Given that snubber capacitors address the negative impacts of switching, it’s no surprise that they’re most commonly found in switching power supplies. These systems face major challenges from switching, including: 

• Switching transients 
• Parasitic elements 
• High-frequency noise 

It’s been an incredibly exciting year to lead the Precision Devices division and support our talented employees as they innovate on and push the boundaries of the specialty components these markets require. 

As a fundamental component of circuit design, equivalent series resistance (ESR) is the measurement of all the non-ideal electrical resistances in series with a capacitor. When current flows through a multilayer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) due to application of alternating voltage, heat is generated in the MLCC due to the losses, specifically ESR. As a result, this self-heating can cause various performance and reliability issues in the circuits of today’s more complex and smaller electronic systems.

The power electronic systems in an electric vehicle (EV) feature a wide variety of capacitors. From DC-link capacitors to safety capacitors and snubber capacitors, these components play a critical role in stabilizing and safeguarding the electronics from factors like voltage spikes and electromagnetic interference (EMI). Here, we’ll focus on the capacitors used in the EV traction inverter.  

As electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers work to make batteries more affordable and easier to produce in mass quantities, we’re seeing changes in battery chemistry. For example, the industry is shifting from traditional lithium ion batteries with cobalt to lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries. Rare-earth metals like cobalt are in short supply, and materials like LFP are a more plentiful, sustainable, and efficient alternative.

One of the primary goals in electric vehicles (EVs) is to increase the efficiency of its power conversion devices. The more efficiently power is converted, the further distance the EV can travel on one charge. For example, by reducing losses in a DC-to-DC (or DC/DC) converter, the converter (and overall vehicle) benefits from improved energy efficiency, a more streamlined design, and diminished heating from components.

As interest and adoption increase in the electric vehicle (EV) arena, associated technologies are advancing quickly. Batteries are becoming more powerful and charging infrastructure is increasingly robust and efficient. With all these advancements, EV batteries are good for more than powering cars on the road.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics, electric vehicle (EV) sales in the U.S. reached record high monthly volume in March 2021 and continued to rise, nearly doubling in 2021. This marks the sixth consecutive year of growth in electric vehicle (EV) sales and the demand is continuing to grow.

As electric vehicle (EV) adoption for both consumer and commercial purposes rapidly grows, so does the need for a more widespread, and faster, charging infrastructure. While we’ve seen vast improvements in charging technology in the last few years, as additional regulations on combustion vehicles are implemented and reliance on EVs increases, further EV charging innovations are needed. Currently, wireless charging is the newest EV charging technology evolving. 

In a previous article about electric vehicles (EV), we talked about using DC link capacitors as an intermediary buffer in power converters. Today’s topic covers another useful power module component – the snubber capacitor. Snubbers are energy-absorbing circuits used to protect electronics from voltage spikes and transients caused by turning a switch from the On to Off state. Opening a switch intrinsically induces a high voltage across the device, and the snubber provides an alternate flow path for the excess energy to be absorbed by the snubber capacitor and dissipated by a resister or other load.