Transphorm effecient current transformer.

[maydaverave]

MOUNTAIN VIEW, California - A Google-backed startup on Wednesday came out of "stealth mode" with a way to dramatically cut the amount of electricity wasted by data centres, solar panels, hybrid cars and more.

Transphorm has made a module that can cut by as much as 90 per cent the amount of electricity lost while converting currents in anything from laptops to elevator motors and massive computer server farms.

http://www.canada.com/technology/Google+backed+startup+zaps+electricity+waste/4339089/story.html


So if I understand this correctly this device efficiently transforms ac to dc or high voltage to low voltage or both? Sounds like a welcome technology to ev's.

 

[TylerDurden]

I expect it's a newfangled power-factor correction topology. Their site does not reveal much.

PFC can save considerable energy.

From Wiki:
"The significance of power factor lies in the fact that utility companies supply customers with volt-amperes, but bill them for watts. Power factors below 1.0 require a utility to generate more than the minimum volt-amperes necessary to supply the real power (watts). This increases generation and transmission costs. For example, if the load power factor were as low as 0.7, the apparent power would be 1.4 times the real power used by the load. Line current in the circuit would also be 1.4 times the current required at 1.0 power factor, so the losses in the circuit would be doubled (since they are proportional to the square of the current). Alternatively all components of the system such as generators, conductors, transformers, and switchgear would be increased in size (and cost) to carry the extra current.
Utilities typically charge additional costs to customers who have a power factor below some limit, which is typically 0.9 to 0.95. Engineers are often interested in the power factor of a load as one of the factors that affect the efficiency of power transmission."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_...tance_of_power_factor_in_distribution_systems