The drive for energy conservation and power efficiencies is common worldwide today and scientists and academics are at the cutting edge of that drive.
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University's work on generating greater efficiencies in power factor corrected (PFC) switching supplies has been winning major awards and is recognised as an important driver in energy efficiency.
Dr Martin Chow Hoi-lam, along with his colleagues, Professor Lee Yim-shu, Lee Chung-ping and Cheng Yiu-lam at the Power Electronics Research Centre in the University's Department of Electronic and Information Engineering, have found that the overall efficiency of PFC power supplies can be improved by employing non-cascading structures. The team have coined this design approach the "Reduced Redundant Power Processing Principle."
"The conversion of electrical energy from high voltage AC to low voltage DC is convenient but is less than 50 per cent efficient," says Dr Chow. "Our prime objective is to improve efficiency to 70 per cent and, at the same time, lower power loss during transmission."
"This means a compromise between efficiency improvements and achievable input power in terms if circuit complexity and device stress." |