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Dominic Dorfner, Senior Vice President of the Automotive Division in Semikron Danfoss, will take over as President, when Claus A. Petersen retires on August 31, after 40 years in the Danfoss Group – the last 26 years leading Danfoss Silicon Power and Semikron Danfoss.
Dominic Dorfner has been named new President of Semikron Danfoss – a leading global manufacturer of power electronics based in Germany and part of the Danfoss Group. Dominic Dorfner joined Semikron Danfoss in 2021 as Head of the Industry Business in Danfoss Silicon Power. For the past 13 months he has been leading the Automotive Division in Semikron Danfoss.
Chairman of the Semikron Danfoss Board, Danfoss Power Electronics and Drives Segment president Mika Kulju says:
“The Board of Directors for Semikron Danfoss are very pleased that Dominic Dorfner has accepted the role as President. It is an important continuation of the work that has been done in Semikron Danfoss since the company was established two years ago with the merger of Danfoss Silicon Power and SEMIKRON. We are very excited to be working with him to continue the growth and realizing the huge potential for Semikron Danfoss in energy efficiency, in electrification, and in green energy.
Dominic Dorfner is taking over for Claus A. Petersen – a renowned name in the power electronics industry.
Claus A. Petersen has been with Danfoss for more than 40 years. He was named President of Semikron Danfoss when the merger was finalized in 2022. Before the merger he was leading Danfoss Silicon Power, a position he has held since the company was established in Schleswig-Holstein in 1998 with, at that time only around 20 employees. Today, Semikron Danfoss has around 4,000 global employees and annual sales over EUR 1 billion.
Though now retiring as company President, Claus A. Petersen is not completely leaving Semikron Danfoss, as he has joined the Board of Directors.
“We are fully committed to the ambitions and the strategy for Semikron Danfoss that has been developed under Claus’ leadership. I want to extend a big thank you to him, both for what he has accomplished, and for accepting to join the Board. This will ensure a very smooth and proficient transition,” says Mika Kulju, and continues: “Dominic Dorfner has big shoes to fill, but he has all the needed qualities to do so, and strong teams around him.”
Efficient power electronics are vital for decarbonization. Yet another reason why the new President of Semikron Danfoss is really excited about the challenge ahead.
Says Dominic Dorfner:
“Our purpose is to enable a huge transformation towards a CO2 neutral world for us and our kids. To do so, we need extensive electrification, we need green energy, and we need to save energy much more through energy efficiency. All that needs power electronics with the best power modules and systems out there. We can provide that, and I can’t think of a better reason to wake up early and go to work.”
First day in the new role for Dominic Dorfner will be September 1, 2024.
Original – Semikron Danfoss
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The reliability and performance of Electric Vehicle (EV) chargers are critical to drive global market adoption. EV manufacturers are focused on delivering the most robust, weather-resistant and user-friendly EV chargers. To accelerate the time to market of an EV charger, Microchip Technology announced three flexible and scalable EV Charger Reference Designs including a Single-Phase AC Residential, a Three-Phase AC Commercial with Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP) and System-on-Chip (SoC) and a Three-Phase AC Commercial with OCPP and Display.
Most of the active components for the EV charger reference designs are available from Microchip, including the microcontroller (MCU), analog front-end, memory, connectivity and power conversion. This significantly streamlines the integration process, enabling manufacturers to speed time to market for new charging solutions.
“Microchip’s E-Mobility team is focused on developing reference designs that our customers can directly use and benefit from,” said Joe Thomsen, corporate vice president of Microchip’s digital signal controller business unit. “We want to help our customers shorten design cycles by offering complete solutions such as these new EV charger references designs, while also supplying the hardware, software and technical support.”
Microchip’s EV charger reference designs enable manufacturers to scale depending on the target market with a range of solutions to meet the needs of residential and commercial charging applications. These reference designs offer complete hardware design files and source code with software stacks that are tested and compliant to communication protocols, including OCPP. OCPP offers manufacturers a standard protocol to communicate between the charge point or charging station and a central system. This protocol is designed to enable interoperability of the charging applications regardless of the network or vendor.
The Single-Phase AC Residential EV Charger Reference Design offers a cost-effective and convenient solution for home charging, where a single-phase supply is used. The on-board high-performance energy metering device with automatic calibration simplifies the production process. The design has integrated safety protection features including Protective Earth Neutral (PEN) fault detection and Residual Current Device (RCD) detection.
