1. APEC Comes to the Sunshine State — See You in Tampa, March 26-30, 2017
   
2. 2016 PSMA Planning Meeting in Tampa Florida
   
3. Meet Your Directors
   
4. About Our Members
   
5. Welcome to PSMA
   
6. PSMA and IEEE PELS High Frequency Magnetics Workshop 2017
   
7. PwrSoC 2016, the International Workshop on Power Supply On Chip took place on October 3-5 in Madrid, Spain
   
8. International Workshop on Integrated Power Packaging 2017
   
9. The Paris Climate Agreement and Power Electronics
   
10. Solar Energy Stock Index Q3 2016
    
11. EMS Stock Index Q3 2016
    
12. Lincoln International's Solar Energy DealReader Q3 2016
    
13. Lincoln International's EMS DealReader Q3 2016
    
14. Events of Interest — Mark Your Calendar

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.

Previous issues of update: Q1_2016 | Q2_2016 | Q3_2016

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PSMA UPDATE is published and distributed via e-mail quarterly by the Power Sources Manufacturers Association. Send editorial information and comments to:

Permission to reprint information and articles as published is granted: a courtesy line is appreciated.

Membership in PSMA is open to any organization or corporation involved in the power sources and supplies industry. For membership information, visit our website or contact us by fax, telephone or email.

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.

 

he Applied Power Electronics Conference, which will convene March 26-30, 2017 at the Tampa, Florida Convention Center, continues the longstanding tradition of addressing issues of immediate and long-term interest to the practicing power electronics engineer. The Conference Committee for APEC 2017 has put together the best program ever and one you really don't want to miss.

• A Plenary Session on Monday, March 27 that will feature world-class presentations to keynote our week-long conference. You'll not want to miss these talks from technology visionaries from Google, Texas Instruments, GE Global Research, Jet Propulsion Labs and others. Plus, our PSMA Power Technology Roadmap Committee will present highlights of the latest edition of the roadmap.
• Eighteen Professional Development Seminars on Sunday, March 26 and Monday, March 27 taught by world-class experts that are designed to bring you up to speed on critical power electronics design technologies and techniques.
• A Technical Program from Tuesday, March 28 through Thursday, March 30 comprising 593 top-quality, peer-reviewed papers to choose from.
• An Industry Session program running concurrently with the Technical Program with 20 topical areas and 124 timely presentations.
• Three controversial topics will be covered in our annual Rap Sessions on Tuesday evening. Grab a cool beverage and bring your questions for the panelists.
• A crowded exhibit hall packed with the latest power electronics products.
• The annual MicroMouse contest pitting teams from around the world to solve the maze the fastest with their intelligent motorized mice.
• A terrific social event that brings us all together on Wednesday evening.

Speaking for all of us on the APEC Conference Committee, I invite you to come to Tampa to be part of our annual gathering. You really don't want to miss it. Check the APEC website for details (www.apec-conf.org).

If you haven't already made plans to attend, don't wait any longer. Be sure you have it in your 2017 budget to attend this exceptional event — truly The Premier Event in Applied Power Electronics™.

In addition, on the Saturday prior to the start of APEC2017, the PSMA Magnetics Technical Committee and PELS will be sponsoring the second High Frequency Magnetics Workshop, "Power Magnetics @ High Frequency — Transforming the Black Magic to Engineering". For more information and to register for the workshop visit www.psma.com/technical-forums/magnetics/workshop.

Provided by Greg Evans, APEC 2017 Publicity Chair

he 2016 PSMA Planning Meeting was held on September 25 at the Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel & Marina in Tampa, FL with 23 members attending. The purpose of the Planning Meeting was to review where the Association is today, discuss outstanding issues and to identify possible programs and projects that promise to bring value to the membership.

PSMA Chairman Eric Persson led the meeting and reviewed his vision for the organization and summarized the general health of the organization as well as membership statistics and the changes since the 2015 Planning Meeting. He listed organizations PSMA interacts with, reviewed recent sponsored conference and workshops and emphasized that the technical committees are the heart of the organization. It is in these committees that the real work of PSMA is done.

In discussing some of the areas of concern to the organization he highlighted the need to continue to invest in special projects that will bring value to our members, increase the effort to develop more and deeper involvement within member companies and the continued commitment to bring more industry content to APEC.

