Starting tomorrow in the U.S., TI will host MCU Day, its largest worldwide training event to be held around the world at more than 150 locations. This free, one-day technical training event will explore TI’s broad MCU portfolio, including MSP430™ ultra-low power MCUs, C2000™ real-time MCUs and ARM® Cortex-M3-based Stellaris® MCUs as well as ARM9-based [...]
I’m Rich Nowakowski, product marketing manager in TI’s power management group. Increasing energy efficiency and decreasing solution size seem diametrically opposed in many cases. Besides a cooler and more compact circuit board, mean time between failures (MTBF) can be improved. This article, recently published in Wireless Design & Development, explores several methods to improve efficiency and [...]
Power factor correction (PFC) results in greater power grid efficiency because it enables systems to smooth out the power they draw. This results in systems only drawing the power they need, reducing the occurence of unexpected spikes. Consequently, power companies do not need to produce extra power to compensate for sudden spikes. For this reason, PFC is becoming a [...]
When people talk of solar power efficiency they are almost always referring to the conversion efficiency of the photovoltaic (PV) panel. The PV conversion efficiency is the ability to turn available sunlight into a DC voltage and current. For most mass produced panels the efficiency number is in the teens. Improving the PV efficiency without [...]
These days it seems we all rely on our handsets for everything – from keeping up in touch with our family and friends to checking news to accessing business documents. When that little red battery symbol turns on, panic sets in. The pressure’s on to send that last email, make that last call and do [...]
Visiting customers in Asia this month, we heard from each company a new found interest in EFFICIENCY. At one company in Beijing, we were told it was the new EuP Directive that will now have “Force of Law” to ensure compliance. Light load efficiency is a key component of these standards.
TI has the technology for [...]
My name is Ted Thomas and I manage the Power Supply Business Unit at Texas Instruments, Inc., based in Manchester, NH. Although Energy Star and Green topics in general are at the top of the list in just about everything we do here, power efficiency of appliances like large-screen TVs just took on a whole [...]