EE&T News: April 26, 2010

Our first energy efficiency conference

For readers in the San Jose, Calif. area, consider checking out our first energy efficiency conference, held at the San Jose Marriot. We'll have presentations on smart meters, efficient power supply technology, energy harvesting, and more. We'll also have a special keynote from the Calif. Energy Commission, as well as a raffle for some cool development kits. Details are here: eetweb.com/sponsor/energy-efficiency-technology/

Leland Teschler, Editor, [email protected] Read More

Heat pump maker finds energy efficiency standards have teeth

DOE has determined that a heat pump and an air conditioner made by AeroSys, Inc. violate federal law, falling about 4% and 8% below minimum standards, respectively. DOE says its Notice of Noncompliance to AeroSys requires the manufacturer to respond within 15 days of its issuance, detailing steps the company will take to remove the two failed models from U.S. commerce. AeroSys must also provide written notification of violations to all businesses that sold the products. READ MORE Read More

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NREL on track to create super-white LEDs

LED researchers at NREL think they are on the road to creating super-white LEDs thanks to a breakthrough in fabricating a reliable efficient green LED using indium gallium phosphide. To make an LED that appears white, researchers minimally need the colors red, green and blue. Red and blue have been relatively wasy to create, but green has been elusive. In fact, commercial LEDs now are made to look white by aiming the blue light at a phosphor, which then emits green. The process saps a big chunk of the efficiency from the light. The aim now is to provide a fourth color to make that white light even whiter. READ MORE Read More

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Now products need a lab report to get EnergyStar status

Say good-bye to gas-powered alarm clocks and similar unlikely gadgets. After some embarrassing revelations that almost anything could get an Energy Star rating, the DoE has tightened up its criteria for awarding the EnergyStar seal. Now, manufacturers must submit complete lab reports and results for review and approval by EPA prior to labeling. READ MORE Read More

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Upcoming legislation promotes energy efficient motors, buildings, and renewables

A number of energy-related pieces of legislation are winding their way through the law-making process. They provide monetary incentives for renewables, efficiency measures, and a number of related behaviors. Here's a run down on the bills it might pay to keep an eye on. READ MORE Read More

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Energy shorts

Tricks of the trade for driving bright LEDs - First the good news: Prices for high-brightness LEDs (HBLEDs) have dropped by a third over the last few years. Now the bad news: High-brightness white LEDs are still more than an order of magnitude more expensive to mass produce than their dimmer brethren.

Who's who of Retrofit Ramp-Up awards - Firms interested in getting Recovery Act-funded work might do well to investigate the 25 communities slated to get up to $452 million in "ramp-up" energy efficiency building retrofits.

LEDs get a color binning standard - NEMA’s Solid State Lighting Section has developed a standard called SSL 3-2010, High-Power White LED Binning for General Illumination.

Getting up to speed on building energy codes - Manufacturers and designers of energy efficient equipment might be well advised to check out Building Energy Codes 101: An Introduction.

Smart garages for electric vehicles - Several key initiatives aim to realize the "Smart Garage" -- a paradigm that allows cars to plug in to homes and buildings, uniting our transport, building and grid energy systems.

National collaboration targets LED street lights - The DoE recently set up the Municipal Solid-State Street Lighting Consortium to collect, analyze, and share information and lessons learned about LED street-lighting.

Less power for lighter loads - New technology works out the bugs of a motor controller developed by a NASA engineer in the 1970s.

Green manufacturers get a tax break -- with a catch - California Senate Bill 71 exempts green manufacturers from paying sales and use taxes on manufacturing equipment to encourage investment in manufacturing, job creation and economic growth in California. Ah, but there's a catch. Read More

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Small, Efficient 4-A Switch Buck-Boost Converter
The TPS63020 is the industry’s smallest and highest performance 4-A switch buck-boost converter with up to 96 percent efficiency.
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VIDEO

At our sister site machinedesign.com, Lee Teschler talks with Corey Morton of B&R Industrial Automation about regenerative drive technology. Run time, 5:34