There was a report from each of the technical committees that summarized their accomplishments over the past year and focused on ongoing programs and projects. Eight of the technical committees have submitted proposals to organize Industry Sessions at APEC 2017. In addition:

• Ed Herbert, Energy Efficiency Committee Co-Chair reviewed the recent activities on the Energy Efficiency Database (EEDB) and reported that more than 300 people have opted in to receive announcements on current activities in this area.
• Judy Horzepa reported that the Industry-Education Committee supported the Student Travel Grants for APEC 2016 and, together with PELS and IAS, provided up to a total of $40,000. The Student Travel Grants will be supported again for APEC 2017 to provide up to $1,000 in travel reimbursement per student whose technical abstract was selected for presentation and who will be attending the conference.
• Frank Cirolia, Marketing Committee Co-Chair, reviewed the recent activities of the committee including plans for APEC 2017. For the fourth year, the committee will sponsor the “PSMA Passport Game” to increase visibility and traffic to PSMA member exhibit booths during APEC. The committee will continue to issue news releases for PSMA events and activities.
• Brian Narveson, Power Electronics Packaging Committee Co-Chair, reported that the committee has been very active in 2016 and sponsored the first 3D-PEIM Symposium at North Carolina State in June and the fifth PwrSoC Workshop to be held in Madrid Spain in October 2016. In addition, the committee has also expanded its activities and will support the support the 2017 International Workshop on Integrated Power Packaging (IWIPP) with IEEE to be held in Delft, Netherlands.
• Kevin Parmenter, Safety and Compliance Committee Co-Chair, reported that a major accomplishment in 2016 was the development of the Safety and Compliance Data Base which is now available to all PSMA members as well as to individuals in the power sources industry. Interested individuals can register to access the data base and sign up for notifications of current activities and changes in the area.
• Conor Quinn and Dhaval Dalal, Co-Chairs for the Power Technology Roadmap Committee reported the committee held a working meeting just prior to the Planning Meeting to discuss the activities and schedules needed to publish the 2017 Power Technology Roadmap before APEC 2017. The committee will also present a report on the 2017 Power Technology Roadmap at the Plenary session at APEC 2017.
• The Safety and Compliance Committee is a new committee organized by Kevin Parmenter who is serving as committee Co-Chair. At the meeting Jim Spangler

During the Committee Reports a number of issues and possible future activities were identified and discussed. These issues will be the focus for PSMA over the next year (and beyond).

PSMA members can view the minutes of the Planning Meeting on the “Members Only” section of the PSMA web site.

The APEC Technical Program Committee for APEC 2017 met on Sunday and were joined by many of the PSMA members from the Planning Meeting. Based on the results of their work we can all look forward to a very interesting and a successful APEC 2017.

Four members of the Board of Directors are elected at the PSMA Annual Meeting held every year during the APEC conference. Each Director serves a three year term and is eligible to be reelected for one additional term.

In this issue we would like to introduce you to Ed Herbert and Donald Woodard who are both serving their second term.

 
Ed Herbert received his BEEE from Yale University in 1963. He worked as a design engineer, a project engineer, an engineering supervisor, then as engineering manager until 1985. Since then he has been independent, promoting patented technology for license.

Ed serves as Co-Chair of both the PSMA Magnetics Committee and the Energy Efficiency Committee. He is an active participant in the Power Electronics Packaging Committee and Power Technology Roadmap Committee and an occasional participant in several other committees.

He helped with the design of the Energy Efficiency Database. He sponsored all three phases of Core Loss Studies and wrote Supplemental Reports further analyzing the data. He has chaired and presented at several APEC Industry Sessions.

Ed has been enriched by his association with PSMA and welcomes the opportunity to give more in return.

Provided by Ed Herbert, Independent Inventor

Prior to extending his leadership acumen to Venable Instruments, PSMA and APEC, Woodard spent 25 years working in the private sector in executive management, sales and marketing roles at FMC Corporation.

Woodard graduated from the former North Texas State University (now The University of North Texas) in 1976 with a B.B.A. in Sales & Marketing. A native of East Texas, he and his wife of 31 years, Melony, have called Austin home since 1995. They are parents of two children, with two grandchildren rounding out their growing family. The Woodards are active members of Austin Ridge Bible Church and serve on several non-profit committees and outreach programs, such as Mobile Loaves and Fishes. In his spare time, he enjoys fly fishing, bird hunting, competitive shooting and all things rock and roll.

