1. Planning for APEC 2019 is Moving Ahead at Full Power
   
2. You Are Invited to the 2018 PSMA Planning Meeting
   
3. Welcome to PSMA
   
4. APEC 2019 Sponsors Continue Student Travel Support Program
   
5. PSMA Publishes Technology Report: 3D Power Packaging with Focus on Embedded Passive Component and Substrate Technologies
   
6. PSMA and PELS Magnetics Committee High Frequency Magnetics Workshop
   
7. Pre-APEC 2019 Capacitor Workshop Saturday March 16, 2019: The Impact of Wideband Technologies on Application of Capacitors
   
8. 2018 International 3D Power Electronics Integration and Manufacturing Symposium
   
9. International Power Supply-on-Chip (PwrSoC) Workshop in Hsinchu, Taiwan, Oct. 17-19, 2018: Registration Now Open
   
10. The 6th Workshop on Wide Bandgap Power Devices and Applications (WiPDA 2018)
    
11. EnerHarv2018 Workshop – The Launch of a New Ecosystem for Energy Harvesting and Micro-Power Management
    
12. INTELEC 2018 Conference
    
13. EnABLES Launches its Transnational Access Programme for Powering the IoT
    
14. ISPCE 2018 Drilled Deeply into Today's Compliance Issues
    
15. Powering Safety in Demanding Applications
    
16. Looking Back at PCIM2018 and Forward to PCIM2019
    
17. Solar Energy Stock Index Q2 2018
    
18. Solar Energy DealReader Q2 2018
    
19. EMS Stock Index Q2 2018
    
20. EMS DealReader Q2 2018
    
21. Events of Interest – Mark Your Calendar

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

Previous issues of update: Q4_2017 | Q1_2018 | Q2_2018

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

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

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

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

 

lanning for APEC 2019 is well underway.  The Call-for-Papers closed in July with 1,048 digests submitted. Now the committee and over 100 volunteers have the task of peer-reviewing all of the digests in preparation for the mid-year meeting at the end of September. At that time, the tough task will be to select the top 500+ papers for the Technical Sessions program. As in APEC 2018, 60 Students that have a technical paper accepted are invited to apply for a Student Travel Reimbursement Award of up to $1000 to cover their attendance at APEC2019. For more information, see the article on page 4 of this issue.

Work continues in development of the Plenary Session program. The committee has put together an exceptional roster of candidates. The program will be finalized before the next edition of this newsletter. The Plenary Session is expected to bring well over 2,000 attendees. In addition, IEEE.tv will, once again, be streaming the entire session, live, for those who can't make it to APEC by Monday afternoon.

By early September, all the submissions of proposals for both the very popular Industry Sessions as well as the highly-informative Professional Education Seminars will be under consideration. The Industry Session tracks that run in parallel with the Technical Sessions are expected to be as popular as ever.

This year, at APEC2018, over 1,500 APEC attendees arrived early to take advantage of the weekend and Monday morning Professional Education Seminars. The committee is planning for a repeat of this attendance in 2019.

Exhibit reservations for APEC2019 have hit an all-time high with 281 exhibitors and 46,600 square feet of exhibit space. The exhibit is sold out and there are over 50 companies on the waiting list. The Exhibit Committee is working hard to accommodate as many of these as possible.

On the Saturday prior to the start of APEC2019, PSMA and PELS will be sponsoring two workshops, the fourth High Frequency Magnetics Workshop and the second Capacitor Workshop. For more information see the articles on each workshop in this issue of the UPDATE.

Registration opens on October 29th.  Go to www.apec-conf.org to get all the information you need. In addition to making your reservation to attend, you will also be able to book your hotel accommodations. APEC has secured blocks of rooms at the close-in hotels to the convention center.  As usual, these rooms will sell out long before next March.

The entire APEC Conference Committee is excited about bringing our Premier Global Event in Applied Power Electronics to Anaheim, March 17-21, 2019.

Provided by Greg Evans, APEC 2019 Publicity Chair

ll members of PSMA companies are invited to attend and to offer their inputs and suggestions for the projects and activities the Association should focus on in the coming year. The 2018 PSMA Planning Meeting will take place on Saturday September 29, in the La Jolla Room at the Anaheim Marriott, Anaheim, CA .

The Board of Directors relies on the inputs generated at the Annual Planning Meetings to identify, consider and select programs for the following year that will bring benefits to the PSMA membership. For example, initiatives generated at recent Planning Meetings have resulted in the Power Supply in Package and Power Supply on Chip project and workshops, the Energy Efficiency and Safety & Compliance Database projects and the 3D Power Packaging projects and 3D-PEIM Symposiums.

This year's meeting will begin with a brief review of the year to date accomplishments and a summary of ongoing activities by Stephen Oliver, Chairman of the PSMA. This will be followed by an update of the six-quarter financial forecast and a status report and plans from the active PSMA committees.

Most of the meeting will feature an open forum to introduce and discuss possible special projects, initiatives, and priorities for the coming months. All members of PSMA Companies are encouraged to provide inputs. If you cannot attend the meeting in person, email suggestions to power@psma.com and they will be considered and included in the discussions. In the coming months, the PSMA Marketing Committee will summarize the results of the meeting and prioritize which projects and initiatives should be included in the focus for the next year.

All members and guests attending are invited to remain after the Planning Meeting to participate in a meeting of the Board of Directors, which will take place immediately following. After the Board Meeting, interested individuals are invited to tour the exhibit area space in the Anaheim Convention Center and the meeting room facilities planned for APEC 2019.

The APEC 2019 Technical Program Committee will meet the following day, Sunday September 30, to discuss the technical abstracts submitted and to organize the technical sessions, professional education seminars, rap sessions, and industry presentations for APEC 2019 in March. Since PSMA is a co-sponsor of APEC all members are invited to participate and contribute in this important activity.

To make your room reservations at the Marriott, visit https://aws.passkey.com/go/APEC2019 to receive the group rate of $189.00 USD plus taxes.

If you plan to attend the 2018 PSMA Planning Meeting, please email the Association Office at power@psma.com. We look forward to seeing many of you at these important meetings.

Eaton Corporation
Amit Baddi
1111 Knox Street
Torrance, CA 90502
Telephone: 269-215-9294
E-mail: amitsbaddi@eaton.com
Website: www.cooperindustries.com/content/public/en/wiring_devices/power_conversion.html

Eaton has over 55 years of program heritage providing AC/DC, DC/DC and DC/AC power-conversion solutions for critical industrial, aerospace and military applications. An extensive array of COTS and custom-solution capabilities extend from board-mounted converters to highly-integrated systems including power shelves and racks.

Eaton also specializes in electrical connectors and non-explosive actuators and release mechanisms for military and aerospace applications. An extensive program heritage is the cornerstone for a broad array of standard products and custom solution capabilities.

FH-Rosenheim
Eduard Dechant
Hochschulstr. 1
83024 Rosenheim, Bavaria
Germany
Telephone: 080318052754
E-mail: eduard.dechant@fh-rosenheim.de
Website: www.fh-rosenheim.de

As the most important educational institution in south-eastern Bavaria, Rosenheim University of Applied Sciences combines a multifaceted and innovative profile with solid regional roots and an international reputation. FH-Rosenheim students discover a practical approach to learning and an ideal learning environment in this network and acquire team skills and problem-solving expertise.

