https://community.element14.com/technologies/power-management/element14's Power & Energy group is where an engineer or a maker can learn about AC/DC power, DC/DC converters, switching regulators, LDOs, ultra-low power, energy harvesting, energy storage, supercapacitors, and power management ICs.en-USTelligent Community 12https://community.element14.com/technologies/power-management/f/forum/57199/what-is-you-surge-suppression-experience/237888Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:16:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:24541f84-e12b-4c1f-ba9c-9b45ed12500ccolporteurWhen I started providing break-fix IT support in 2018, there was 15M Internet provided. Two building connected to the high speed (it wasn't dialup), one over an serial connection on an abandon phone line and the other point-to-point. Since that time the network has involved to a hub and spoke concept on fiber. Three spoke connections into the central hub point are copper. Two are to access points over CAT6 and one to a point-to-point link to and access point on a grain bin 300m away. If you picture a rectangle, two short sides have wife coverage and one long side. The long side that doesn't have wifi coverage is now getting a 60G point to point link to feed another building being built. Fiber was installed a 18 months ago. During an upgrade to underground power service I suggested pushing an extra conduit while laying the 600volt service. Three weeks after my suggestion I was hiring contractors to pull fiber. I have looked at the fiber kits that include transceivers for both ends as an option. In a yard that is constantly in motion from farm vehicles, 125ft grain augers and transport trucks overhead is not an option. Digging a 300m trench to put a fiber cable to run an access point is pretty expensive. Some, not all of the grain bins have 600v blower motors to move air in the bins. The grain bin that got the latest antenna had electricians wire up a 120v service to power the PoE point-to-point. The PTP happened to support a PoE output that powered the access point. I've yet to experience an outage from a lighting strike or power surge. As the connection footprint begins to include more and more long CAT6 runs to access point and point to point equipment, I'm thinking my risk is going up. These device are less than 100 bucks a piece. With three cables already in place that six boxes and one more to come that is eight. I also think if something goes wrong someone has to know A) they are there and B)how to troubleshoot them..https://community.element14.com/technologies/power-management/f/forum/57199/what-is-you-surge-suppression-experience/237887Tue, 18 Aug 2026 21:20:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:123ca45b-0424-405a-be6f-609c3a63c9dekmikemooI can't speak precisely on Ethernet, but we used to put surge suppression interfaces on some of our RS-485 MODBUS runs. When you're replacing the monitor station for the third time due to a near lightning event... it makes fiscal sense. Basically, they were opto-isolators. Do you know what is causing the cable failure? If your grain bin is the highest point around, you may be fighting nature. Nothing protects from a direct lightning strike. "Lightning protection" is really just trying to transfer where it happens when it happens.https://community.element14.com/technologies/power-management/f/forum/57199/what-is-you-surge-suppression-experience/237882Mon, 17 Aug 2026 21:01:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:f14bba48-1ff6-4c0f-b15a-70c30dc01289beacon_dave[quote userid="123345" url="~/technologies/power-management/f/forum/57199/what-is-you-surge-suppression-experience/237881"]Of course, it may be impractical for some use-cases.[/quote] I'm guessing that there isn't much power available at the top of a grain bin, so PoE is being used to power the wireless access point ?https://community.element14.com/technologies/power-management/f/forum/57199/what-is-you-surge-suppression-experience/237881Mon, 17 Aug 2026 18:47:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:5377b0f0-0326-4565-b22f-1dc74cc1b006shabazHi! Have you considered optical? I did a point-to-point connection for a friend (he has two buildings) and decided to string optical instead of coax. It is quite low-cost nowadays. Of course, it may be impractical for some use-cases.https://community.element14.com/technologies/power-management/f/forum/57199/what-is-you-surge-suppression-experienceMon, 17 Aug 2026 00:29:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:6bacdaa0-58bb-4c7b-a13c-e8465ea817facolporteurKey Features • Supports 10/100/1000/10GBASE-T Ethernet speeds • Full PoE, PoE+, and PoE++ (IEEE 802.3af/at/bt) compatibility • Supports up to 90W of power delivery • IP65-rated waterproof outdoor enclosure • Designed to protect against lightning strikes and electrical surges • Ultra-low capacitance for high-speed data performance • Fast response time for critical equipment protection • Simple inline RJ45 installation • Flexible mounting options for poles, enclosures, and walls • Tested to international surge protection standards Ideal Applications • Outdoor wireless radios and backhaul links • Fixed wireless and WISP deployments • Outdoor WiFi access points • IP surveillance and security cameras • Network switches and outdoor enclosures • Industrial networking and SCADA systems • Municipal, campus, and enterprise network infrastructure I am on my third install of CAT6 cables to Access points on the top of grain bins. This advertisement for Data Surge Protection Outdoor SPD IP65 10GB Ethernet came across my desk. Many a fault over 20 years working in telecommunications were repaired on two wire copper pairs by replacing the fuse or surge suppressor. I never gave a thought to network cable. Then I was never running them up the side of grain bins. Now I'm thinking about them after the ad appeared to remind me. Looking to find anyone that has experience and can provide some insight.surge_suppressionlightningprotectionhttps://community.element14.com/technologies/power-management/b/blog/posts/ai-data-centers-require-a-lot-of-water-where-does-it-goFri, 07 Aug 2026 18:20:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:c87ae39e-afc3-4380-ab0d-cb9156e1ebe8CatwellAI data centers use water to cool the servers. (Image Credit: UCR /Evan Fields) I was wondering why water used in data centers can’t be reused. Nature cycles water constantly, it seems odd that the water is used to cool but then disappears. Why? Artificial intelligence may seem completely digital. But in reality, it relies on physical data centers that consume water and electricity. According to researchers , especially Shaolei Ren from the University of California, Riverside, the system’s infrastructure can have a huge impact on the environment, even as they become more widely used. Those large data centers have thousands of powerful computers, which generate a lot of heat. To manage that heat, they need cooling systems, and most of them rely on evaporative technology that cools the air by turning water into vapor. Power production to operate the servers also uses water indirectly, as many power plants require it. Research also suggests that training OpenAI’s GPT-3 at Microsoft’s data centers used up 5.4 million liters of water, with hundreds of thousands of liters evaporated. Another analysis with Ren determined that a 100-word ChatGPT email consumed roughly 519 milliliters of water on average. This includes water for cooling servers and the water footprint of the electricity powering them. However, water usage varies based on where the data center is located, the time of year, how efficient it is, and its energy mix. That number could rise in hotter areas and decrease in cooler places, so it’s not a fixed number but rather an estimate. Scale worsens the issue. In the “Making AI Less Thirsty” study, Ren’s team projected that global AI demand could require 4.2 – 6.6 billion m 3 of water taken from a source every year by 2027. Although that’s only an estimated figure, it aligns with company disclosures and government reviews that mention water use has increased as AI and cloud computing expand. According to Microsoft , it has taken 6.4 million m 3 of water in 2022, a 34% increase from 2021. That same year, Google also saw an uptick in water withdrawal by 20% to 19.5 million m 3 . A UK government review discovered that the expansion of AI and data centers is leading to more water demand. It also criticized the lack of transparency concerning how much water is extracted. While that figure refers to water withdrawal instead of water consumption, it’s still a significant amount of water for AI and data center cooling systems. AI actually uses less water compared to agriculture, which accounts for 72% of freshwater withdrawals. So, it’s worth noting that global comparisons are potentially misleading as data centers pull water from local watersheds. As AI infrastructure grows, the bigger question shifts to how much water each data center uses and where that water is sourced. Without much company disclosure on those details, it’s much harder to determine how it affects the communities where the data centers are located. People are worried because the water is consumed locally and not returned to its original form. The water isn’t destroyed. But rather, it’s evaporated during cooling, returned warmer or sent to wastewater systems, or used indirectly to generate electricity that powers the servers. This means the issue is less about water being gone forever and more about extracting water from local watersheds. So, it might not be available for other uses like households or farming, especially in water-limited areas. Simply put, water is taken from one spot and not returned to the same area. Have a story tip? Message me here at element14.artificial intelligencewatercenteraidata centerpowerenergydataresourceshttps://community.element14.com/technologies/power-management/b/blog/posts/honeycomb-shaped-3d-pv-modules-could-generate-more-electricity-than-flat-panelsFri, 31 Jul 2026 18:26:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:9414ce1d-49b7-429d-b0fb-90a359cb8f0fCatwellFigure showing the honeycomb-structured 3D PV design, the mechanical metamaterial support, and the light