Provided by Donald Woodard, President, Venable Instruments

ounded in 1998, Mornsun Guangzhou Science & Technology Limited has outgrown its peers in China and become a leading power converter manufacturer, offering comprehensive vertical services and power solutions to customers all over the world. The company is strategically located in Guangzhou, China, with three R&D centers, two manufacturing locations and a worldwide distribution network covering 40 countries.

To ensure product quality and promote innovations, MORNSUN's Total Quality Management (TQM) includes a complete management system with emphasis on technological development, material selection, design for manufacturability, failure analysis, personnel training and project management. This combined with an industry certification for ISO9002, ISO14001, OHSMS18001, SA8000 and ISO/TS16949 makes their products robust and reliable for most industrial and harsh environments.

MORNSUN builds products with magneto electric isolation technology, offerings include AC/DC converters, DC/DC converters, isolation amplifiers, IGBT drivers, LED drivesr and EMC auxiliary devicse. Power converters are in the range of 0.25 - 240 watts, with efficiency up to 93%, and low standby power consumption. They come with either 1500VDC/3000VDC/6000VDC or 3500/4000VAC isolation. They also feature extra protections like UVP, UVP, OVP, SCP and OCP, targeting automation & control, fire & security, power distribution and energy system, M2M and IoT market.

Besides product development, technology research and innovation are other focuses of the company. With over 200 engineers and institutional collaborative programs, their 400+ patents include new technologies, software, circuit design, product design and the manufacturing process. Several of these patents are already deployed in products like the R3 DC/DC converters, with MORNSUN's own PWM controller and variable frequency technology. Through innovation, MORNSUN has built an industry first ultra-wide DC-DC converter with input from 200 to 1500VDC, targeting PV industry, wind power, high voltage and energy storage systems. MORNSUN also works with semiconductor companies for reference design, such as the QA series featuring high operating temperature and isolation voltage, differential output, and low isolation capacitance. These are well received by the IGBT/SiC manufacturer and always appears in the gate driver reference design.

MORNSUN knows that good citizenship is good business, and is committed to environmental protection, paying close attention to Corporate Social Responsibility and the ElCC Code of Conduct. To that end, MORNSUN will continue to reduce energy consumption, to move to "paperless" documentation internally, and to invest in new, more efficient and energy saving production equipment. Let's work together and have MORNSUN power your product and empower your ideas.

For more details, please visit www.mornsun-power.com or email info@mornsun.cn.

Provided by Tiger Li, Sales Director, MORNSUN

 
ransphorm Inc. is a global semiconductor company moving the power electronics industry beyond the limitations of silicon. The company is making it possible for high voltage applications to achieve over 95% efficiency and over 40% reduction in energy loss through the use of its—and, notably, the industry's only—JEDEC-qualified gallium nitride (GaN) FETs.

Transphorm co-founders Dr. Umesh Mishra and Dr. Primit Parikh are well-known for their GaN research and development efforts at the University of California, Santa Barabra where Dr. Mishra still holds residency today. In 1996, the team raised the company Nitres, Inc. to develop GaN-on-Si LEDs. After Nitres' successful acquisition, Dr. Mishra and Dr. Parikh founded Transphorm in 2007, this time focusing on cultivating GaN-on-Si's benefits in switch-mode power supplies.

Transphorm TDPS2800E2C1 2.8kW totem-pole PFC evaluation platform

GaN is a wide bandgap semiconductor with inherent traits that make it ideal for dramatically increasing power density, eclipsing what traditional silicon solutions can achieve. Design engineers can use GaN devices in several topologies—hard-switched half-bridge, buck, or boost. However, where GaN truly excels is in a bridgeless totem-pole PFC, an architecture that requires GaN to achieve its fullest potential. In this use case, GaN yields a marked higher performance and an overall lower system-level cost than incumbent solutions.

GaN-on-Si's attributes make it an enticing solution for high voltage applications such as:

Automotive—On-Board Chargers: Reduction of electrical power conversion loss in a potentially smaller system footprint will positively impact the electric and hybrid automobiles' performance. Transphorm's GaN FETs can replace incumbent IGBTs in a totem-pole PFC to achieve >99% efficiency while enabling bi-directional power transfer with fewer components.

