In the quest to increase power utilization efficiency and to achieve the computation of more data in smaller spaces, the computing industry investigated alternative solutions to forced air-cooling. Cold wall and baseplate cooling methods, helped by liquid or gas exchangers have been used for decades and from a laptop, datacenters and on to radio base […]

From the smallest to the largest, all electronic equipment requires power supplies, and with the increase in the amount of wireless connected devices deployed in the medical environment, electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) has become a big concern for all users. In the vast majority of applications the power supplies’ EMC is manageable, but in some extremely […]

Powerbox, one of Europe’s largest power supply companies, and for more than four decades a leading force in optimizing power solutions for demanding applications, announces the introduction of its ENI250A series designed to deliver peak power to motor start or/and high capacitive loads in factory automation applications. The three-phase ENI250A series is housed in an […]

Powerbox, one of Europe’s largest power supply companies and a leading force for four decades in optimizing power solutions for demanding applications, has announced the release of its 2018 Communication On Progress report as a participant in the United Nations Global Compact initiative. The Communication on Progress (COP) is an annual disclosure through which Powerbox […]

As specified in the European Directive 2015/863 dated 22nd of July 2019, electronic equipment manufacturers will have to comply with the third revision of the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS), referenced as RoHS 3.
All categories of electrical and electronic equipment are affected except medical devices and monitoring and control instruments, for which restrictions will apply from the later date of 22 July 2021 to take into account their longer innovation cycles. The “Revision 3” adds four additional restricted substances, listed under phthalate, to the original list of six (see table 1).

In March 2018 the Applied Power Electronics Conference (APEC) took place in San Antonio (Texas). APEC is the world’s largest convention dedicated to applied power electronics, and the place where research laboratories, universities, market analysts and companies showcase the latest and often ‘industry first’ technologies that make power supplies more efficient, reliable and safer. This year’s event was definitely the real ‘kick-off’ point for the wide bandgap semiconductors and especially the ones based on Gallium Nitride (GaN). It was also a symbolic milestone for a technology called ‘Digital Power’ that emerged in 2003 as a promising technology. As it was for digital power 15 years ago, GaN started its journey five years ago, and following a similar path is moving gradually from a ‘technical curiosity’ to a ‘commercial product’. Digital power and GaN are both technologies that have been highly debated and challenged when introduced to the market and it is interesting to link both of them in this way, especially when the outcome of combining the best of the two technologies will result in truly outstanding commercial products.

Powerbox’s Patrick Le Fèvre provides valuable insights to some perplexing and interesting questions regarding power supplies for railway applications, in each case addressing the question, “Where are we now?”

Could lighting contribute to feed 10 billion people in 2050? With the vital need to save energy, the power industry has permanently innovated numerous ways to increase efficiency including by the way we convert electron to electron. Power conversion ratios are approaching physical limits, energizing researches and inventions and enabling applications that were heretofore impossible […]

Powerbox, one of Europe’s largest power supply companies and a leading force for four decades in optimizing power solutions for demanding applications, has announced that Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Patrick Le Fèvre will present a paper on the subject of ‘smart grid security’ at the Applied Power Electronics Conferences (APEC). Involved from the very […]

The overall market for AC/DC and DC/DC commercial switch mode power supplies (C-SMPS), which excludes consumers and uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), is estimated to be in a range of 22 to 25 billion US Dollars. This level has been stable for more than five years and from an outsider’s point of view, could be perceived as a very static industry with very moderate growth index. This perception is amplified by a general feeling that the power supply industry reached such level of maturity, nothing will really happen, which in fact is not the case. Despite the steady top number, the C-SMPS industry is extremely dynamic, adjusting to market changes, new regulations, emerging new technologies and in permanent transformation, developing products and power solutions for early stage new technologies (e.g. 5G, Industry 4.0) or even not existing.