Energy storage capacitor banks supply pulsed power in all manner of high-current applications, including shockless compression and fusion. As the technology behind capacitor banks advances with more precise switching and higher energy density, fast discharge capacitors can reliably support more advanced applications.  

DC fast charging (DCFC) infrastructure is scaling aggressively. The global market is expected to reach $20 billion by 2035, charger power levels have reached 350-480 kW, and the U.S. is moving toward 100,000+ Level 3 ports by 2027.

At Knowles Precision Devices, we are well known for our expertise delivering high-performance mmWave filtering options. But did you know we also excel at providing a wide variety of lower frequency filtering options using a lumped element filter construction? In this blog post, we explore the basics of lumped element filter design, general lumped element filter characteristics, and how we can push lumped element filter design limits to develop a wide variety of high-performance low-frequency filtering options.

In power electronics, voltage is rarely perfectly DC. Switch-mode power supplies, inverters, and converters all generate AC ripple that flows into and out of capacitors. While a ripple current rating may seem secondary to a capacitance or voltage rating, in real-world designs, it is often a limiting factor for long-term reliability. This is because ripple current generates internal heat, and excessive heat is a primary driver of capacitor failure. To prevent premature failure, it’s critical for engineers selecting power electronics capacitors to truly understand ripple current ratings.

In 2024, we wrote about the growing power demands of artificial intelligence. At the time, 60 to 80 kW server racks were already stretching datacenter design assumptions. Now, AI server racks consumer 60 to 140 kW each, with NVIDIA’s GB200 NVL72 operating at roughly 120 kW per rack. Consumption could reach 600 kW by late 2027 with the Rubin Ultra NVL576 system. Beyond 100 kW, traditional server power assumptions begin to break down.

Today’s power grids are under increasing strain, from rising instability and greater electrification demands to the rapid expansion of renewable energy sources. Together, these pressures are creating an urgent need for more resilient and responsive power distribution architectures. For many instances, a key solution that offers better resiliency, efficiency, and flexibility is the implementation of microgrids, or localized energy systems capable of operating independently of or alongside the main grid. Microgrids bring together a variety of distributed energy resources (DERs) such as solar, wind, battery storage, and even conventional generators.

Radio frequency (RF) power dividers are designed to split an incoming signal into multiple outputs such that there’s a portion of the original signal’s power in each output. Given their critical function, power dividers play a particularly important role in antenna systems, telecommunications, and signal processing.

In 2025, our team continued to share insights intended to help engineers navigate evolving technologies, design challenges, and application demands. We hope our technical resources and industry perspectives have supported your work throughout the year, and we sincerely appreciate your continued trust and readership.

By 2050, electricity is expected to more than double its share of final energy consumption, jumping from 23 percent to 52 percent. As a result, the way the world generates, transmits, stores, and uses energy is changing.

The performance of a resonant circuit comes down to its components. Two key factors, Q factor and capacitor equivalent series resistance (ESR), determine how efficiently energy moves through a resonator and how selectively it responds at its designed frequency.