Google Inc.
Doug Osterhout
2081 Stierlin Ct.
Mountain View, CA 94043
Telephone: 856-296-9769
E-mail: dougosterhout@google.com
Website: www.google.com

Google is an American multinational technology company that specializes in Internet-related services and products, which include online advertising technologies, search engine, cloud computing, software, and hardware. With more than 60,000 employees in 50 different countries, Google makes hundreds of products used by billions of people across the globe, from YouTube and Android to Smartbox and, of course, Google Search.

RECOM Power is a manufacturer of electronic power supply converters with over 30,000 compact modules for use in a wide variety of applications. RECOM is an industry leader in the fields of electronics, engineering (including transportation), industrial automation and medical equipment applications, and are now a global influence in the fields of digital technology, including data, IoT, Industry 4.0. RECOM specializes in AC/DC converters and DC/DC converters, switching regulators and LED drivers and provides worldwide customer service.

Rodney Rodgers (independent)
14803 Burleigh Place
Louisville, KY 40245
Telephone: 502-718-6639
E-mail: rr5825@outlook.com

Rodney Rodgers assists clients to develop and sustain their business in the fields of wound magnetic components, cores, transformers and inductors. His services include design & documentation, procedures & testing, application & technical advice, research and training. Currently working as an independent consultant, Rodney brings his experience as a Design Engineer at companies including Texas Instruments, Superior Magnetics and VAC Magnetics.

Silent Sensors Ltd
Marcus Taylor
28 Old Brompton Road
London, London SW7 3SS
United Kingdom
Telephone: +447736180404
E-mail: marcus@silentsensors.com
Website: www.silentsensors.com

Silent Sensors Ltd is an innovative provider of smart electronics for rubber, polymer and elastomer-based materials, creating exciting opportunities for lifecycle management of physical assets that both increases performance and reduces total cost of operations.

Silent Sensors provides products and services using RFID tags, sensors, energy harvesting and data delivery through the Cloud to in-field Apps for fast and effective use to save time, effort and money. Their solutions help companies transform their businesses to match and take advantage of changing market trends and customer preferences.

System Management Interface Forum (SMIF), Inc.
Todd Hendrix
501 W President George Bush Hwy Ste 130
Richardson, TX 75080-1141
Telephone: 508-878-2073
E-mail: todd.hendrix@comcast.net
Website: smiforum.org

The System Management Interface Forum (SMIF), Inc., supports the rapid advancement of an efficient and compatible technology base that promotes power management and systems technology implementations. The group's activities include: promoting global development of communications protocols; identification of appropriate applications; providing global educational services; promoting worldwide compatibility and interoperability; and identifying, selecting, augmenting as appropriate, and publishing specifications. The SMIF provides a membership path for any company or individual to be active participants in any or all of the various working groups established by the implementers forums.

Taiwan Semiconductor
Kevin Parmenter
3040 Saturn Street
Suite 200
Brea, CA 92821
Telephone: 480-748-8182
E-mail: Kevin.Parmenter@ieee.org
Website: www.taiwansemi.com/en

Recognized for more than 39 years for its core competence in discrete Power Rectifiers, Taiwan Semiconductor has expanded its product portfolio to include Trench Schottkys, MOSFETs, Power Transistors, LED Driver ICs, Analog ICs and ESD Protection Devices, and now provides a complete solution from one source. Taiwan Semiconductor products are used in a vast array of applications in the electronics industry, including automotive, power supply, lighting, computer, consumer, industrial, telecom and alternative energy. Through strategic expansion of innovative manufacturing capabilities, and its focus on pioneering efficient semiconductor solutions, Taiwan Semiconductor is committed to being the right choice for a successful and lasting business relationship.

TesCom
Emily Garza
20200 Algreg St
Pflugerville, TX 78660
Telephone: 800-888-1978
E-mail: emilyg@tescomusa.com
Website: www.tescomusa.com

TesCom has been serving the Telecommunications and CATV Industry for over 35 years. Founded in 1982, TesCom covers electronic equipment needs with electronic equipment and PCB repair, ISO 17025 accredited calibration, and power supply repairs. In addition to these services TesCom also manufactures a variety of test sets and GPS synchronization clocks for communication networks.

XP Power
Kelly Gronau
1 EMCO Court
Sutter Creek, CA 95685
Telephone: 209-267-9602
E-mail: kgronau@xppower.com
Website: www.xppower.com

XP Power is a leading developer and manufacturer of critical power solutions for the electronics industry, including AC-DC power supplies, DC-DC converters, high voltage power supplies and RF power supplies. XP's custom capabilities provide cost effective solutions where applications cannot be fulfilled from our standard product range or where integrated products are required. They offer the world's strongest standard product portfolio, which provides a vast selection of power platforms from which to deliver power solutions tailored to customer specific requirements.

Travel support of up to $1,000 offered to graduate and undergraduate students enrolled in power electronics programs to assist in attendance at APEC in March 2019; Up to $60,000 in travel support will be distributed; Deadline for applications is Oct. 26, 2018

he joint sponsors of the Applied Power Electronics Conference (APEC) have announced the continuation of the popular Student Attendance Travel Support Program of up to $1,000 to cover a portion of the travel and conference expenses for as many as 60 students to attend APEC 2019 in Anaheim, CA, March 17-21, 2019. Interested students must apply by Oct. 26th, 2018.

In its 14th year, this popular program, initiated by the Power Sources Manufacturers Association (PSMA), is now jointly underwritten by PSMA and the other co-sponsors of the APEC conference: the IEEE Power Electronics Society (PELS) and the IEEE Industry Applications society (IAS).

The student recipients will be chosen by the APEC 2019 Student Travel Support Committee. Application forms are now available at APEC Attendance Travel Support Application. The criteria for selection are:

• The applicant must be an undergraduate or graduate student enrolled in a power electronics program at an accredited institution
• Only students who have not received travel support in the past will be considered
• The recipients must be an author or co-author of a paper that was accepted for presentation at APEC 2019
• The recipient must attend APEC 2019 and submit expense receipts to the Committee for reimbursement
• Applications must be made and received by the Committee by October 26, 2018
• The recipients will be notified by the Committee by November 16, 2018

As part of the application process, students must include information about their educational institution, degree program, the name of their faculty advisor(s) and a brief description of their career interest and reasons for planning to attend APEC. The application also requires the title and ID number of their accepted APEC paper, as well as the name(s) of the co-author(s).

More information about the APEC Student Attendance Travel Support Program may be found at the PSMA's Education Forum page.

3D Power Packaging with Focus on Embedded Passive Component and Substrate Technologies

Comprehensive report is the first to address higher power embeddable passives that will accelerate the development of higher density power sources using new, 3D disruptive packaging technologies

t APEC 2018, the PSMA Packaging Committee released a report titled "3D Power Packaging with Focus on Embedded Passive Component and Substrate Technologies." This is the third in a series of reports focused on using embedded substrate technology for building power sources. It is the first extensive study of embeddable passive components both available and in development for use in the power path of power sources. The report contains extensive research and product illustrations geared to an audience of technology executives and design engineers. The purpose of this Special Project is to provide an in-depth industry perspective on how currently available materials and processes can be best used for the creation of advanced high-efficiency, high-power-density power products.