Data Centers—Servers: Inarguably, data centers are one of the largest consumers of electricity—projected to burn roughly 140 billion kilowatt-hours annually by 2020 according to the National Resource Defense Council. When replacing silicon MOSFETs with Transphorm's GaN FETs, power supplies are able to increase the total system efficiency to >96% for twice the output power in the same form factor, while exceeding today's 80 Plus Titanium standard.

Solar Energy—PV Inverters: Transphorm's GaN FETs enable PV inverters to increase their switching frequencies by as much as 4x the industry standard. This equates to operating at 100kHz with a 40% reduction in size—an invaluable benefit for densely populated regions with rising dependency on solar energy.

To put power consumption in perspective—every time electricity is taken from an outlet, it is typically converted to another form of power for consumption. With every conversion there is loss, and when you add the total losses in the U.S. alone, it comes out to 300 terawatt hours. Part of that loss comes from larger applications such as data centers, but it also occurs even in the laptop adapter we are all familiar with. The significance of 300 terawatt hours—the entire western United States uses 230 terawatt hours annually. In particular, Las Vegas consumes 33 terawatt hours, San Francisco 6 terawatt hours. Effectively, if you save 300 terawatt hours—which is what Transphorm aims to do—you can actually say that you are taking the western United States off the grid.

Since the company's launch, Transphorm has been wholly-focused on delivering the highest quality, highest reliability GaN devices capable of serving the above markets and more. To ensure this, Transphorm relies on its unique vertically-integrated approach where its engineering experts participate and innovate at every stage of the GaN technology's development—from design to wafer fabrication through to device delivery and application integration support.

600V and 650V GaN FETs in TO-XXX and PQFN88 packages

Transphorm's integrated approach is driven by a team with a combined 300+ years of GaN engineering experience. Throughout the past nine years, they have reached significant milestones advancing not only Transphorm's GaN innovations, but positively affecting the industry as a whole. The company's technical legacy tracks through a number of milestones:

• Resolving dynamic on-resistance for 600V GaN (2010)
• First 600V GaN-on-Si (2011)
• First—and only—600V GaN device to be JEDEC-qualified (2013)
• First generation devices (2014)
• Second generation devices (2015)

Headquartered in Goleta, CA, Transphorm has offices in San Jose, CA, and Yokohama, Japan, as well as a global sales force and distributor network. As of 2013, Transphorm holds a manufacturing partnership with Fujitsu, leveraging its automotive-certified fabrication facility. The company is in production with a comprehensive portfolio consisting of 600V and 650V discrete FETs in TO-XXX and PQFN88 packages for power levels up to 4.5kW. For more information, please visit transphormusa.com.

Provided by Andrea Fasano, Senior Manager,
Marketing Communications, Transphorm Inc.

Editors Note: We would like to feature your company in a future issue of the Update. Please contact the Association Office for information about how to submit an article for consideration.

GoHz Inc
Greg Hassen
720 S. Michigan Ave
Chicago, IL 60605
Telephone: 312-957-6086
E-mail: info@gohz.com
Website: www.gohz.gov

GoHz Inc, founded in 2009, is a manufacturers-based online shop in the AC power supply industry. They provide solutions for changing regular grid power frequency (50 Hz, 60 Hz) and DC power source to adjustable frequency & voltage source. Products include solid state pure sine wave frequency converters, variable frequency drives, inverters, etc.

By providing you with the information you need, Gohz Inc allows you to be your own technical expert. They want you to be able to shop for your products with confidence, knowing that having a firm understanding of the products you're shopping for is crucial to feeling secure about your purchase. Their website includes a wide array of products resources - a basic information selection guide, video tutorials and other resources. Beyond putting the information at your fingertips, they also offer professional technical support for their with on-staff electrical engineers, certified service technicians, and other industry professionals just a short phone call or email away.

National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Sreekant Narumanchi
15013 Denver West Parkway  MS1633
Golden, CO 80401
Telephone: 303-275-4062
E-mail: sreekant.narumanchi@nrel.gov
Website: www.nrel.gov

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) primary national laboratory for renewable energy and energy efficiency research. From scientific discovery to accelerating market adoption, NREL deploys its deep technical expertise and unmatched breadth of capabilities to drive the transformation of the nation’s energy resources and systems.

