Power Electronics ♦ news digest program and to carry on our tradition of innovation.”
Garabedian earned a BSEE degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic University and an MSEE degree from the University of California at Davis. Prior to joining First Solar, he was founder and CEO of Touchdown Technologies, a semiconductor test equipment company. Prior to that, Garabedian worked in the semiconductor and micro- electromechanical systems (MEMS) industries for over 15 years, developing new products ranging from automotive sensors to telecommunications switching systems, and holds more than 20 issued patents in these fields.
First Solar utilises a continuous manufacturing process which transforms a sheet of glass into a complete solar module in less than 2.5 hours, which contributes to the fast energy payback time and the low carbon footprint of systems of its PV modules.
LM5113 board
The firm has also implemented a comprehensive, prefunded solar module collection and recycling program. Anyone wishing to dispose of First Solar modules can request collection at any time, at no additional cost, and First Solar will pick up the modules and recycle up to 90% (by mass) of the material for use in new products.
Power Electronics
EPC GaN technology & TI’s driver are a match made in heaven
EPC’s new power product shows the performance benefits of its gallium nitride technology when used alongside Texas Instruments’ FET driver
Efficient Power Conversion Corporation (EPC) has introduced the EPC9102, a fully functional eighth brick converter.
The board which has a 36 V – 60 V input to 12 V output, is a 375 kHz phase-shifted full bridge
EPC says the LM5113 board is the industry’s first driver to optimally drive and fully release the benefits of enhancement mode GaN FETs. The EPC9102 demonstrates the performance capabilities of high switching frequency eGaN FETs when coupled with this eGaN driver.
The converter has a standard eighth brick footprint and height; it measures 2.3” x 0.9” x 0.4”. The board has a peak power efficiency of 94.8% while delivering 10 A of current with a 36 V input.
The EPC9102 demonstration circuit was designed to showcase the size and performance that can be achieved at 375 kHz operation using eGaN FETs. EPC did not prioritise maximum output power when designing the device. The company says operating frequency is roughly 50% to 100% higher than similar commercial eighth brick DC-DC power converters.
To assist the power system design engineers, the EPC9102 demonstration board is oversized to allow connections for bench evaluation. There are various probe points aid to simple waveform measurements and efficiency calculation. The board is intended for bench evaluation with low ambient temperature and forced air cooling.
The EPC9102 demo boards are priced at $306.25 each and are available for immediate delivery.
June 2012
www.compoundsemiconductor.net 89
(PSFB) eighth brick converter with 17 A maximum output current. The EPC9102 uses the 100 V EPC2001 eGaN FETs in conjunction with the recently introduced LM5113 100V half-bridge gate driver manufactured by Texas Instruments.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105