The PSMA undertook this Special Project and created the 3D packaging report to address the pressing demands in the power industry to accelerate the development of higher density power sources. Miniaturization of passive components without compromising their power handling and efficiency, and their integration with actives has always been a key focus for power packaging. There is also an increasing trend to vertical or 3D package integration to address the performance issues by eliminating parasitics from large leads. Wide bandgap (WBG) devices, on the other hand, have become a key enabler to achieve high power densities and efficiency, owing to their many advantages over silicon. In particular, they enable operation at higher switching frequencies and temperatures with subsequent improvements in power density and efficiency. While SiC is presently the most mature WBG technology, production-ready for power train applications, GaN devices have recently gained importance with the GaN-on-Si technology, to reduce the cost. Embedding of WBG actives and passives, therefore, has become a very important technology in power applications to increase power density and efficiency along with miniaturization of power modules using Si devices for low power, and wide bandgap GaN and SiC devices for high power. Embedding gives lowest package inductance and enables co-integration of power systems and drivers in a single package with direct interconnection between gate driver circuits and switches with shortest interconnection length. This, however, leads to several process integration and reliability challenges that need to be systematically addressed. The challenges vary depend on the power of the system, power density, operation temperature and other criteria. The power electronics industry is actively pursuing solutions to address these challenges.

Georgia Tech Packaging Research Center, under contract from PSMA systematically surveyed the recent advances in passives, active embedding and 3D passive-active integration to generate this report, with emphasis on 3D power packaging enabled by advances in passive components and embedding of actives in power packages. A detailed literature study was conducted on key advances in embedded passive technologies and related topics. Emerging nanomaterials and processes are described for inductors, capacitors and resistors. Nanostructured materials provide additional degrees of freedoms in enhancing the properties to improve the performance metrics such as volumetric density and efficiency of the components. Key enabling building-blocks are described for each technology. The manufacturing challenges are also highlighted in advancing the components to improve performance. Industry leaders were surveyed to get the recent technology advances in each category. Roadmaps are projected for passive component advances and active embedding technologies.

Passive components, substrates and packaging technologies are categorized as follows:

1. Magnetic materials are classified into three categories: a) low-frequency, high-power magnetics such as those used in isolated DC-DC converters, b) medium-frequency, medium-power inductors used in ultra-thin or embedded inductors, c) high-frequency magnetics used in integrated power module applications.
2. Similarly, capacitors are classified into: a) formed thin-film capacitors for high-frequency decoupling, b) high-surface area silicon trench, sintered porous tantalum capacitors or etched Al foil capacitors, c) inserted ultra-thin MLCCs, and d) high-voltage, high-temperature capacitors.
3. Resistors are classified into thickfilm and thinfilm resistors and the key materials and process advances in each class are highlighted.

The trends and roadmaps in 3D power packaging are also described in three categories: low power (1-100 W), medium power (100-1000 W) and high power (10-100 kW). Integration in each category is classified into lead-frame-based, substrate-embedding based, and traditional ceramic substrates. Active embedding with panel- scale substrate manufacturing is also reviewed in detail. Recent innovations in substrate materials and associated reliability challenges such as via cracking, dielectric cracking or electric breakdown are highlighted. Advances in die-attach solutions with sintered nanocopper are reviewed, highlighting the evolution of low-stress sintered copper-based die-attach solutions.

Co-chairs of the PSMA Packaging Committee, Ernie Parker of Crane Aerospace & Electronics and Brian Narveson of Narveson Consulting, described the report as "the first comprehensive document to discuss the challenges companies will face to implement embedded passives in 3D power packaging to create the significantly higher power densities.

The PSMA report on 3D packaging was provided free of charge to PSMA Regular and Associate Company members.  Additional copies may be purchased at the member price of $290. PSMA Affiliate members may also purchase the report for $290. The report is available to non-members for purchase on the PSMA website (www.psma.com/publications) for the price of $3,490. 

Provided by the PSMA Packaging Committee.

Brian Narveson Co-chairman

Ernie Parker Co-chairman

Power Magnetics @ High Frequency
Saturday March 16 2019
Prior to APEC 2019
Anaheim Convention Center
Anaheim, CA 92802

he PSMA Magnetics Committee and IEEE PELS will conduct the fourth "Power Magnetics @ High Frequency" workshop on Saturday, March16, 2019, which is the day before and at the same venue as APEC 2019 in Anaheim, CA.

The purpose and focus of this workshop is to identify the latest improvements in magnetic materials, coil (winding) design, construction and fabrication, evaluation and characterization techniques and modelling and simulation tools. This is to target the advancements that are deemed necessary by the participants for power magnetics in order to meet the technical expectations and requirements of new market applications for higher operating frequencies and emerging topologies that are being driven by continuous advances in circuits topologies and semi-conductor devices.

The target audiences for the 2019 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 that are 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 2019 Power Magnetics @ High Frequency will open with a keynote presentation by Gerry Hurley of the National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland providing a technical overview of the topics to be covered within the workshop. The keynote presentation will be complemented by a Q&A session to address specific details of interest of the workshop attendees.

The second session of the workshop will be a technical presentation session addressing various topics associated with ac power losses, in particular, the effect of core size and material. 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 lunch, breakfast and the networking hour at the end of the workshop there will be an interactive session of table top technology demonstrations 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 from the opening keynote presentation and the technical issues session.

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. We are limited to nine technology demonstration sessions.

Based upon responses to the survey for the previous 2018 workshop, the fourth session of the workshop will be a technical presentations addressing topics associated with thermal management in magnetic components. In addition to the brief Q&A period after each individual presentation there will be panel of the presenters to address topics requiring more detail as deemed by the workshop attendees.
The specifics for the workshop structure and the presentations for the workshop are currently in progress and are not finalized. If anyone can support a strong position for a specific topic that would be of general interest to the magnetics and the power industries, please contact the organizing committee through PSMA via e-mail to power@psma.com.

More details regarding the agenda for the workshop as well as registration for the workshop will become available on the PSMA website (www.psma.com/technical-forums/magnetics/workshop) over the coming months.

Organizing Committee
    Khurram Afridi, University of Colorado Boulder
    Ali Bazzi, University of Connecticut
    Steve Carlsen, Raytheon
    Ed Herbert
    Rodney Rogers, All Star Magnetics
    Laili Wang, Xi'an Jiaotong University
    Fred Weber, Future Technology Worldwide
    Chuck Wild, Dexter Magnetics
    Matt Wilkowski, Intel

The Impact of Wideband Technologies on Application of Capacitors

- A Deep Dive on Capacitor Technology -

SMA and IEEE PELS are jointly Sponsoring the second pre-APEC Capacitor Workshop on Saturday March 16, 2019 at the Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, CA. The 2019 workshop will provide both a closer look into emerging power system technologies and the impact on the application of capacitor to meet the demanding system requirements.

This full day workshop will include invited expert presentations, panel discussions and the opportunity to raise questions and interact with the experts. The workshop will also include a series of focused demonstrations to further expand on the presented material. There will be ample time to network with attendees and to interact with the presenters as well as the experts demonstrating the materials.  

