July/August 2011
Editorial
Avoiding the washing-machines-that-don't-wash syndrome
The EPA will soon toughen up its requirements for dishwashers that earn the Energy Star label. Starting next year, Energy Star dishwashers will have to...
Features
Simple guide to LED luminaire design
So, your company has decided that it has either found a niche market or an industrial customer(s) with a sufficiently large volume to justify a business...
Energy Star for the cloud
The move toward cloud computing has brought data centers into the headlines. Pundits claim the primary rationale for companies to go into the cloud is...
Inverters fight for traction
When it comes to electric vehicles (EVs), battery technology makes most of the headlines. Automakers are on a well-chronicled quest to boost energy density...
Heading off gearbox failure
Wind-turbine gearboxes have become more reliable, but they’re not perfect. ...
The dynamics of wave energy
In the quest for green energy, engineers have increasingly viewed tides and ocean waves as sources from which they can harvest energy. But there is no...
Energy Figures
Energy Figures of the Month
Wind power blowing strong across U.S. The U.S. wind power industry installed 1,100 MW of new capacity in the first quarter of 2011, entering the second...
Invention of the Month
Cooler breakthrough in heat transfer
A researcher at Sandia National Laboratory has developed an air-bearing heat exchanger, also known as the Sandia Cooler, that could significantly reduce...
Energy Shorts
Cable boxes guzzle energy while nobody's looking
Vampires are enjoying a renaissance in popular culture these days, but you may not realize there's an especially thirsty one hiding in your living room....
LEDs go for a spin in POV displays
Most of us have probably seen simple persistence of vision (POV) displays that rotate a few LEDs on fan blades. Coin Mechanisms Inc. has taken the idea...
COMPANY NEWS
Efficiency Rating The 500-kW Solaron PV inverters from Advanced Energy Industries Inc., Fort Collins, Colo., have received a record-breaking 98% efficiency...
New standards for the Smart Grid
The electric car you park in your garage should be able to plug into chargers anywhere in the country, thanks to work by the Smart Grid Interoperability...
LETTERS TO EE&T
CFL performance is in the design My experience with CFLs started 10 years ago when the local power company ran a promotion: get up to nine CFLs for $3...
Legislation
A Breath of Fresh Air
As I write this, I'm about to embark on a week-long walk through the alpine country of Yosemite. The most exhilarating early moments of these trips come...
Energy Myths
Getting smarter about smart meters
As electric companies start rolling out smart meters, myths and rumors among users and prospective users have cropped up. Here is the manager of Smart...
Lithium-ion batteries and laptops
There's a myth floating around among laptop owners that lithium ion batteries in laptops must be discharged to zero every so often. Otherwise, the batteries...
Products
PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT
98%-efficient bus converters The IBC054 Series of VI Brick bus converters are available as drop-in upgrades for industry-standard 5:1 and 4:1 converters....
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Videos
The Cleveland Museum of Natural History and The SmartHome Project
Featured Suppliers
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