EE&T News: March 15, 2011

Here comes refrigerant-free air conditioning

Attendees at the DoE's ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit got a look at water-based air conditioning/refrigeration developed by Dais Analytic Corp. that uses neither refrigerant gas nor a conventional compressor. Last year, Dais got an ARPA-E grant to develop and bring the process up to commercial scale. READ MORE

A car battery for the 'greenie' who has everything

Most people's experience with lithium batteries is limited to the power pack in their laptop. But lithium batteries have also recently become a popular way of saving weight in race cars, particularly dragsters. Now, more general-purpose lithium batteries have become available targeting other classes of race cars. But these power packs can work with almost any car that contains an alternator, opening up the possibility of installing them in ordinary street cars. READ MORE

SEER into the future -- Is bigger always better?

More efficiency is better than less, right? For air conditioning systems under five tons capacity the efficiency figure of merit is the Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio, or SEER. If the minimum standard is 10, you want it to be 12, or 13. But what does that number mean? Is bigger always better? The devil, it turns out, is in the details, and the details are in the method of testing. READ MORE

Trains, planes, and flywheels

Engineers at Kinetic Traction Systems Inc. in Chatsworth, Calif. are developing flywheels to store energy recouped from braking trains. The flywheels can also store energy that can be used to stabilize voltage levels in areas prone to low-voltage sag. In both cases, the flywheels would be mounted beside the tracks. To capture energy from braking, the flywheels would also be located near train stations where trains would be braking. READ MORE

Energy shorts

60-A chip simplifies multiphase buck regulator design
Point-of-load regulators use hysteretic constant on-time (COT) modulators with adaptive dead-time control
Mandates for efficient induction motors
Inside a wind turbine simulation

Featured video: Chevy Volt energy monitor

New standards for LED drivers and SSL dimming

Two new solid-state lighting standards from the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) cover electronic drivers for LEDs and dimming of solid-state lighting used for replacing incandescent lights. SSL 1 from the NEMA Solid State Lighting Section, covers topics that include ratings, performance, and marking. SSL 1 also provides specifications guidance for electromagnetic immunity, audible noise, and efficiency calculations. READ MORE

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Energy efficient lighting for dummies

The six-page "5 Ls of Lighting" provides a super-brief overview of information that will come in handy for buying bulbs once the new lighting energy-efficiency standards roll out nationwide starting January 2012. The five Ls in the title stand for location, lumens, light bulbs, label, and law. READ MORE

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