of the LED element. Modern current generators for LED lasers are based on digital technology with an input/output (I/O) interface making it possible to monitor and control the power supply to meet application requirements. Using predictive algorithms the power-stage can be programmed to operate safely and to deliver the specific energy required by a single pulse. An LED laser could operate in the range of few milliwatts to more than 100 watts when using an LED matrix such as the ones used in LED solid-state pump-lights. With the development of supercapacitors, LED drivers for lasers often use them as energy storage. In such cases the power supply includes special circuitry that controls the energy stored in the supercapacitor to optimize, cycle-by-cycle, the level of energy delivered to the load. Seen from a power supply designer's viewpoint, powering and LED laser applications are very similar to conventional current generators, which is not the case when designing power solutions for gas lasers or lamp-pumps using a discharge tube. Powering gas and high energy solid-state lasers Gas and high-energy solid state lasers use flash-lights or discharge tubes that require high voltages to generate the necessary energy levels needed to initiate the 'pumping process'. In this type of application the design of the power supply requires specific knowledge in high voltage switching and energy storage. Lamp-pumped solid-state lasers and gas-laser power supplies have complex specifications, requiring two elements: a power supply converting the AC line voltage to the high voltage required by the emitting element, and a high-voltage capacitor energy bank for energy storage. Voltage will depend of the level of energy required to activate the pumping, but in conventional medical applications it is often between 600VDC and 3,000VDC. Similar to your flash camera, the power supply charges a capacitor, which then delivers the energy to the flash lamp. However, while we can accept a small delay in charging the capacitor of our personal camera, in the case of a medical laser the energy needs to be available without delay, requiring a capacitor-bank to store high amounts of energy. For power designers not used to dealing with high energy transfer topologies, it can be difficult to estimate the size of the energy envelope and preferred control method to optimize the power stage. The required output power needed for lamp-pumped solid-state or high-powered pulsed-excimer lasers is usually given in terms of joules per second, which is a function of charge time, repetition rate, output voltage, and component characteristics. During a charge-discharge cycle, the rate of change in voltage is not constant, which differs very much from conventional applications where usually the peak-current and charge rate are pretty well defined. Designing such types of power supplies requires very close cooperation with the equipment manufacturer to test the power solution in real conditions.
It is very common for medical laser manufacturers to split the power solution into two parts. These are the power supply itself (Figure 04) and the high-voltage capacitor bank, which for safety reasons could be in a sealed tank. In terms of technology, modern power supplies use digital control techniques, not only improving efficiency but in the case of medical lasers, also improving the reliability of the equipment due to its operating principle being based on pulsed energy which is known to be stressful for electronic components. As presented previously in the LED laser power solution part of this article, using digital control offers huge benefits in terms of energy management. It is possible to control the power unit to a single bit and to adjust all parameters cycle by cycle. For example during surgery the surgeon could request more power or longer pulses for tumor ablation. Controlled by the embedded computer, the power supply can be programmed in between two pulses to change the charging voltage and/or the amount of energy required by the emitting element. What else should power designers consider? Safety - There is no doubt that dealing with high voltages and significant amount of energy requires close attention to safety. Usually built into a final equipment, obviously the power supply must comply with overall safety and environmental regulations, but during the design process power designers must pay special attention to all risks related to hazards inherent to high voltages. Risk - Regarding power supplies included in final equipments and not medical equipment as such, certain customers are requiring a full risk assessment analysis e.g. ISO 14971, which must be considered from day one. EMI - High-peak energy switching generates electromagnetic emissions and line disturbances which may interfere with other medical equipment. Filtering and power factor correction requires special attention during the design phase to not only comply with standards and regulations at the time of certification, but to take cognizance of the aging of filtering components e.g. electrolytic capacitors during the all life time of the equipment. Noise & thermal – In addition to local regulations, hospital, medical and para-medical institutions are requiring electronic equipments to operate without audible noise. Considering that laser equipment includes a number of dissipating elements, forced cooling is often required. To achieve good cooling with the lowest audible noise, manufacturers are using large fans rotating at low speeds to cool down their systems. For safety, capacitor-banks and power supplies are housed in sealed boxes, limiting cooling to conduction through the chassis. This is an important point to consider during the design of power supplies for medical lasers. How can new power technologies benefit medical lasers? For many years the size of a power supply for medical laser use hasn't been a real concern - but things are changing. Medical laser manufacturers are considering a new generation of 'portable' lasers for homecare and to increase the mobility of medical services. Research to develop more powerful, and with combined wavelengths LED lasers are showing good progress. Operational control is easily performed on a tablet (no more built-in displays) but of course parts of the equipment will require a serious diet to achieve portability. In the case of LED lasers, supercapacitors based on nanotechnologies are offering impressive capacity levels to store high energy and together with the use of Wide Band Gap semiconductors e.g. Gallium Nitride, Silicon Carbide, the size of the power supply could be shrunk by a factor of x3. This is very promising and I have no doubt that LED medical lasers will benefit from the latest technologies and innovations happening in the power supply industry. Last word: In 1917, Einstein proposed the process that makes lasers possible, called stimulated emission. He theorized that besides absorbing and emitting light spontaneously, electrons could be stimulated to emit light of a particular wavelength. It took nearly 40 years before scientists transformed Einstein's proposition to fact, putting lasers on the path to becoming the powerful and ubiquitous tools that they are today, but he also said: "I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious", and that is the motto of many power designers developing power solutions for the next generation of medical lasers. The future of power supplies for medical lasers is bright!