recapture mechanism. (Image Credit: Advanced Materials Technologies ) Although PV modules are useful, they have a flaw. They don’t retain all the captured sunlight, as reflected photons escape from the surface before being converted into electricity. Anti-reflection coatings and surface texturing don’t eliminate those losses, but they can reduce them. And there are other techniques to deal with this issue. In 2022, engineers sought inspiration from bees and developed a honeycomb-structured 3D photovoltaic module that redirects reflected sunlight toward solar cells. The team’s module uses a 3D tetrahedron-like concave geometry assembled into a hexagonal honeycomb structure. Each honeycomb cell has six interconnected tetrahedron units with mechanical metamaterials supporting them. With this concave configuration, reflected and scattered light is redirected onto nearby solar cell surfaces. That makes the sunlight more likely to be absorbed and converted into electricity, a process that improves power production via enhanced light recapture. To support the module’s complex geometry, the team added a mechanical metamaterial with a negative Poisson’s ratio. These materials expand laterally as tension is applied, unlike those that become thinner when stretched. This ensures the mechanical stress is more evenly distributed. Additionally, the photovoltaic module can flex and conform to curved surfaces while all the solar cells align. Image showing the 3D photovoltaic module, its mechanical metamaterial framework, and the structural tests. (Image Credit: Advanced Materials Technologies ) Before fabricating the module, the team used computer simulations and optical ray-tracing analysis for geometry optimizations. They also observed how light moved through the 3D cavities. Afterward, they tested the finished prototypes against conventional flat photovoltaic modules to evaluate electrical output and mechanical performance. During experiments, the geometry improved light capture. Compared to flat cells, tetrahedral units set at a 40-degree angle generated an 11% increase in short-circuit current. Meanwhile, those positioned at a 60-degree angle had a 39% increase. The team also tested the entire honeycomb module and discovered it generated roughly 28% more electricity than a flat photovoltaic module under controlled conditions. Performance results matched the team’s optical simulations. This suggests that enhanced light recaptured within the concave structure improved performance. This technique could enable photovoltaic systems to be deployed in applications where standard flat modules aren’t practical, such as vehicles and curved surfaces. Improving energy collection through geometric design instead of new photovoltaic materials enables higher power output without changing the underlying solar cell technology. Have a story tip? Message me here at element14.alternative_energypower generationsolar panelmanufacturingbiomimicrypowerenergysolarinnovationhttps://community.element14.com/technologies/power-management/w/setup/26669/featured-content-triptych-setup-docMon, 13 Jul 2026 11:05:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:2aba7cd0-8dd8-493e-b39c-cf971e8a8348e14sbhargavPower and Protection for Modern BMS This Tech Spotlight explores how Bourns’ Power and Protection product families, including the Riedon portfolio, solve key BMS challenges. YAGEO Group TVS Diodes This technology spotlight focuses on the practical circuit challenges of transient over voltages across power rails, signal lines, and communication interfaces. How Can EC Fans Make Cooling More Efficient? An overview of cooling techniques for electronics, with a focus on electronically commutated (EC) fans. How Smart are Smart Grids? Learn How FPGAs and Adaptive SoCs are used. Enroll to Review the STM32U5A9J-DK Discovery Kit with Embedded Display Isolated DC-DC Converters for the Design Engineer Experimenting with Supercapacitors Supercapacitors are used in everything from consumer electronics to industrial equipment. Conduct an experiment with this kit from Cornell Dubilier! Big Fan of Renewable Energy? Come up to speed on wind turbine technology. Summer of Green Tech Design Challenge See how our winners plant the Seeed on Green Tech and design a project to help preserve our planet. Energy Harvesting eBook How does EV Charging work? Making the Most of Renewable Energy What do you need for Solar Power? Our Green Tech Quiz just blew in! Take this quiz Exploring Core Concepts in Current Sensing and Measurement Upcycling An Old Vacuum Cleanerpower and energyhttps://community.element14.com/technologies/power-management/b/blog/posts/ancient-cities-are-now-using-solar-panels-in-roof-tilesFri, 10 Jul 2026 20:48:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:72107c38-a699-4b40-8688-ccc5c1df9794CatwellRoof tiles in the Villa of the Mysteries produce power. (Image Credit: Pompeii Archaeological Park ) Renewables in ancient cities? While solar panels produce clean energy, there’s usually a catch. The problem? Solar panels affect the appearance of historic buildings. That change makes them unsuitable for protected heritage