Power forum to talk about many power topics

Darnell’s Power Forum (DPF), in San Jose from September 18 to 21, 2012, is an exciting international event that focuses on “advancing power technologies that matter” for the successful development of next-generation power systems. There is tremendous synergy possible from discussions broadly focused on power management, energy efficiency, advanced components, energy storage, smart grid innovations, and more. DPF is a solutions-oriented event, with a strong emphasis on practical advances in power electronics. In addition to a strong focus on today’s “best practices,” DPF looks forward toward next-generation solutions and advances. Some of the areas of focus for this important annual event are as follows:

• Advanced Power Components
• Digital Power Conversion
• Digital Power Management
• Energy Harvesting & Storage
• High-Efficiency System Architectures
• High-Frequency Power Conversion
• High-Temperature Power Conversion
• Innovation for the Smart Grid
• Packaging & Cooling
• Portable Power
• Supercapacitors & Ultracapacitors
• Thin-Film Batteries

GaN seminar leader Robert White

Additionally, the forum will provide pre-conference seminar (Tuesday, September 18), by industry guru Robert White about using GaN in your power supply. This should be very interesting because GaN is a critical juncture where design engineers must at least consider if they will use it in their design because it provides much faster and lower loss switching than today’s silicon MOSFETs. Even better, the technology promises smaller and more efficient power supplies and dc/dc converters. Mr. White will compare Si, SiC, and GaN and explain how the material properties relate to the electrical properties. He will also compare the key specifications of GaN switches and Si MOSFETs. The seminar will have discussions of circuit techniques, examples of buck converters and a dual-active bridge using GaN, and address paralleling the GaN devices, talk about layout and thermal issues. Go to http://dpf.darnell.com/index.php for more information.

poshea@hearst.com