In the morning, the workshop will focus on the new horizons of Supercapacitor, the latest advances in Polymers, and the shifting edge of using Aluminum Electrolytics at higher temperatures with longer lifetime and increased reliability. There will be presentations comparing the benefits, the pros and cons of the application of Aluminum Polymer and Tantalum technologies. This will provide the workshop attendees a much deeper look into the capacitor world. In addition, there will be a session to address the situation of a worldwide MLCC shortage with details to show how to survive and overcome this situation, not only in the short run but in the future as well.

While the morning sessions will discuss new capacitor technologies, the afternoon sessions will primarily focus on how to use them in application.  The trends in new product systems call for higher power requirements, higher frequencies (provided by increasing availability of GaN and SiC), higher density packaging and higher operating temperatures. These evolving requirements all will massively influence the application of capacitors

The presenters of this workshop are all experts coming from various backgrounds ranging from worldwide leading capacitor manufacturers, international universities, and technical institutions. In addition, many of the presenters are industry experts in designing circuits and applications, as well as specialists in the manufacturer of capacitors. All come with a broader range of insights, news and relevant information to help you apply the best solutions in your daily work with capacitors. As capacitors are the most used components in the electronic world, establishing common terminology and identifying their behavior in finding the "best fit solution" are the main goals of this workshop. With a deep dive into state-of -the- art for materials and components, a roadmap of technologies and an application roundup, attendees will gain value and benefits from this workshop. in various ways.

To round up this workshop and make it more beneficial, there will be demonstration stations available during breakfast, lunch and the afternoon networking session to add practical backgrounds to the topics discussed in the presentations. Specialists in applications and measurements will be available to answer questions on capacitors and their applications. Finally there will be a reception during the closing demonstration session with snacks and drinks to provide additional informal networking opportunities.

The latest agenda, registration, and additional information will be available at www.psma.com/technical-forums/capacitor/workshop.

Provided by members of the Capacitor Workshop Organizing Team:

he second International Symposium on 3D Power Electronics Integration and Manufacturing (3D PEIM) was another success! On June 25-27, 2018, over 70 participants, 22 from outside the US, attended the eventin College Park, Maryland. Prior to the technical program, three tutorials were given by leading experts on additive manufacturing and power electronics system integration: "Additive Manufacturing" by Prof. Christopher Williams of Virginia Tech; "System Integration" by Prof. Douglas Hopkins of NC State University; and "Integrated Thermal Packaging" by Prof. Michael Ohadi of University of Maryland. Attendee reviews of the tutorials were outstanding with over 90% feeling that their knowledge was increased due to the presentations.

The keynotes were followed by a single-track technical program featured 34 oral presentations divided into eight topical sessions, each with a keynote speaker followed by three invited/contributed talks. Over 80% of the oral talks were invited. The presenters and attendees engaged in lively discussions during the sessions and many networking breaks.  In addition, 19 posters were displayed during an exciting interactive session with the displaying students.  Participant feedback stated that 90% of attendees felt the presented material was high quality and were interested in attending a future 3D-PEIM.

The Symposium was sponsored by the Power Sources Manufacturers Association (www.psma.com), and chaired by Prof. Patrick McClusky, University of Maryland, IEEE EPS was a technical sponsor and with financial support by two industry sponsors, and three academic sponsors, CALCE at University of Maryland, CPES at Virginia Tech, and the FREEDM Systems Center at NCSU.

Plans are now underway for 3D-PEIM 2020 and organizers and sponsors are being solicited. If you are interested, please contact info@3D-PEIM.Org, or the PSMA office at power@psma.com.

Technical Program Chair Prof. Guo-Quan (GQ) Lu, Virginia Tech

General Chair Prof. Patrick McCluskey, University of Maryland, College Park

2018: Registration Now Open
Early Registration Closes August 31.
Uniquely spotlights technology and manufacturing advancement of miniaturization and
integration of power conversion and power management solutions.

egistration opened July 24th for the 6th international workshop, Power Supply-on-Chip (PwrSoC18). Join us as we celebrate the 10th anniversary of our Workshop.  

• Initially in package (power supply in a package – (PSiP) 
• But ultimately on-chip (power supply on chip – (PwrSoC).

The PwrSoC18 workshop organizers, speakers, and attendees include global academic and industry experts who are focused on miniaturizing power management circuits and passive components— initially in package, (power supply in a package – PSiP) but ultimately on-chip, (power supply on chip – PwrSoC). Program participants have been a 50/50 balance of industry and academia representatives from all major global regions. The Power Sources Manufacturers Association (PSMA) and IEEE Power Electronics Society (IEEE PELS) are joint sponsors the workshop.

Highlight topics are:

1. Manufacturing - recognizing that Hsinchu, Taiwan, is one of the world's chief semiconductor manufacturing centers
2. Low-voltage, wide bandgap (WBG) devices for integrated power management

Session at PwrSoC 2016

Professor Cian Ó Mathúna of Tyndall National Institute, the originator of the PwrSoC workshops in 2008 and PwrSoC18's General Co-chair, commented on this year's venue: "Our endeavour is global. We are excited to invite our Asian colleagues and friends in Hsinchu, a key manufacturing location, to join our workshop participants from around the world to hold this most important dialogue. Manufacturing as well as technology development are cornerstones to realizing our vision of enabling a supply-chain to deliver fully integrated PwrSoC to the commercial marketplace."

Professor Hanh-Phuc Le from University of Colorado, Technical Program Chair, pointed out: "We have finally completed our program and we have a fantastic line up of speakers and topics on our invited presentations and accepted posters. Attendees' knowledge will be enriched by learning about advancements in converter topologies, passive component technologies, wide-bandgap devices and circuits and new concepts for integration and manufacturing. World-leading experts will discuss far-reaching goals and achievements in a wide range of applications, from powering high-performance processors to automotive and bio-medical systems." For instance, the plenary session has the following speakers:

• Don Disney, GLOBALFOUNDRIES, U.S.A., "Heterogeneous Integration of GaN and Silicon for Power Conversion"
• Jim Doyle, Dialog Semiconductor, U.S.A., "A 100Mhz 8 amp 4 phase Buck with 87% efficiency Using a Low Cost 0.13u Process Providing Power for Mobile CPU and GPU and Evolution to Inductors on Die"
• Peter Peng Zhu, Huawei, Peoples Republic of China, "Development of 100 MHz IVR with Integrated Inductor"
• Louis Chen, ASE, Taiwan, "New Generation Power Packaging Technology"

See the full technical program at http://pwrsocevents.com/schedule/

Thirty (30) outstanding posters have been accepted so far and we expect to have a total of forty (40) by the time we meet in Hsinchu. http://pwrsocevents.com/posters/

Posters at PwrSoC 2016

Registration is Now Open
In addition to the workshop, a closing tour includes three memorable segments: Hsinchu Science Park, TSMC's Museum of Innovation, and a presentation, "TSMC Company Profile & Power Technology." (Early registration is encouraged since tour attendance is limited.) To register, go to: http://pwrsocevents.com/registration/

We suggest you sign up soon. Early registration closes at the end of August and the tour hosted by TSMC has limited openings.

