EE&T News: October 24, 2011

The 124 mpg car you can't drive

The right way to nurture start-ups

The recent Chapter 11 collapse of a solar energy company called Solyndra has resulted in a lot of finger pointing and partisan politics over the use of taxpayer dollars for funding promising startups. That's too bad, because despite the missteps associated with Solyndra, the government's underlying motivation for getting involved was sound: To help accelerate a new technology and create jobs. The problem: The federal government's approach amounted to little more than throwing money at a firm working in a trendy area favored by bureaucrats. READ MORE

ADVERTISEMENT

Out of the frying pan, into the fire? No problem for silicon carbide ICs

Engineers familiar with silicon-based semiconductors sometimes have a hard time wrapping their heads around silicon carbide electronics. The reason: It is difficult to conceive of a semiconductor device able to work just fine while glowing red hot. That high thermal conductivity, of course, is one of the big attractions of SiC devices. READ MORE

The basics of color temperature

As the world transitions away from ordinary incandescent lighting and toward more energy-efficient light sources, the topic of light-source color temperature has suddenly become more important. Engineers and product designers who once took color temperature for granted now find they must educate themselves about how people perceive different color temperatures and what kind of effects to expect from various lighting technologies. READ MORE

ADVERTISEMENT

Video: How to challenge an Energy Star rating

Energy shorts

New energy manager IC for nanopower energy harvesting appsWhite paper explores servomotor options for solar applicationsCable wrap deters rodents from chewing photovoltaic wiringLED driver for retrofit lamps dims to zero lightThree-phase motors reduce energy use in drive systemsGate driver IC targets electric, hybrid vehiclesVideo: Materials, converting, and adhesives for LEDs

Brighter LEDs: Lamps hit 148 lm/W

LED supplier Cree says it has come up with a version of its high-brightness XLamp XP-G LEDs that are even brighter than before. The cool white XLamp XP-G provides up to 148 lumens and 141 lumens/W (depending on the flux bin), while the outdoor white (4000K) XP-G LED delivers up to 139 lumens and 132 lumens/W and warm white (3000K) offers up to 122 lumens and 116 lumens/W, all at 350 mA. READ MORE

LEDs beat fluorescent efficiency? Not so fast

Lighting manufacturer Precision-Paragon put together a comparison of energy-efficient LED and fluorescent lighting technologies. One interesting fact: The CFL and LED bulbs it compared offer nearly identical energy-efficiency and lighting performance. The CFL bulb used in the comparison costs just $0.86 per bulb, while the LED equivalent costs $45 for a single bulb. READ MORE

Digital optocouplers for hybrid and electric vehicles

Toroidal surface-mount power inductor

The 8300 Series toroidal surface-mount power inductors are suitable for handheld consumer electronics with a restricted PCB footprint and height — the device measures only 7.8 × 5.20 × 1.8 mm. The inductor's toroidal core ensures that magnetic flux is confined to the core, so stray fields are almost totally eliminated. With a device-dependent maximum dc current of 3.0 A, the inductors are available from 0.42 to 100 uH. Dc resistance ranges from 24 to 1,320 mΩ. The device's operating temperature range is –40 to 85°C. Supplied in tape and reel for high-volume automated surface-mount assembly, the maximum reflow solder temperature is 260°C.Murata Power Solutions

FEEDBACK