An American semiconductor manufacturer has won an award for its power management-based products.
National Semiconductor received two awards for its SolarMagic Technology, which extracts the maximum energy available from each of its modules until it achieves a string optimum, thus enabling more energy harvesting.
The product was recognised at EDN magazine's Innovation Awards, which honour companies and applications that have revolutionised the semiconductor industry over the past year.
It also scooped a prize at the EE Times Annual Creativity in Electronics Awards for its contribution to renewable energy.
National's director of renewable energy Ralf Muenster expressed his delight at the recognition for the company's innovation.
He said: "National's deep history in the electronics industry made it natural for us to create and deliver a complete power solution directly to the photovoltaic market, where no such solution existed before."
Based in California, National reported sales for 2009 of $1.46 billion (£951 million).