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WBG Semiconductors Pose Safety and EMI Challenges in Motor |
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With their fast rise and fall times, WBG power switches generate serious EMI that not only threatens a product's electromagnetic compliance (EMC) but could also lead to power switch failures. While those types of problems might be somewhat expected, you may not be aware that the fast edge speeds of WBG devices also threaten the integrity of insulation materials. It turns out that the varnish used on transformer and motor windings becomes lossy at the fast edge rates produced by SiC and GaN devices, which can lead to heating that compromises winding insulation. Product failures due to partial discharge (PD), corona, inception and burning are possible. There is a path to overcoming these problems and we can turn to the industry's experience with class D audio amplifiers for an enlightening history lesson. We'll review that experience before diving into the problems faced when designing WBG power switches into motor drives. This discussion is about the real problems and real solutions that are encountered in designing and building products—not the ideal world of simulations. But first, a few words about disparity between WBG marketing and reality.
WBG Marketing Hype Meets Design Reality The untiring marketing campaigns told us "wide bandgap semiconductors will replace all silicon in all things by 2010…." Then it was 2012…2015… 2020, etc. While that's a fine strategy to pump and dump shares of semiconductor company stock and sell companies, the WBG replacement of silicon didn't actually happen. As it would turn out, the variable frequency drive (VFD) that hangs on the wall in the pumphouse really doesn't need to have a 15-ns commutation time. Nor is there a budget in that standard catalog product for the premium "WBG parts" that we are told have taken over the world. And then the "experts" came along, having never really touched hardware, designed anything, debugged, taken the waveforms, done the work, built a system, or pushed a product through the safety agency and EMC directives. The experts of course took out the silly silicon and put in their WBG devices, perhaps wearing a cape to the meetings like batman or superman. "Go statements" included things like "it works great in simulation, thereby it works great" at power levels that senior folks knew wouldn't fly. Learning from Class D Audio But what went wrong? It's a secret, don't tell anyone, but WBG devices in motor drives, particularly SiC MOSFETs, are in the same place class D audio was 25 years ago. The supported switching frequencies aren't high enough yet to build in the integrator economically or within a reasonable space, so the motor, the insulation system applied therein, the line set, the gate driver, the dc-dc converter and the inverter output have to see the fast rise and fall times associated with the higher frequency switching. Some, of course, have sidestepped this by slowing down the WBG devices to perform like the old Si devices. At that point, the price premium for the WBG devices is absolutely fruitless. One could get the same performance with a Si IGBT for much less cost. Now if you are running perhaps classic audiophile stock, like a tangerine phase plug Altec Lansing transducer, with only one or two replacement diaphragms left on earth, the notion of having your voice coils "cook" was disheartening, expensive and ultimately full of distortion as the wire/varnish/glue loosened up from the heat and started to rub in the gap. After a little suffering, the class D audio designers discovered that it was smart to add the integrator to the output. They upped the switching frequency a bit to make the L and C small while also minimizing phase distortion and added lag. The LC then integrated the high-frequency ripple and delivered fundamental program material to the voice coils (with careful consideration of Q). Problem solved. On behalf of the audiophiles: WHEW! Why then would this matter to the WBG inverter? The secret is one the experts never knew. The high frequency energy in that WBG device's fast switching excites problems that the slower Si speeds did not. Let's consider a system: motor, drive, line set, control, gate driver and dc-dc converter. At the inverter output, the switching frequency may have gone up a bit. Perhaps the Si IGBT-based drive switched at 5 to 10 kHz. The WBG inverter may switch at 20 to 40 kHz in a practical design. The rise and fall times of the midpoint of the inverter in a Si IGBT design may have been in the 200-ns to 600-ns range while the rise and fall times of WBG power switches are in the 10- to 20-ns range. In terms of bandwidth, the best means I've found to quantify the spectral envelope of a given waveform is to have dominant poles at 1/π*tr and then at 1/π*ton. This method is as antiquated as Ohm's law and it still works just as well. Why is Edge Speed Important? If we consider the line set connecting the drive to the motor, the line set has a characteristic impedance. Most line sets will be a twisted-pair type of cable, perhaps with a shield and an earthing