NREL’s innovations span the spectrum of clean energy, renewable electricity, and energy efficiency. The laboratory is home to three national research centers - for solar, wind, and bioenergy - and several programs that advance cutting-edge research in areas such as strategic energy analysis and energy systems integration.

Alongside NREL’s commitment to innovation, partnerships are at the core of the laboratory’s strategy. NREL collaborates with hundreds of partners across 46 states and 30 countries to commercialize renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies from industry, academia, nonprofit organizations, federal agencies, and international institutions; as well as state, local, and tribal governments. These collaborations allow NREL to tap the expertise of all clean energy-related sectors across the country while working with the Department of Energy to support its mission. With our partners, the laboratory can help advance America’s security and prosperity by addressing today’s energy and environmental challenges through transformative science and technology solutions.

PSMA and IEEE PELS High Frequency Magnetics Workshop
"Power Magnetics @ High Frequency
—Transforming the Black Magic to Engineering"
Saturday March 25, 2017
Tampa, Florida

he PSMA Magnetics Committee and IEEE PELS are organizing a second workshop, "Power Magnetics @ High Frequency — Transforming the Black Magic to Engineering" to be held on Saturday, March 25, 2017 - the day before and in the same venue as APEC 2017 at the Tampa Convention Center. The successful inaugural workshop, "Power Magnetics @ High Frequency — Solving the Black Magic!", was held in Long Beach, CA prior to APEC 2016.

The latest information on the agenda as well as registration information for the workshop are on the PSMA website at: www.psma.com/technical-forums/magnetics/workshop.

To encourage student participation, there are four student waivers available for the registrations fees. Students can apply for the waiver with the application form available on the workshop registration website. The application deadline is Friday December 16.

Target audience:

The target audience for this workshop is all who wish to achieve higher power densities, low profile aspect ratio, higher efficiencies, and improved thermal performance. The workshop content is especially suitable for:

DESIGNERS of power magnetic components
MANUFACTURERS of magnetic materials and magnetic structures
FABRICATORS of magnetic components
PROVIDERS of modelling and simulation software
MANUFACTURERS of test and characterization equipment

This workshop has five (5) sessions:

1. Keynote presentations

• Dr. Johann Kolar of ETH Zürich provides an overview of the impact of magnetics design on the technical performance of power converters over a broad range of applications.
• Donna Kepcia of Magnetics provides an overview and trade-offs of the spectrum of magnetic materials available for power magnetics design.

2. Special technical session on AC power Loss measurements

• This session is a panel presentations and discussion regarding equipment considerations and factors impacting measurement core loss accuracy. It includes an update on an industry initiatives to specify AC power loss data based on different measuring conditions. Discussion will highlight technical considerations when comparing AC power loss measurements with sinewave excitation vs. square-wave excitation.
• The panel features Ray Ridley (Ridley Engineering), Charles Sullivan (Dartmouth), Santosh Kulkarni (Tyndall Institute), Bruce Carsten, Ed Herbert and Chuck Wild (Dexter).
  
  

  Panel discussion at the 2016 Power Magnetics @ High Frequency - Solving the Black Magic! Workshop in Long Beach, CA

3. Technology demonstration session

• This session consists of ten table-top demonstrations. These are not vendor sales booths and the presenters have been invited to present equipment and material that will supplement the workshop.
• Technology demonstration include:
  
  • Rectangular voltage wave ac power loss measurements by Bruce Carsten,
  • Modelling vs measurement verification by Rodney Rodgers of VAC Magnetics LLC
  • Measurement of ac power losses by Ranjith Bramanpalli of Wurth Elektronik,
  • Near magnetic field measurements
  • Technology roadmaps by various magnetic material suppliers.

4. Technical Issues Session

• John Lynch of Fair-Rite products provides a presentation on developing materials and geometries for High Frequency Power Magnetics
• Laili Wang of Sumida provides a presentation on the integration of magnetics in point of load (POL) converters

5. Special technical session on modelling of ac power loss

• Charles Sullivan leads a panel of experts including Ray Ridley and Ed Herbert on models that are available to predict ac power losses including both conductor and magnetic material losses.