sites. To solve that issue, manufacturers developed roof tiles that hide photovoltaic cells under materials that resemble traditional roofing. This allows buildings to generate power without sacrificing their historical appearance. The Villa of the Mysteries in Pompeii has photovoltaic cells integrated into roof tiles that look like Roman tiles from the street. These tiles, developed by AHLUX ITALIA S.r.l. --- the VISEN division , produces power for the building’s lighting system while preserving the archaeological design. Now, Pompeii is considering adding more of these solar roof tiles to other parts of the archaeological park---far from the power grid. The Portuguese city of Évora has also used renewables this way. In the city hall, photovoltaic shingles have been installed on the roof. The panels generate 20 kilowatt-peak (kWp) of electricity to power the building while ensuring its historical appearance remains intact. Manufacturers create these photovoltaic roof tiles by embedding solar cells in resin. After sealing them under another protective layer, they look like a roof tile, which still works as a solar panel. This solar installation is part of the European POCITYF project that helps historic cities adopt renewable energy. The project also assesses other technologies like solar canopies and photovoltaic glass roofs placed in school courtyards. Both Evora and Alkmaar, a Dutch city, are evaluating how these technologies could be deployed across Europe in historic cities. Have a story tip? Message me here at element14.alternative energypompeiisolarinnovationhistoricalhttps://community.element14.com/technologies/power-management/b/blog/posts/mit-develops-a-new-technique-to-extract-lithium-from-spodumene-rockFri, 12 Jun 2026 16:38:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:d17992eb-b17c-4945-a10b-a93d6ab90332Catwell(Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons ) MIT researchers recently created a new method to extract lithium from spodumene rock using a low-temperature process. A bathroom renovation inspired the research. At the time, Yet-Ming Chiang, MIT’s Kyocera Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, noticed that glass etching cream dissolves silica. The researchers then created a similar liquid solution that dissolves silica in spodumene rock. With this technology, we could see hard rock lithium resources in North America and create a sustainable supply for the battery industry. “By 2040, we need to quadruple production of lithium globally, which amounts to hundreds of new lithium producing assets,” says author Camden Hunt, a former project manager in MIT’s Center for Electrification and Decarbonization of Industry. “Hard rock is abundant; you can find it everywhere. But most hard rock refining is done in China. Our central thesis is if you can find an easier way to crack the rock, get lithium out, and make battery-grade lithium salts, you can change the lithium market. It aligns with the recent push to onshore production of critical minerals in the U.S.” The team used a liquid reagent, aqueous ammonium fluoride, to dissolve the spodumene rock at temperatures around 200°F. It takes under twelve hours to extract all the lithium and works in stirred plastic tanks, making it more practical and less energy intensive compared to modern techniques. Tests were conducted on 17 types of spodumene samples. First, the team isolated lithium fluoride before isolating lithium hydroxide and lithium carbonate. Afterward, they went back to the lab to create processes to produce both. Some of these involved adding carbon dioxide or sodium carbonate. In addition, the team isolated aluminum in the rock via high-temperature separation techniques and silica, isolated by precipitation. Apart from lithium, this process creates byproducts such as smelter-grade alumina for aluminum smelting and cement-ready silica. It valorizes all the elements found in the rock instead of eliminating waste material. Thanks to the closed-loop system, the ammonium fluoride reagent and water can be reused, resulting in nearly no waste. Diluted bicarbonate solutions neutralize any leftover waste to produce sodium fluoride. Even then, MIT’s new approach is better for the environment than metal leaching, which relies on harsh chemicals and produces waste. MIT says its method may cut lithium production costs from spodumene by over 40%, which could lead to cost parity with lithium extraction from brine water. They also founded a startup called Rock Zero to commercialize the technology, and according to estimates, the costs could reach $5,000 per metric ton. The startup is expected to build a pilot plant by the end of 2026, operating in 2027. Have a story tip? Message me here at element14.miningindustrialmiton_campusuniversitypowerenergyhttps://community.element14.com/technologies/power-management/f/forum/57002/what-s-in-a-power-supply-your-design-ideas/235937Tue, 02 Jun 2026 22:40:00 GMT93d5dcb4-84c2-446f-b2cb-99731719e767:ee221758-dde9-4d56-8e04-3ef2f4fdbfa1colporteurYeah that ain't going to work. The indicator diodes are reversed. Working the schematic in KiCAD and found the oops.