Technical Editor Margery Conner's PowerSource streams the latest developments in electronic power design and related technologies. Follow Margery on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/margeryc. en-us http://www.edn.com/blog/1470000147.html?nid=3002 Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information. Subject to its Terms of Use Sat, 28 Nov 2009 12:40:24 PST http://www.edn.com/blog/1470000147/post/360050836.html?nid=3002 Last week a reader posted a question on the article, Power-converter IC targets dimmable LEDs, needs no optoisolator, asking, “Can anyone exp... http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;219509080;12103198;y?http://digital.ni.com/express.nsf/bycode/exkpnt?opendocument&metc=mtxzsk National Instruments introduces PXI Semiconductor Suite, a collection of 10 new software-defined modular instruments for mixed signal chip test. View white paper to learn more. http://www.edn.com/blog/1470000147/post/20050802.html?nid=3002 After seeing the role played by electrolytic capacitors in the lifetime of solar inverters and the importance of accurately derating them,, I asked... http://www.edn.com/blog/1470000147/post/1400050740.html?nid=3002 Several (all right, all) of the comments on the post, “HP announces sensors for its “Central Nervous System for the Earth” (CeNSE... http://www.edn.com/blog/1470000147/post/1200050720.html?nid=3002 HP has taken its MEMs expertise, developed to provide fluid sensors for printer cartridges, and uses it to create accelerometers that are up t... http://www.edn.com/blog/1470000147/post/1110050711.html?nid=3002 There’s an emerging market for power supplies in LED lighting and signage. IC vendors are salivating over the huge market for LED bulbs to re... http://www.edn.com/blog/1470000147/post/430050643.html?nid=3002 It turns out it’s possible to trademark a color. For example, T-Mobile owns the color magenta. Really. Here’s an explanation: &... http://www.edn.com/blog/1470000147/post/1370050537.html?nid=3002 Various types of pressure film have been around for a long time in electronics. One use is to monitor how well a heat sink, for example, is contact... http://www.edn.com/blog/1470000147/post/1570050357.html?nid=3002 Do you have a good topic for a technical paper for the 2010 “Designing with LEDs” Workshop to be held March 17 at the Santa Clara Conve... http://www.edn.com/blog/1470000147/post/1350050335.html?nid=3002 Reader Jim K left a comment on Monday’s post, “Micro-inverters offer one solution for optimizing solar efficiency,” asking for a ... http://www.edn.com/blog/1470000147/post/1000050300.html?nid=3002 The lead-in to this post is here: Micro-inverters offer one solution for optimizing solar efficiency. Probably the most well-known micro-inve... http://www.edn.com/blog/1470000147/post/620050262.html?nid=3002 Power-generating installations of solar photovoltaic panels are changing. Rather than the massive solar farms of the past10-20 years, smaller resid... http://www.edn.com/blog/1470000147/post/1920049992.html?nid=3002 When I saw the headline over at Make magazine, “Eternal flame replaced by LEDs,” I thought I understood immediately what the article wo... http://www.edn.com/blog/1470000147/post/1410049941.html?nid=3002 Cree is inviting folks to submit their photos of lousy lighting. Each month Cree will give away 5 of Cree’s LED-based LR6 recessed down... http://www.edn.com/blog/1470000147/post/70049807.html?nid=3002 In general, batteries are good at storing energy and not so good at charging or discharging rapidly. Supercaps, on the other hand, are excellent at... http://www.edn.com/blog/1470000147/post/1120049712.html?nid=3002 Lest anyone thought the LED-lit, bubble-themed arena design of the Beijing Sports Cube was a fluke, here’s the winning design for the 2014 Wi... http://www.edn.com/blog/1470000147/post/890049689.html?nid=3002 Here’s another entry into the e-book reader market, following on the heels reports that Barnes & Noble would also be fielding their own K... http://www.edn.com/blog/1470000147/post/1660049366.html?nid=3002 In the rush to embrace LEDs as the Great Hope for energy-efficient lighting, it’s easy to forget that LEDs themselves are only part of the de... http://www.edn.com/blog/1470000147/post/1030049303.html?nid=3002 In spite of their high lighting efficiency, the cost of high-brightness (HB) LEDs for commodity applications is not low enough yet to compete head-... http://www.edn.com/blog/1470000147/post/270049227.html?nid=3002 Philips Electronics has become the first company to submit an entry for the L Prize competition, which is sponsored by the Department of Energy and... http://www.edn.com/blog/1470000147/post/110049211.html?nid=3002 We now have two OSRAM development kits to give away at the free “Designing with LEDs” workshop in Chicago on October 6. The kits aren&r... http://www.edn.com/blog/1470000147/post/1960048996.html?nid=3002 September 1st marked the beginning of the phase-out of the incandescent bulb in European Union countries. Intrepid reporters at the British newspap... http://www.edn.com/blog/1470000147/post/1220048922.html?nid=3002 [Are you interested in learning about the latest in designing with HB LEDs? Sign up now for EDN's free "Designing with LEDs Workshop", Oc... http://www.edn.com/blog/1470000147/post/770048877.html?nid=3002 In the past, it’s seemed to me that panels on digital power are mostly a love-fest led by the power IC manufacturers that make, you guessed i... http://www.edn.com/blog/1470000147/post/850048685.html?nid=3002 Take a look at a couple of comments on the previous post regarding the efficacy of production LEDs, Real-world numbers on production HB LEDs: 32% e... http://www.edn.com/blog/1470000147/post/370048437.html?nid=3002 Several months ago I posted efficiency numbers indicating that 82% of the power to a HB LED is lost as heat, leaving only 18% converted to light.&n...