Registration is limited and interested attendees are encouraged to register early. The early registration fee for the workshop is $300, reduced to $200 for PSMA and IEEE PELS members and for students at an accredited university. On March 1, the registration fee increases to $350, $250 for members and students. Breakfast and lunch are provided. The formal presentations end at 5:00 p.m. and will be followed by a social event for networking. The presenters will participate and the technical demonstrations will remain active for those who wish to continue discussions and the technical demonstrations.

Electronic copies of the keynote presentations will be made available to the workshop participants.

Organizing Committee
Matt Wilkowski, Intel
Steve Carlsen, Raytheon Systems Company
Ed Herbert
Rodney Rodgers, VAC Magnetics LLC
Fred Weber, Future Technology Worldwide
Chuck Wild, Dexter Magnetic Technologies Inc.

wrSoC 2016, the International Workshop on Power Supply On Chip took place on October 3-5 in Madrid, Spain

PwrSoC 2016 brought together key players involved in the value chain of the integration of both modular and granular electronic power converters for multiple applications, by accessing a broad range of leading-edge technologies. There was an excellent mix of attendees with two-thirds from Industry and one-third from Academia.

Impressive and spirited discussions took place in the Q&A sessions, where current and next generation technologies were addressed in these invited, non-public, presentations.

Complete on-die integration and integration within package were of prime interest. System performance required by current and emerging applications demand ever-greater current density, voltage regulation and optimized control, form factor reduction, high efficiency, and cost reduction.

Awesome Program
“Fast moving technology”, was the general feeling in all the sessions, showing significant advances on the integration of power semiconductors, energy storage, inductive and capacitive components, topologies and control, and manufacturing technologies.

Attendees The 156 attendees discussed and networked about next generation Power Supplies on Chip at the ETS Ingenieros Industriales de Madrid (UPM). The attendees represented a very good balance between the sponsors — 26 percent from PSMA and 24% from IEEE-PELS. An additional 25 percent were non-members, and 13 percent were IEEE members from societies other than PELS.

E-Poster
A program of 32 excellent E-posters were presented by industry and academia, from Europe, Asia and America, covering a broad range of technologies and innovations. There were lively discussions during the over two hour session.

Welcome Party and Banquet
PwrSoC is unique in bringing together international experts with strong background in fundamentals and basic research, technology development, IC manufacturing and system integration. They all had the opportunity to socialize and network in the impressive welcome party organized by CEI students and sponsored by Qualcomm.

At the social event, a cocktail hour was followed by a banquet, where all attendees enjoyed Spanish cuisine in the midst of the historical Madrid district.

The contribution and leadership of Arnold Alderman and Matt Wilkowski, the General and Program Chairs of PwrSoC 2014 was recognized.

Awards
IEEE-PELS presented the E-poster student awards to:

• Lin Fan (DTU, Denmark)
• Riduan Khaddam-Aljameh (ETH, Zurich)
• Amokrane Malou (INSA, Lyon)

Visit to CEI Lab
The students of the Center of Industrial Electronics (CEI-UPM) discussed with the PwrSoC attendees their recent activities in power electronics, ranging from a few mW to tens of kW, from wireless power to rectifiers and inverters for aerospace applications.

The local team
The Program and Organizing Committees worked hard and set up an excellent program to identify and invite the key individuals in the field. In the photo, the attendees gave public recognition to the students and staff who helped in the local organization of the event.
This latest event consolidates PwrSoC as the most challenging workshop in the integration of low power conversion. PwrSoC was started in Ireland in 2008 and 2010, and soon became a global event. PwrSoC was held in San Francisco in 2012 and in Boston 2014. After Madrid in 2016, it will be held Taiwan in 2018. Current plans are to rotate the workshops worldwide - Europe, America and Asia.

Further info
Information regarding the workshop can be found at www.pwrsoc2016.org, where all past presentations and e-posters are available to the public. PwrSoC 2016 presentations will also be available in April 2017.

Provided by José A. Cobos, General Chair PwrSoC 2016

SMA is pleased to announce that it is co-sponsorship of IWIPP 2017 (INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON INTEGRATED POWER PACKAGING) along with IEEE PELS, ECPE, CMPT & DEIS. The workshop will be held on April 5-7, 2017 at Delft Technical University, in the Netherlands.