The Three-Phase AC Commercial with OCPP and Wi-Fi® SoC EV Charger Reference Design is intended for high-end residential and commercial charging stations. It features OCPP 1.6 stack integration for communication with charging networks and Wi-Fi SoC for remote management.
The Three-Phase AC Commercial with OCPP and Display EV Charger Reference Design caters to commercial and public charging stations with a focus on robust operation including a completed architecture review according to UL 2231. It is designed to support up to 22 kW with bidirectional charging capabilities and a modular architecture. The design also features a robust Graphical User Interface (GUI) with a Thin-Film Transistor (TFT) screen and touch input designed to withstand harsh environments.
Navigating the global EV charging landscape is complex and fragmented, but Microchip offers the key technologies and solutions to significantly simplify the design process through implementation. Beyond the reference designs, Microchip supplies the hardware, software and global technical support. To learn more about Microchip’s EV, HEV and PHEV solutions, visit the website.
The EV Reference Designs are supported by MPLAB® X Integrated Development Environment (IDE) to help designers minimize development time, as well as MPLAB Harmony v3 and MPLAB Code Configurator.
Original – Microchip Technology
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Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. announced results for the fiscal second quarter ended June 29, 2024.
Highlights
- 2Q 2024 revenues of $741.2 million
- Gross margin was 22.0% and included the negative impact of approximately 170 basis points related to the addition of Newport
- EPS of $0.17
- 2Q 2024 book-to-bill of 0.86 with book-to-bill of 0.82 for semiconductors and 0.90 for passive components
- Backlog at quarter end was 4.6 months
“During the second quarter, we executed well on our Vishay 3.0 strategic plan, deepening our customer engagements supported by capacity that has landed and that we will continue to expand, and advancing our silicon carbide strategy as we prepare for the megatrends in sustainability and e-mobility,” said Joel Smejkal, President and CEO.
“Revenue, including a full quarter of Newport, was flat quarter over quarter, primarily reflecting schedule agreement adjustments by automotive Tier 1 customers. At mid-year 2024, it is apparent that the industry recovery is taking longer than we had expected at the beginning of the year. As a result, we are adjusting the timetable of the Itzehoe, Germany expansion project beyond 2024 while holding to our planned capital investment of $2.6 billion between 2023 and 2028. For 2024, we now plan to invest between $360 million to $390 million in capex.”
3Q 2024 Outlook
For the third quarter of 2024, management expects revenues in the range of $745 million +/- $20 million, with gross profit margin in the range of 21.0% +/- 50 basis points, including the negative impact of approximately 175 to 200 basis points from the addition of Newport.Original – Vishay Intertechnology
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Ideal Power Inc. is collaborating with a third global automaker. This global automaker is working closely and meeting regularly with Ideal Power engineers on the use of B-TRAN™-enabled contactors to potentially replace electromechanical contactors in its electric vehicles (EVs).
“We are delighted to announce this collaboration with a third global automaker for the evaluation of B-TRAN™ in a new EV application for us. Their initial focus is on EV contactors. Solid-state contactors in EVs are an emerging market and our technology is potentially enabling for this application due to its very low conduction losses and inherent bidirectionality. This represents another engagement for us with the world’s leading automakers along with our previously announced engagements with Stellantis and a second Top 10 global automaker,” said Dan Brdar, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ideal Power.
Contactors serve as cutoff switches for high voltage applications in EVs. They play a critical role in isolating the battery, inverter, and onboard charger to ensure safety when the vehicle is off or being serviced. Contactors are bidirectional and there are typically 4 to 6 high-power contactors in every EV. The high-power EV contactor market is forecasted to grow to over $3.7 billion in 2025 and the Company believes that, over time, solid-state contactors will potentially displace electromechanical contactors in half or more of this market.
Solid-state contactors provide several benefits over electromechanical contactors. They are much faster acting, thereby eliminating arcing and improving safety, and are more reliable as they do not include physical contacts subject to wear. In addition, they provide programmable settings for trip and current limits as well as built-in safety diagnostics. Solid-state contactors are also expected to cost less than electromechanical contactors in EV applications.
Original – Ideal Power
