Everything You Wanted to Know About Capacitors But Were Afraid to Ask

n Saturday, March 3, 2018, the day before the start of, and in the same venue as APEC 2018 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, TX , The Power Sources Manufacturers Association (PSMA) and the IEEE Power Electronics Society (IEEE PELS) jointly sponsored an all-day workshop titled "Everything You Wanted to Know About Capacitors But Were Afraid to Ask".

The workshop addressed the fundamentals of capacitor technology, as applied to a wide range of power conversion applications, including dc-dc converters, variable frequency drives and inverters. The primary technologies discussed were: Ceramic, Electrolytic Caps (Aluminum), Dry Film, and Super Caps which were broken into Low Voltage, High Voltage, and Failure Modes considerations. There was an interactive panel discussions following each topic. In addition, there were presentations discussing new capacitor technologies, a discussion on reliability testing, and Embedded Capacitors. During the breakfast, lunch and post event networking sessions, all attendees were able to participate and review the demonstrations for not only the Capacitor Workshop, but also the Magnetics Workshop.

The PSMA Capacitor Committee is currently working on the technical agenda for next year's workshop to be held prior to APEC2019in Anaheim, CA. Possible topics include covering other technologies (i.e. Tantalums), more focus on application discussions, and emerging technologies. Your inputs and opinions are certainly welcome at this early stage of planning. If you are interested in participating in the planning and demonstrations for 2019 Capacitor Workshop, contact the Association Office at power@psma.com.

Organizing Committee

Fred Weber, Future Technology Worldwide
Pierre Lohrber, Wurth Electronics
Wilmer Companioni, KEMET Electronics

If you or anyone in your company is interested in getting on the distribution list for future issues of PSMA UPDATE, please send e-mail to: power@psma.com. Be sure to include your name and the name of your company.