conductor as well as U, V and W conductors of appropriate ampacity. The impedance of most any reasonable conductor insulation, from THHN to SOO cable, is usually on the order of 100 Ω. It's easy enough to measure this with lumped parameters (inductance per unit length, capacitance per unit length) and then calculate Z0 = √(L/C). But why would power electronics care about the characteristic impedance of this line set? What if the line set were relatively long? Relatively needs to be carefully considered. Let's say that 1/π*tr of the output commutation was in the 30-MHz range. A quarter-wave stub of transmission line at this frequency range will be on the order of 2.5 meters in length. If the line set is 2.5 meters in length or longer, there may then be a quarter wave effect or a standing wave. The fast pulse causes a standing wave in the line set such that the whole line set radiates common-mode noise at this wavelength. The second problem is that of reflections. Neither end of this transmission line is terminated with the characteristic impedance. The impedances in play are much lower (this is why power electronics people often can't "speak RF language"). These impedance mismatches will then cause reflections at both the motor (read as voltage spikes on the edges) and then reflected back to the drive output (and possibly avalanche on those delicate WBG power switches!!). A proper design will have terminations at both the machine and the inverter output to offer a reasonable match and damping to the high-frequency reflections. The Threat to Insulation Then what happens at the motor? Old salts may remember that the large "inverter-grade motors" were actually larger and heavier than the older line-locked beasties. I always found that perplexing. I understood the added losses, the frame current, bearing race galling from circulating currents… but high tech is supposed to be smaller and better, no? WBG inverters are heading down the same path as silicon-based motor drives, only it will be tougher this time around. One may note that the permittivity tensor of common motor-winding insulators like varnish goes lossy well within the bandwidth of the WBG rise and fall times. Loss is heat. Heat makes varnish fail. Failure comes in the form of partial discharge (PD), corona, inception and burning. The insulation will fatigue around the points of maximum E-field, such as the sharp bends where the conductor channel loops from one slot to the next. There's More! Transformer and Driver IC Stressors With those considerations for the power path, most stop there. It's a big bite, and it's a lot to deal with at design. The motor, the line set, and the drive didn't get cheaper by going to WBG. But that's not all. The high-side driver connects to the high-side gate-source terminals. This means that the high-side driver's galvanic isolation boundaries have to deal with the very same fast dv/dt and the very same insulation stress seen by the motor windings. One might note that the dc-dc transformer is often comprised of similar insulation systems and allowable temp ranges as the motor. Varnish, tape, etc. are present in the transformer too. So, this transformer will see the same stressors in common mode from primary to secondary. The silicon on insulator (SOI) substrate in the isolated gate driver IC will see these stressors as well. For a practical consideration, if we consider perhaps an "older" IGBT type isolated dc-dc converter transformer, having perhaps 35 pF from primary to secondary, with an inverter commutating 700 V in 15 ns, we then have I =35 pF * 700 V/15 ns or 1.63 A of peak common-mode current flowing to ground on each and every switching edge. This will be an EMI problem. Back to the Lab for Hi-Pot If we take these concepts back into the lab and block out the insipid experts spouting the right answers without ever asking the right questions, we will discover some things quickly. A hi-pot test is most always performed with a sinusoid at 50 or 60 Hz. That dv/dt can never approach that of the WBG edge speeds. A 60-second hi-pot test that yielded transformers that never had PD, corona or arcing problems may fall on its face with WBG edge speeds and the aforementioned old school insulation systems. Further, the partial discharge test does not capture the fast edge speeds. It does look for the RF signature of corona. (This was often detected on the production line with an AM radio receiver. If the receiver was tuned to a strong station and went into desense during a hi-pot or PD test, the next step was to turn off the lights and look for the purple glow, which meant that corona was happening!) But at these fast edge speeds, corona signatures are in band! How does one test for that? That dramatically changes the block diagram of the PD tester! Field Solvers are Our Friend! While most austerity metrics and enforcing accountants will balk at the purchase, installation and use of a field solver, this software will become paramount in understanding the insulation system interactions and stackups with faster edge speeds and in predicting the EMI signatures of near-field magnetic loops and electrostatic surfaces.