Power conversion technology ‘breakthrough’

It has developed ultra low dc to dc converter technology that enables solar cell startup and operating performance and efficiency at levels as low as 0.32v – as well as operation down to 0.25v. Many ics cannot start up at voltages less than the typical turn on voltage of a transistor without external assistance. Freescale’s power conversion technology enables ic startup thresholds to be reduced to 0.32v and is engineered to charge a li-lon battery cell at 100mA. The technology will will be demonstrated at the Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition (APEC). Arman Naghavi, vice president and general manager at Freescale’s analogue, mixed signal and power division, said: “We see no ic solutions currently available approaching the ultra low voltage capability and power conversion efficiency of our analogue technology demonstrated at APEC. Freescale has demonstrated a single chip solution that addresses one of he most difficult technological and practical challenges of extracting power from a single solar cell. This breakthrough can be used to help reduce the cost and streamline the development of innovative solar chargers, energy harvesting systems and other low voltage energy sources.”