The purpose of the workshop is to bring together researchers in the field of power electronics components, electrical insulating materials, and packaging technologies to rapidly promote the development and commercialization of high-density and high-efficiency power converters. Technical Papers ranging from core material technologies to power converters are sought that address important challenges and present solutions to increase reliability and manufacturability of power electronic components and systems while targeting increased performance and reduced system cost. This workshop is an opportunity to engage in a meaningful discussion about the latest technologies and techniques ongoing in both industry and academia, ensuring that a cooperative learning environment is fostered for all.

The conference has moved from the US to Europe for 2017 with more supporting organization sponsors (such as PSMA) engaged to broaden the available audience and overall breadth of the discussion. The co-sponsors have collaborated to form a technical and steering committee for the event and are encouraging their members and affiliates to participate.

PSMA will be heavily involved with the packaging portion of the workshop, where there are clear synergies and common areas of interest. We encourage our members to consider challenges from materials and devices through systems (thermal mechanical, interconnect, reliability, manufacturability…etc.) and welcome engagement across all disciplines. Industry partnership and exhibit space are also available to spur a unique blend of academia, research, and industry collaboration throughout the event.

Key dates for the workshop are as follows:

Abstract Submission: December 2, 2016
Notice of Acceptance: December 16, 2016
Final Paper Submission: February 3, 2017

Further details can be found at iwipp.org/conference/call-for-papers/

IWIPP COMMITTEE
General Chair: Ty McNutt | Wolfspeed
Technical Chair: Patrick McCluskey | Univ. of Maryland
Local Chair: Bram Ferreira | TU Delft
Finance: Shashank Krishnamurthy | UTRC
Sponsors & Publications: Lauren Kegley | Wolfspeed

he Paris Climate Agreement became effective on November 4, 2016. This agreement is the most ambitious plan to curb greenhouse gases responsible for global warming. The agreement was conceived in 2015, supported by 191 countries, construed under United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and to date 84 countries, including China, India and the United States (US) have ratified this agreement. China, India and the US are three major countries responsible for 20.1%, 4.1% and 17. 9% of greenhouse gases respectively; so collectively, they represent 42.1% of the greenhouse gases. Without their serious participation and implementation of the plan, this agreement would be meaningless.

The Paris Climate Agreement has many goals, but most important among them is:
"Holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, recognizing that this would significantly reduce the risks and impact of climate change"

If all the countries who have signed this treaty follow their obligations, there will be a significant reduction in the emission of greenhouse gases and a slowdown in the rise of global temperature. The process on how to reduce greenhouse gases is up to each individual country and is dependent on their current status of greenhouse gases emissions, technical and financial resources and willingness to abide by this agreement without causing major economic disruption.

The reduction of greenhouse gases can be only accomplished by replacing some parts of the infrastructure systems that generate greenhouse gases by the systems that do not. Two major infrastructure systems that generate significant greenhouse gases are fossil fuel-based power generation and gasoline-based transportation. Substituting parts of these systems with non-polluting technologies using renewable energy in power generation and zero emission vehicles (ZEV) in transportation may accomplish goals set by the Paris Agreement by 2025. In power generation, there are many options including nuclear technologies, but it is widely believed that most will adopt solar and wind as replacements for coal and gas fired power generation. In transportation, ZEV will be mainly electric/hybrid vehicles. If the agreement is seriously adopted and followed by major countries, there will be a significant paradigm shift, from fossil-fuel based systems to electronic systems. This shift will provide massive opportunities for the power electronics industries, which will be at the center of the transformation.

Though global analysis of the total transformation is not possible in a short article, analyzing the US transformation may provide some insight. According to the US Energy Information & Administration, electricity generation in the US uses 33% coal, 33% natural gas, 20% nuclear, 6% hydropower, 0.6% solar, 4.7% wind, 1.7% other renewables and 1.0% other sources.

To combat climate change or global warming, the US had already developed policies, the Climate Action Plan, even before the Paris Agreement was discussed. It was developed in June 2013, and, if successfully and fully implemented, will meet the requirement of the Paris Climate Agreement. It will reduce greenhouse gases by 26% to 28% of 2005 levels by 2025. It is an ambitious plan, that states: "…In 2012, the President set a goal to issue permits for 10 gigawatts of renewables on public lands by the end of the year. The Department of the Interior achieved this goal ahead of schedule and the President directed it to permit an additional 10 gigawatts by 2020…".