Partnership Opportunities
Two types of company sponsorships are available: Gold level includes company visibility through banner and logo displays shown in workshop events, the technical program and in website and announcement emails. Platinum level provides your company with an exhibit table for the duration of the workshop, two free registrations to all events – plus the Gold-level banner and logo display opportunities. Sign-up at: http://pwrsocevents.com/registration/

Our partner hotel, the Landis Inn, is offering a special rate for workshop attendees. 

Host

Sponsors

General Co-Chairs:
Professor Ke-Horng Chen. khchen@cn.nctu.edu.tw
Prof. Cian Ó Mathúna. Cian.omathuna@tyndall.ie

Technical Program Chair
Prof. Hanh-Phuc Le. hanhphuc@Colorado.EDU

he 6th Annual IEEE / PMSA Workshop on Wide Bandgap Power Devices & Applications (WiPDA) [ www.wipda.org ] will be held in Atlanta, Georgia from October 31 to November 2, 2018. This annual event provides engineers and scientists with opportunities share their experiences with wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductors technology. This year's workshop features seven tutorials, eight keynote sessions, a panel session, 12 technical sessions, and a poster session.  An industry exhibition will also be held all three days.  The workshop takes place at the Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center [ www.gatechhotel.com ] in midtown Atlanta. 

The workshop is brought to you by this year's Platinum Sponsor: Infineon Technologies.  Financial support is also provided by the Gold Sponsors, PowerAmerica, SemiProbe, and Silvaco, as well as the Silver Sponsor, Innocit LLC.  Additionally, the workshop is supported by the IEEE Power Electronics Society (PELS), the Power Supply Manufacturer's Association (PMSA), and the IEEE Electron Devices Society (EDS). 

Tutorials:

The tutorials focus on applications and devices in SiC, GaN, and ultra-wide bandgap (UWBG) semiconductors.  Presenters include representatives from industry and academia.  The seven tutorials topics are:

• SiC Power Device Reliability – by D. A. Gajewski, Wolfspeed.
• Measurement and Analysis Method of Parasitic Capacitance and Inductance in Power Devices and Power Electronic Circuits – by R. Takeda, Keysight Technologies.
• Silicon Carbide Power Devices: Making the Transition from Silicon – by V. Veliadis, North Carolina State University.
• Developing High Power, Medium Voltage Silicon Carbide based Power Electronics – by J. Wang, The Ohio State University; M. Scott, Miami University; H. Cai, Southeast University.
• Advanced Power Module Packaging: from Design to Validation – F. Luo, D. Huitink, and Y. Peng, University of Arkansas.
• How to Design High Efficiency and High Density GaN Switching Power Supply – R. Yu, and Q. Huang, University of Texas at Austin.
• Emerging Ultra-Wide Band Gap (UWBG) Power Electronic Devices – S. Krishnamoorthy, University of Utah.

Technical Program:

Four keynote presentations will be held on November 1st and another four on the November 2nd.  A panel session will held on November 1st. It will be followed by the first round of technical sessions.  A total of 50 oral presentations will be given across 12 technical sessions.  The poster session will be held on the evening of November 1st, and it includes research from 24 teams.  This event will be held in conjunction with the conference banquet.  Day two begins with another round of keynote presentations.  This is followed by three rounds of technical sessions. 

The oral and poster presentations cover research topics in the following areas:

• Heteroepitaxial and Bulk Materials Growth
• Gate Dielectrics and Surface Passivation
• Device Structures and Fabrication Techniques
• Device Characterization and Modeling
• Very-High Efficiency or Compact Converters
• Safe Operating Areas of Wide Bandgap Devices
• Harsh Environment (High Temperature) Operation and Reliability
• Packaging Power Modules and ICs
• Hard-Switched and Soft-Switched Applications and Analysis
• Gate Drivers and Other Auxiliary Circuits
• High-Performance Passive Components
• Applications in Renewable Energy and Energy Storage Systems, Transportation, Industrial Drives, and Grid Power Systems

Area Attractions:

The conference is located minutes away from many famous attractions including: Fox Theatre; Margaret Mitchell House; World of Coca-Cola; Georgia Aquarium; Piedmont Park; Ferst Center for the Arts; Centennial Olympic Park; Skyview Atlanta Ferris Wheel, CNN's Headquarters, High Museum of Art, Atlanta Botanical Gardens, and the Martin Luther King Center.

Sports fans can make arrangements to see the Atlanta Hawks, the city's NBA team, or Atlanta United during their visit.  Tours are available of Mercedes-Benz Stadium; home of the Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United.  Furthermore, the city offers many beautiful and challenging golf courses.  In the case of inclement weather, attendees can tour the College Football Hall of Fame.

Conclusions:

For questions and concerns about the workshop, please contact one of the members of the organizing committee.  We look forward to seeing you this fall in Atlanta, Georgia.

• Maryam Saeedifard,  General Chair, Georgia Tech
• Victor Veliadis,  Vice-Chair, NC State/Power America
• Dong Cao, Technical Program Co-Chair, North Dakota State University
• Mahshid Amirabadi,  Technical Program  Co-Chair,  Northeastern University
• Khurram Afridi,  Technical Program Co-Chair, University of Colorado – Boulder
• Sandeep Bahl, Technical Program Co-Chair, Texas Instruments
• Eric Persson,  Plenary Sessions Chair, Infineon
• Babak Parkhideh,  Treasurer, North Carolina - Charlotte,
• Karthik Kandasamy,  Local Organizing Committee, Georgia Tech
• Suman Debnath,  Tutorials Co-Chair, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
• Jiangchao Qin,  Tutorials Co-Chair, Arizona State University
• Mark Scott,  Publicity Chair, Miami University
• Shyh-Chiang Shen,  Publications Chair, Georgia Tech
• Lingxiao Xue,  Website Chair, Navitas Semiconductor
• Stephen Oliver,  PSMA Rep., Navitas Semiconductor
  

Provided by Mark Scott WiPDA 2018 Publicity Chair

he The EnerHarv2018 Workshop was an initiative created by the PSMA Energy Harvesting Committee that addressed the opportunities to tap into the forecasted 1 trillion IoT device market projected for 2025 and the need for energy harvesting and micro-power management technology development to 'power the Internet of Things'.

EnerHarv chairs Mike Hayes & Brian Zahstecher thank sponsor PSMA and coordinator Áine Murphy Tyndall for their wonderful support

Over 80 people attended this inaugural event, hosted by Tyndall National Institute in Cork, Ireland, one of Europe's leading industry-led IoT research centers, with over forty percent industry participation from companies in Europe, North America and Asia. According to attendees, the workshop more than lived up to its promise to create 'an ecosystem for experts and users of energy harvesting and related technologies to share knowledge, best practices, roadmaps, experiences and create opportunities for collaboration'. A key message from the workshop is that emerging technologies, if properly guided and integrated by our ecosystem and driven by the end users, will enable a dramatic penetration of energy harvesting and power management solutions into a broad range of applications

The Keynote speakers Yogesh Ramadass from Texas Instruments and Eric Yeatman from Imperial College London set the stage and inspired the audience by sharing their perspectives, some history and their applications led vision for powering the internet of things. This was followed by an outstanding line up of speakers on technology, applications and panel sessions from Analog Devices, Carnegie Mellon, ST Micro, Ilika, ARM, UNIST (Korea), Cambridge Display Technologies, Fraunhofer, IMTEK-University of Freiburg, Tyndall, MCCI, NCSU (North Carolina), Boston Scientific, Cap-XX, University of Southampton & United Technologies. One of the most unique and successful elements of EnerHarv2018 Workshop was the 16 demos from research and industry demonstrating many real life applications (e.g. wearables, asset tracking, condition monitoring, agri-tech) where energy harvesting solutions have already been developed. In addition, 19 posters were on display stimulating discussions, awareness and synergies between delegates. Ample time was allowed to enable the attendees to interact, learn, form partnership and be motivated and inspired to develop impactful solutions. The increase in the level of interaction between attendees was remarkable by the end of the workshop with a clear appetite for more events such as this. A testament to the interest levels and interest from the audience was the number of attendees that remained through to the afternoon sessions on the 3rd day and the level of stimulating audience participation in all sessions.