[2] WBG takes power electronics into the RF domain, plain and simple. We have to adopt the RF tools if we are to build successful designs with WBG. While the old hyper-abrupt junction Si FREDS would ring at 6 MHz or so, the WBG parts are ringing up into VHF and UHF ranges in some cases. Back to the Integrator Shhhh! It's a deep secret, but the WBG inverters don't have much choice but to take the class D audio direction of yesteryear. If the motor is to stay cost effective, with a reasonable insulation system, then the high-frequency ripple must be integrated so that only the fundamental is presented to the motor. This will also mitigate standing waves, reflections, and high-frequency radiation from the line set. However, the integrator needs a little more consideration than the 4-Ω or 8-Ω transducers. A strong PMSM may have a stall current of 500 A and a run current of a few amperes. If the machine was designed for a stall current that high, we wouldn't want the impedance of the series inductor in the integrator to restrict that stall torque. Present switching frequencies won't allow for this as the integrator components are too large, too heavy and too costly. But if the switching frequency of a WBG inverter were to approach the switching frequencies in class D audio amplifiers, that would be the essential win/win. Perhaps then the integrator could become a stripline to deliver fundamental waveforms to the machine while not detracting from stall torque performance. Further work may compensate out the added impedance of the LC integrator in the Park transform, like adding peak current mode control, only in glorious software. The benefit of this would be very useful in high-torque applications that do work into and out of stall conditions (like a wheel loader moving gravel). References
Editor's Note: This article was first published in the January 2021 issue of |
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| Events of Interest - Mark Your Calendar |
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| Notice: Event information may be out of date due to the coronavirus (COVID-19). Please confirm details with event organizers prior to making any commitments. |
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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
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ark your calendars for June 9-12, 2021 when power electronics professionals come together for 
he 2021 PSMA Annual Meeting will be held virtually on Tuesday March 23. Individuals from member companies as well 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 Directors to serve on the PSMA Board for a three-year term beginning immediately. 
riends of PSMA is a new feature of the PSMA Update. This space will be used to introduce readers to organizations that PSMA has cooperative relationship with to better serve our respective memberships and the international power electronics industry. If you have suggestions on other industry organizations to consider or ways that we can improve our current relationship with other industry associations, we would be delighted to hear from you. 
APEC 1991
ince 2015, PSMA has collaborated with our friends in the 
SMA, a co- sponsor of the International Workshop of Integrated Power Packaging (IWIPP) announces the postponement of IWIPP 2021 until August 2022 due to the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. We recognize and thank Aalborg University for their commitment to hosting IWIPP 2022 on August 24-26, 2022.
rganized by Aalborg University, Denmark, the 13th International Future Energy Challenge (IFEC) 2020 announced awards for the student project competition on power supplies for nanosatellites, a fast-growing satellite industry segment. In 2020, the student teams were challenged to design and build a power supply for nanosatellites with specific requirements for efficiency, power density, weight, and dynamic performance. The competition included a preliminary proposal submitted in November 2019, two virtual technical workshops (April and August 2020), and a final competition with prototypes sent to and tested at Aalborg University in November 2020. A total of 26 project proposals were received from 13 countries and regions. Initially, 17 teams were shortlisted for the first workshop, and 10 teams were later invited for the second workshop. The final competition involved prototype testing of the four finalist teams. These tests were conducted locally at Aalborg University, where Chroma ATE Inc. sponsored the testing system. The winners are as follows:
et me begin by saying that I am a power electronics engineer and self-described "Energy Efficiency Evangelist." So, although I am an advocate of energy harvesting (EH) technologies, I'm also in favor of anything that helps mitigate energy waste/inefficiencies, hazardous waste (particularly in terms of primary batteries), and non-renewable sources. 
hen in 1900 Max Planck deduced the relationship between energy and the frequency of radiation, his theory marked a turning point in physics and inspired up-and-coming physicists such as Albert Einstein. Few could have seen the implications of that discovery to the medical world.