Similarly, the administration has taken keen interest in providing information about the benefits of electric cars. The Department of Energy's eGallon program informs drivers about the comparative costs between gasoline and electric cars in each state to encourage them to adopt ZEV policies. The national average is about $1.14 per gallon of gasoline equivalent, so at current gas prices, it is cheaper to drive an electric car in the long run. California has an ambitious ZEV plan, which is based on a credit formula. If followed by all automakers, California will have about 1.5 million ZEVs by 2025.

China, which with about 20% of the global greenhouse gas emissions, has an even more ambitious plan. Coal accounts for about 73% of its electricity generation and to make any meaningful dent in its carbon footprint China will need very aggressive policies in the deployment of renewable energy. On June, 30, 2015, China submitted its own Climate Action Plan to reduce greenhouse gases. Its target is to reduce carbon intensity (the amount of carbon used per unit of GDP produced) by 60-65% from 2005 levels.

Some scientists, businessmen and engineers are skeptical about many of the claims made by countries about their adopted strategies to meet goals set by the Paris Climate Agreement, but at least governments and industries are moving in the right direction and the year 2025 is not too far away. In the meantime, some interesting contradictory events are taking place, which will have some impact in meeting the Paris Agreement goals.

On October 24, 2016, it was announced that in 2015, carbon dioxide, a major component of global warming, reached 400 PPM, 44% more than pre-industrial levels. Noting such a rapid rise in carbon levels, some scientists argue that unless more drastic measures are taken, a tipping point will be reached soon and the Paris Agreement goals will be difficult to meet.

On October 26, 2016, it was announced that in 2015, the world installed more new renewable energy than coal, as countries attempted to shift away from fossil fuels and to take advantage of massive cost reductions in wind and solar technology. Thus, making some governments optimistic about reaching the Paris Agreement goals.

As mentioned before, whether the world will meet the goals of the Paris agreement by 2025 is an open question, but most countries are moving in the right direction. So, the portion of renewable energy in power generation and the use of electric vehicles in transportation will be increasing every year. That should benefit the power electronics industries, but to date, it seems there is no "rational exuberance" coming from the power electronics industries.

Provided by Mohan Mankikar, President, Micro-Tech Consultants

incoln International’s Renewable Energy Group is pleased to present the latest Solar Energy Stock Index Report, which tracks relevant solar company metrics in this growing industry.

The Solar Energy Stock Index Report, published by our Global Renewable Energy Group each quarter, provides you with information on the following:

• Quarterly performance of the Solar Energy Stock Index versus the S&P Index
• Relative market valuations of each Solar Energy Category
• Current financial data for each company in the index

solar_stock_index_q3_2016.pdf (391k pdf)

This data is included with the permission of Lincoln International. For more information, you may contact John McManus (jmcman@optonline.net) or the Association Office.

incoln International is pleased to present you with the latest EMS Stock Index from our Global Electronics Industry Group. This report will provide you with:

• Quarterly performance of the EMS Stock Index versus the S&P Index
• Relative market valuations of each EMS Tier
• Current financial data for each company in the index

ems_stock_index_q3_2016.pdf (425k pdf)

This data is included with the permission of Lincoln International. For more information, you may contact John McManus (jmcman@optonline.net) or the Association Office.

incoln International is pleased to present you with the latest DealReader from our global Renewable Energy Industry group. This will provide you with:

• Q3 2016 deal volume comparison by total transactions, deal type, geography and target company sector
• Recent solar energy transaction announcements
• An analysis of global solar energy trends

solar_energy_dealreader_q3_2016.pdf (365k pdf)

This data is included with the permission of Lincoln International. For more information, you may contact John McManus (jmcman@optonline.net) or the Association Office.

incoln International is pleased to present you with the latest EMS DealReader from our Global Electronics Industry Group. This will provide you with:

• Q3 2016 deal volume comparison by total transactions, deal type, geography and size
• Recent EMS transaction announcements
• An analysis of growth trends affecting the EMS industry

ems_dealreader_q3_2016.pdf (551k pdf)

This data is included with the permission of Lincoln International. For more information, you may contact John McManus (jmcman@optonline.net) or the Association Office.

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.