Yogesh Ramadass (TI) delivers opening keynote

Presenters Dhiman Mallick (Tyndall), Ausrine Bartasyte (FEMTO-ST) & Jane Cornett (Analog Devices) at the transducer session

Alex Weddell (Univ. of Southampton/ARM) & Gerd vom Bögel (Fraunhofer IMS) in discussions at the live demo session

It’s lunchtime day 3 are we are all still here!

Joe Horzepa, PSMA’s Executive Director donates a copy of PSMA’s 2017 Technology Roadmap to Dr. Maeve Duffy, NUIG Galway, Ireland

We would like to take this opportunity to thank event sponsor and owner PSMA, host Tyndall, our technical sponsors (IEEE PELS, ECPE, CONNECT, How2Power and CPSS), presenters and session chairs, the EnerHarv2018 Workshop and PSMA Energy Harvesting Committees and all who he in putting such an inspiring and impactful workshop together.

Finally, EnerHarv2018 Workshop was only the first step in the creation of our ecosystem. The committee have released the proceedings to attendees and undertaken a survey to gather feedback on what went well, how future EnerHarv workshops can be improved in future in terms of content, structure, location, timing, etc. If you missed the EnerHarv2018 Workshop but would like to learn more or are interested in PSMA 'powering the internet of things' initiatives please visit www.EnerHarv.com or contact PSMA Energy Harvesting Committee chairs Mike Hayes (michael.hayes@tyndall.ie) or Brian Zahnstecher (bz@powerrox.com) to learn more.

Provided by General Chair
Mike Hayes, Tyndall National Institute

Technical Program Chair
Brian Zahnstecher, PowerRox

NTELEC® is an international annual technical conference which, for the past thirty-nine years, has been the premier forum for the discussion of the science and engineering of power and energy systems for Information and Communications Technologies (ICT).

The 40th anniversary INTELEC 2018 conference will be held in the beautiful and historic city of Torino, Italy at the Lingotto Conference Centre, October 7-11th 2018.  The theme of this conference is: 40 years of Inspiration, Research and Exploration in Power and Energy for ICT.  The conference program will include four tutorials on the Sunday before the conference opens, keynote and invited speakers' plenaries on the Monday morning, three or four parallel technical sessions with about 100 oral presentations from Monday afternoon to Thursday morning, poster presentations, and three workshops during the week.

There will also be an industry exhibition featuring communication power and energy systems equipment open from Monday lunch time, till Thursday lunch time.  The conference features a substantial social program which will include a welcome reception Sunday evening, an exhibition reception Monday evening, an afternoon social or technical tour, and a banquet Wednesday evening with entertainment at the Torino automobile museum.

The Tutorials are on power electronics, base station power systems, data center power, and energy storage systems management.

Research and technical papers to be presented in the technical program explore the needs and trends in the subject areas of power conversion, energy storage, and high-reliability and mission-critical powering infrastructure. Topics include power and energy system architectures, traditional and 400 volt DC power systems, outside plant distributed power systems, power system monitoring and control, AC-DC and DC-DC converters, DC-AC inverters, energy storage including battery and fuel cells, grounding, physical and thermal designs including building and equipment cooling systems.

Torino is incredibly a city set in the heart of verdant areas: gently resting on the hillside and enclosed by the winding course of the River Po, it owes much of its charm to its enchanting location at the foot of the western Alps. The first Capital of Italia invites you to discover its ancient and modern history, the palaces and museums, the parks and tree-lined avenues, the river and the hills, the restaurants and historic coffee houses, the long colonnaded streets, the great events and the many little pleasure which have always made it unique, in a balance between the rational Roman town layout, the measured pomp of Piemonte baroque and the originality of the modern and contemporary architecture. 

One can register for the conference and for accommodation on the conference website www.intelec2018.org or at http://www.symposium.it/en/events/2018/intelec-2018

A spectacular night view of Torino with some of its most famous symbols: the river Po, the Mole Antonelliana tower and the snowy mountains

Provided by
Don Davidson and Mariapia Martino
Intelec 2018

he EU H2020 EnABLES research infrastructure programme, co-ordinated by Tyndall, has just launched its Transnational Access (TA) programme, which offers free-of-charge access to equipment, tools and expertise related to 'powering the internet of things (IoT)'. The vision of EnABLES is to eliminate the need for battery replacement by developing energy harvesting solutions or by finding ways to significantly reduce the power consumption of devices. The TA programme gives academic and industry developers and integrators of IoT devices unique access to advanced research infrastructure based on the technology pillars of energy harvesting, energy storage, micro-power management and system integration.

EnABLES Coordinator, Mike Hayes, Tyndall at launch of Transnational Access Programme

The TA providers include Tyndall, CEA (Leti & Liten), Fraunhofer IMS, Fraunhofer IIS and imec the Netherlands. In addition, Virtual Access to databases of vibrational energy sources from real life applications is being offered by the University of Perugia and the University of Southampton. EnABLES also funds Joint Research Activities (JRAs) between the above mentioned partners along with Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Politecnico Di Torino and University of Bologna. It is envisaged that the Joint Research Activities  will lead to future Transnational Access programme offerings.
The access activities can be undertaken in many ways; ranging from characterizing material or devices to carrying out physical or simulated feasibility studies to see if 'battery life' in IoT devices can be prolonged. The potential impact of EnABLES is vast – it is forecast that the world will have 1 trillion IoT devices by 2025 most of which will require an embedded self-contained power source.

The access process is very simple, examples of offerings can be viewed on the EnABLES website and an online enquiry form is available at www.enables-project.eu. All outputs from the EnABLES TA and VA activities will be openly available as part of the aim of EnABLES to build a collaborative ecosystem that creates miniaturized and autonomous sensors. The EnABLES program already brings together a consortium of 130 'powering IoT' researchers giving them access to over €2Bn worth of research infrastructure.

We welcome you to go onto the EnABLES website and subscribe for newsletters, updates and info on other relevant events and activities (http://www.enables-project.eu/contact/signup/).

Provided by Mike Hayes, EnABLES Coordinator

n the vast world of conferences there are only a handful centric to the areas of safety and compliance that are relevant to the electronics field. The annual IEEE Symposium on Product Compliance Engineering (ISPCE) is one of these events. In fact, for those with a stake in safety and compliance issues (including EMC and environmental requirements) with a need to stay current, it's a must attend event. I (Kevin) was privileged to be among the approximately 250 participants at this year's symposium in San Jose. ISPCE addressed all of the proximate issues in this field.

