EE&T News: August 10, 2010

God bless air conditioners

I was in Austin, Tex. for National Instruments' NIWeek event during the recent heat wave that sent temperatures there regularly past 100 F. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas was in an emergency much of that week, which serves as a reminder of how impactful super-efficient A/C projects now being funded by the DoE ARPA-E program could be. And if you've got a super-efficient technology, let us know about it at [email protected]. -- Leland Teschler, Editor

Inside a smart grid system

At the recent NI Week event hosted by LabView software creator National Instruments, there were a couple of interesting demonstrations of what's going on in smart grid infrastructure. I teamed up with EngineeringTV.com to do two short videos on the subject with NI's Brian MacCreery. The first is an explanation of a smart switch devised by Siemens Energy which takes the place of an electromechanical switching device called a recloser, but with enough smarts to do some diagnostics. READ MORE

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A video tour of a super-efficient Smart Home

It's built in sometimes-frigid Cleveland, Ohio but it has no furnace. The walls in the SmartHome Project are super-insulated and the full-sized, three-bedroom home designed and built with energy conservation in mind has numerous other innovations that keep inhabitants toasty warm. Watch the video.

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Flywheels get bigger role in backup power

Energy shorts

Cheaper illumination through the ages
Who'se harvesting energy?
Distributor Mouser will handle Cree LEDs
Solar cells tap both visible, infrared range in one structure
Keeping inverters safe
CAD to the rescue for fluorescent dimmer design
LED connectors boast sleek profiles

Back to the future with a 21st-century lamp

A prototype LED light bulb from Cree Inc. delivers more than 1,300 lumens at 152 lumens/watt (LPW). This is somewhat of a milestone because it exceeds the performance goals set by the U.S. Dept. of Energy (DOE) for the 21st Century Lamp, the third category in its L Prize SM competition. READ MORE

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6-W open-frame power supply

Power-circuit busbars for EVs

RO-LINX PowerCircuit busbars handle power-distribution needs in electric vehicle (EV) drives, hybrid electric-vehicle (HEV) drives, and related charging systems, as well as solar-power inverters, uninterruptable power supplies, and industrial motor drives. The busbars offer the features of power PCBs and laminated busbars. They can be made in three dimensions to reduce weight and footprint and to conform to specific engineering designs. The busbars handle applications at current levels from 100 to 500 A and can be combined with industrial mounting of functional components such as capacitors, sensors, and IGBTs. The devices feature a closed-mold design, using materials engineered for high-performance reliability in applications subjected to high vibration and temperature cycling. 3D designs are well suited for medium to high-volume assembly and most soldering processes.Rogers Corp., Power Distribution Systems Div.

Thomas Division
Thomas provides OEM pump and compressor innovations for environmental applications with oil-less technology offerings including WOB-L® and articulated piston, diaphragm, rotary, linear, and liquid pumps.
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