Megawatt Systems

Silicon Alternatives to the Ubiquitous MLCC

October 14, 2022 by Mukund Krishna

A longside resistors and inductors, capacitors are one of the fundamental electronic components. In fact, an argument could be made that they are more versatile than their other passive counterparts, essential to providing everything from energy storage and filtering to smoothing and RF tuning. About one trillion capacitors are produced every year, with around 80% of that … [Read more...] about Silicon Alternatives to the Ubiquitous MLCC

Getting Involved With IEEE Power Electronics Society: Successful APEC Event for WIE, YP, and You!

October 14, 2022 by Stephanie Watts Butler

An insurmountable wall of acronyms glued together with complex organizational dynamics can present a complicated scenario for those wanting to become more involved with the IEEE Power Electronics Society (PELS). This wall can feel even more unsurmountable to those new to engaging with the IEEE, especially students, recent graduates, or diverse members. Industry members may … [Read more...] about Getting Involved With IEEE Power Electronics Society: Successful APEC Event for WIE, YP, and You!

Ranking Qi Wireless Power Transmitters by Efficiency

October 14, 2022 by John Perzow

The Wireless Power Consortium (WPC) Energy Star Task Force (ESTF), comprised of engineers from major cellphone and consumer electronics manufacturers, test houses, and others, developed a proposed efficiency-test protocol for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), intended to rank Qi wireless power transmitters on the basis of power-transfer efficiency. Key to this … [Read more...] about Ranking Qi Wireless Power Transmitters by Efficiency

Prof. Rajashekara Wins the 2022 Global Energy Prize

October 14, 2022 by Ashok Bindra

Prof. Kaushik Rajashekara, distinguished professor of engineering at the University of Houston (UH), Houston, TX, USA, and IEEE Life Fellow, has been awarded the prestigious Global Energy Prize for 2022 for his outstanding contributions to transportation electrification and energy efficiency technologies while reducing power generation emissions. He is one of three laureates … [Read more...] about Prof. Rajashekara Wins the 2022 Global Energy Prize

Full-Bridge Fault- Tolerant Isolated DC–DC Converters: Overview of Technologies and Application Challenges

October 14, 2022 by Abualkasim Bakeer

Nowadays, energy generation is on the path from centralized to distributed generation paradigm to improve the efficiency and resilience of power systems. One of the major developments in the energy sector was the introduction of dc microgrids that facilitate direct integration of energy sources, storage, and dc loads. Also, most consumer and industrial devices are naturally dc … [Read more...] about Full-Bridge Fault- Tolerant Isolated DC–DC Converters: Overview of Technologies and Application Challenges

A technology revolution is unfolding around us as every major mode of transportation is in some stage of electrification, whether on land, sea, or in the air. All of these transportation modes depend on electric machines that play critical roles in both propulsion systems as well as in a wide variety of accessory equipment. Fuel economy and reduced emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants are major driving forces for electrified transportation. Despite the significant differences between these varied transportation modes, they all share strong motivations to make their electric machines and adjustable-speed drives smaller, lighter, and more efficient. An excellent example of this trend for the power electronic drives is provided by comparing the drive units in the Tesla S (2012) and Tesla 3 (2017). As shown in the side-by-side views provided in Figure 1, the drive unit shrank in size from an enclosure that matched the size of its main traction motor to a much smaller unit that, at first sight, appears to be a non-descript end-bell attached to one end of the motor. Rather than focusing here on how this impressive reduction in mass and volume was achieved (addressed later in this article), the key point here is that similar technology trends are under way in many of the other transportation modes as well, making electrified transportation increasingly appealing and competitive in the process.