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PCTI designs and manufactures power conversion technology in the highest power ranges
The world’s requirement for electrical energy, particularly renewable energy, has made the demand for power electronics more essential than ever before. Today’s focus on providing clean energy and cutting back on carbon emissions has led to an increased demand for new types of power electronics used in power conversion equipment.
It seems that every day, emerging technologies and energy solutions are getting more advanced and closer to being more mainstream. Solar and wind power, for instance, used to be more theoretical than practical; now, that is no longer the case.
On August 14, 2003, a huge blackout took hold of the Northeastern United States. Rural areas, suburban towns, and entire dense metropolitan areas were thrown into darkness, eventually reaching more than 50 million people. Once the lights came back on, power operators discovered that the massive event had been caused by a single generator plant in Ohio.
Tesla was born in Croatia, on July 10, 1856 during a severe lightning storm. According to the legend, the obstetrician called Nikola a child of darkness, but his mother, Djuka Mandic, replied: “No, of light.†Although Mandic had a lack of education, she was very creative and had an impressive memory, inherited by her son.
He won the feud with Edison in style.
You may remember the Nikola Tesla-Edison rivalry we touched on in Why We Love Tesla (Part 1) Tesla and Westinghouse with their AC system versus Edison and General Electric with DC. They may have respected one another, but a feud is still a feud.
The systems and machines of our world depend on power electronics for the ability to run efficiently and sustainably. Power electronics is the application of solid-state electronics for the control and conversion of electric power. It applies to both the systems and products involved in converting and controlling the flow of electrical energy, allowing the electricity needed for everyday products to be delivered with maximum efficiency in the smallest and lightest package.
The comparison between AC power and DC power can be boiled down to another historic rivalry: Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla. Edison is the inventor supporting DC (direct current) power while Tesla is the engineer behind AC (alternating current) power.
In February 2014, the Federal government announced that a $6.5 billion loan would be given toward the construction of a nuclear power plant in Waynesboro, Georgia, marking the first time since 1996 that new nuclear reactors would be built.
This news was received with mixed reviews, as nuclear power is a controversial issue since Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear meltdown following the country’s devastating earthquake and tsunami. Since then, nuclear power has raised more concerns than before.
Battery charging technology is crucial for energy storage purposes, particularly for renewable technologies being used in mobile and critical backup systems. One of the biggest areas of growth and research in modern charger technology is with the new battery chemistries and the optimized ways to charge them.
New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has a tremendous amount of construction to conduct. The MTA is expanding its subway system in an effort to ease train congestion for commuters and to reach areas of the big city that were left off the subway grid. Where there’s train construction there are workers using complex tools, and these tools need a power source like our portable third rail inverter.