Regional requirements have always been crucial in compliance. ISPCE addresses such requirements in a very focused way. (Images courtesy of ISPCE)

Among the notable topics discussed at the symposium were risk and hazard management, IEC 60601 4th edition EMC, RoHS, WEEE and all things environmental related such as chemical content halogens. Also covered were Hazloc or hazardous location regulatory issues, mechanical safety issues and tests. Even the subject of cyber security, which is being discussed in so many forums, was covered. Here, the perspective was on safety such as ways products could be compromised or made unsafe by hacking, for example. 

Several sessions were presented on regional safety and compliance standards in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Mexico, the Caribbean, China and Central America. These extended to labeling requirements for various global locations. Of course, standards of interest here in the U.S. were on the agenda. For instance, there was a session on the National Electrical code for Division 2 vs Zone 2 protection techniques.

Many talks are by subject area. Two of those of high interest were the ones on lightning protection techniques and hipot testing. Even more germane were the presentations on "Power Supply Safety Evaluation" and "Certification Challenges for Power Banks". But one of the most relevant and often discussed sessions concerned IEC 62368 compliance, which is the new standard for power supplies replacing IEC 60950, which has been with us for a long time. These are topics we routinely discuss and review in the PSMA Safety and Compliance committee. (For a full list of the presentations, see the ISPCE 2018 conference schedule here.)

One of the benefits of attending ISPCE is that you get to hear about these standards from the top experts in the field. By that I mean the people who are actually doing the work of getting products through compliance testing and into production and the representatives of the NRTLs (nationally recognized test laboratories) and related test equipment makers. With all of these standards and testing experts gathered in one place, you can get questions answered on the spot.

Broadly speaking, participating in a symposium like ISPCE is a means to preparing for compliance requirements and approaching them in a logical, planned way. Reflecting on what we have observed in industry, it always amazes us how little time or thought is given to compliance needs during product definition, development and design. So often these requirements do not receive proper consideration until one arrives in the compliance test lab where the customer is being charged $1000 an hour or more. At that point everyone becomes very open minded for discussion.

Some talks were very relevant to power electronics. (Images courtesy of ISPCE)

Yet many of the costs and project delays associated with compliance lab crises could be avoided with just a modest investment in pre-compliance testing. Probably $2500 spent on a small pre-compliance area in a lab would pay for itself during the first use. Doing pre-compliance testing and gaining 90% confidence that a product will pass the first time in the expensive test lab would be well worth the upfront investment. 

Unfortunately, there is often no time or resources allocated to these activities UNTIL there is an issue–then budget must and will be provided. This is a frequent topic of discussion at events like ISPCE where you'll hear the consultants and the labs say how thankful they are that companies are completely reactive when it comes to compliance and see no reason to change. This is also a source of humor for the compliance consultants who get called in for firefighting when money is no object.

At many companies, the status quo on compliance is unlikely to change. But if you can help your organization take a more proactive approach, it should ultimately pay dividends. Whether you are new to product safety and compliance, or an old hand—especially in the power electronics industry—attending ISPCE annually should be part of your pre-compliance preparation. I already have it on my calendar for next year.

The ISPCE exhibition features displays by an array of test agencies and test labs as well as test instrument manufacturers. Look closely and you may spot some familiar power supply companies and the PSMA.

Authors:

Kevin Parmenter, Director of Applications Engineering Taiwan Semiconductor America

Jim Spangler, President, Spangler Prototype Inc. (SPI)

Editor's Note: This article was first published in the July 2018 issue of  How2Power Today (www.how2power.com/newsletters).

ndustrial power is a fascinating world, especially when designing customized solutions combining multi disciplines, and a segment full of amazing projects requiring from designers large range of competences and tight intimacy with customers and related industry. Powering safety equipment in gas, oil and hazardous substances is a very good example of an area where power designers have to combine power-knowledge, safety and regulation, software, and to have a full understanding of the application area and connected devices. Let's dive into the amazing world of Industrial Power to understand the connections between the electrons, the gas, oil and hazardous substances that make our world better and safer.

Challenges faced by gas, oil and hazardous substance industry

The production, transportation and distribution of gas, oil and hazardous substances require, at every step of their respective processes, high levels of monitoring, guaranteeing safety and environmental protection. It is critical to prevent any leakage, and if happening, to detect and report faults without delay, requiring that sensors, monitoring station, communication and other connected devices are powered with stable "always available power." That might sound obvious but considering the entire chain, from production to distribution; the quality of power delivered from grid and micro-grid is not always optimum, which could compromise safety. That's why a very specific type of power solution including local energy storage, power monitoring and communication towards the host system and site-manager is a must.

We will come back to the power solution in detail, but another challenge facing demanding industries are; the aging of installed equipment which, some are in operation for more than 20 years, powered by linear power sources with low efficiency and backup batteries, not dynamically monitored, having as consequence to request, for safety reason, preventive battery replacement on calendar basis.  At the very least there are cost implications for operators, as well an environmental impacts, if we consider the low efficiency of the power supply and the recycling of batteries that could be in a perfect condition; reducing energy consumption and battery life-time motivated companies to upgrade the installed base of power supplies with higher efficiency power sources, battery monitoring and real-time based communication between the power unit and the supervising center.

Site modernization is an important process: but, in the case of the gas industry, not enough to reach the objectives fixed by the different governments to reduce methane emissions that may result from gas leakage throughout the overall process, as reported by the Clean Air Task Force.

In the U.S.A, the White House published the Climate Action Plan "Strategy to reduce methane emissions" in March 2014. This document covers a large range of areas where methane emissions must be reduced; from agriculture, to oil and natural gas sector, highlighting the need to improve measurement methods (e.g. by developing new measurement technologies, including lower-cost emissions sensing equipment) and for operators to initiate activities to reduce gas leakage throughout the overall process.

The modernization process is very well aligned with the requirement but considering the scale of the overall chain additional measuring stations will be required to detect early leakage triggering action to repair as soon as detected. In that industry, time matters and the sooner a default identified, the lower the environmental impact; and for that reliable power sources are mandatory!

What is the best power solution gas, oil and hazardous substances, leakage-detection manufacturers should consider?

Safety and regulations
Many applications are using uninterruptable power supplies (UPS); though considering the nature of the industry segment, and potentially explosive environments, power designers have to consider a number of technical parameters, including specific legislations and regulations related to countries the final equipment is installed.

Gas detection is very much connected to business segment 'Fire Alarms' and, from the early days, power solutions designed for those types of applications have had to follow safety standards related to that segment.

In Europe, the EN 54 Fire detection and fire alarm systems is a mandatory standard that specifies requirements and laboratory tests for every component of fire detection and fire alarm systems, allowing free movement of construction products between countries of the European Union market. The part 4 (Power supply equipment - EN54-4:2007) specifies requirements, methods of test and performance criteria for power supply equipment of fire detection and fire alarm systems. Included in the standard are functionality tests, electrical and mechanical design requirements, as well environmental tests such as cold, vibration, impact, damp heat, and electromagnetic compatibility.

In the USA, the product must comply with the National Fire Protection Association standard NFPA 72-2010 and to the FM Approvals - standard for fire alarm signaling systems – class 3010 (FM3010). When certified equipment are stamped with a specific certification logo.

In other countries, additional standards may apply, which in close cooperation with equipment manufacturers, power designers have to consider at the early stages of the product development, e.g. in UK, the BRE Global Loss Prevention Certification Board (LPCB) verify and certify products operating in Fire Safety, stamped by the LPCB logo [figure 3].

Power supply – battery and monitoring and communication in focus
Standard power supplies powering Fire Alarms are usually dimensioned for small systems requiring limited current, 1.5A to 5.5A at 24V output. That is enough to power fire detectors, sensors and monitoring equipment but not sufficient for larger systems such as the ones deployed in the gas, oil and hazardous substance industry; especially when upgrading legacy systems.

This is where the custom power solution is considered by equipment manufacturers, requiring more power, higher battery capacity and extra features such as advanced monitoring and communication.

Power Supply - High power EN54-4 power solutions are supporting high capacity lead acid batteries; in this example up to 200Ah. High capacity batteries are requiring special attention on the way the power is balanced between the system bus voltage and battery charging.

The most optimized solution is to build a power system that includes two independent power supplies; the first one (28V/20A) to power the applications (e.g. infrared cameras) and the second (28V/15A) to charge the batteries as its main purpose.

Enclosed in an IP30 case, the power supplies and supervising circuitries require special attention on layout, to optimize free air convection, which is the case in the vast majority of applications. Thermally controlled fans can always be added for high temperature environments but designers have to develop the product based upon free air convection, dimensioning components and thermal management for such conditions. Conduction cooling is the rule, and technology such as passive heat-pipes are often considered.

Battery and Monitoring - As we mentioned earlier in the article, the reliability of EN54-4 power sources, supplying voltage to strategic applications and securing power to vital functions, in case of AC disruption, has no compromise. We used to say "Failure is not an option and battery integrity a must." That's where battery monitoring becomes a science, making the overall power system highly reliable.

Different methods exist to test battery integrity/capacity:

• Full load test - For this test a constant current is drawn from the battery for an extended period of time (typically 20 hours). Measurements of current and voltage are taken periodically from which the capacity of the battery can be calculated.
• Reduced load or Maintenance load test - Similar to the full load test except that the period is reduced (usually performed by operating the system on battery for a shorter period of time than for a full load test).
• Momentary load or Pulse load – The test meter loads the battery with a pulsed or momentary series of loads. The duration and repetition of the load test cycle varies depending on the battery type and size.
• Battery voltage reading - Typically the voltage of the battery is measured and compared to the optimal value expected; a small variation to this test is to allow a current to be drawn from the battery for a period of time to eliminate the surface charge.

Each method has advantages and disadvantages and the best method is a combination of all.

Considering the application and environment, system power designers have developed complex algorithms (part of companies' secrets), integrating battery specific parameters, in-situ operating conditions and predictive failure simulation, based on calculation and field data.

As the Fire Industry Association presented in "FIA Guidance Testing of lead acid batteries used in Fire Detection & Alarm System Power Supplies," one of the most critical parts in this process is the calibration.

As the battery ages, chemical degradation causes reduction in the battery's maximum chemical capacity, limiting performance and risk of failure. Defining the point when an alarm signal should be generated to request maintenance is very important and that can only be done with detailed battery knowledge.

In a perfect world, a calibration profile should belong to the battery, but unfortunately that is not always the case.  Currently the technical information available is not good enough for demanding applications, requiring power manufacturers to build their own databases, which are then integrated into the algorithms.

Calibration requires a large amount of data to establish the performance profile of the battery. That data are is based upon voltage at the cells under different conditions of load and temperature, the internal resistance (measured value from a large population), the dynamic behavior under load transient and few more part of the magic receipt.

When in operation, the EN54-4 power system permanently monitors the 'State of Charge' (Remaining battery capacity / Full charge capacity), the 'State of Health' (Full charge capacity / battery design capacity) and other parameters defined during the design process. In the case of the product presented as example, the PBUKW6004 tests the internal resistance and other parameters every 3 minutes with 10 cycles. The data is then compared with the calibration table and, if a deviation identified, the fault reported via the communication bus, as well as being communicated via a local LED on the front panel.

Communication – Power supplies used in Fire Detection & Alarm System are usually not embedding communication interface. When a default detected, a LED is lit on the front of the power unit and a relay (e.g. open collector transistor) switched to trigger an alarm.

In the case of gas leakage control, equipment could be deployed in remote areas or limited access during site operation. It is very important for the System Supervisor to know the state of each station in real time, requiring the power supply to communicate information to host/supervisor.

Adding an Internet RS-485 with Modbus protocol to the power unit makes it possible for the System Supervisor to tightly monitor the health of each individual site and the state of the batteries and, from data collected, to initiate technical maintenance when necessary.

Information collected through the communication bus is not limited to the battery, it could also include other useful information such as temperature, bus voltage condition and load condition, adding important information when monitoring safety in such operation.

Way forward and conclusion

Powering demanding applications such as gas leakage monitoring is very interesting and new technologies such as low power consumption sensors will require power designers to explore new territories in future, which is very exciting.

In the semiconductors domain, Gallium Nitride, Silicon Carbide or Gallium Arsenide are opening a full range of new applications and, as listed in the White House report under "Improving Methane Measurement" - developing new measurement technologies, including lower-cost emissions sensing equipment, an invitation to Power Designers to investigate harvesting energy.

To conclude, this article has sought to briefly convey the type of challenges power designers can expect to face, when developing power solutions for demanding applications, reflecting the huge amount of required competence and knowledge it requires. It certainly dispels the clichéd notion that the Industrial Power sector is a boring segment; rather demonstrating just how exciting it is and will become in the future.

Provided by Patrick Le Fèvre Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Powerbox

ver the course of the PCIM Europe 2018, 506 exhibitors from 27 countries presented components and other products from every area of application in power electronics.

A total of 11,602 trade visitors took in the innovations and trends that will be driving their business in the future. At the conference held alongside the exhibition, more than 800 participants learned more about the latest developments and research findings from the realms of science and industry in over 300 talks and poster presentations.

PCIM Europe 2019 will be held from May 5-7 in Nuremberg, Germany. For more information, please go to https://pcim.mesago.com/events/en.html

Paul O'Shea and Greg Evans at the PSMA booth

incoln International is pleased to present you with the latest Solar Energy Stock Index from our Global Energy, Power & Infrastructure Group. Topics covered in this issue include:

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

solar_energy_stock_index_q2_2018.pdf (870k 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.

• Q2 2018 Deal Volume Comparison
• Recent Solar Energy Transaction Announcements
• Margin Performance in the Solar Energy Industry

solar_energy_dealreader_q2_2018.pdf (685k pdf)

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

incoln International is pleased to present you with the latest EMS Stock Index from our Global Electronics Sector. This will provide you with:

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

ems_stock_index_q2_2018.pdf (2.1M pdf)

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

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

• Q2 2018 deal volume comparison by total transactions, deal type, geography and size
• Recent EMS transaction announcements
• Margin performance in the EMS industry

ems_dealreader_q2_2018.pdf (338K pdf)

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

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