Eggtronic sidesteps Power factor Correction requirements at 70W
Eggtronic in Italy has developed a high efficiency flyback architecture for 70W AC-DC converters without requiring power factor correction (PFC).
The QuarEgg 70W forced zero voltage switching converter has an efficiency above 94.5% from no load to full load and eliminates need for power factor correction at higher powers to deliver improved performance with a lower bill of materials.
European standard EN61000-3-2 dictates that power factor correction (PFC) is required for any power supply rated above 75 W. This has resulted in a market that is dominated by 65 W AC-DC converters to ensure less than 75 W is consumed from the mains input.
The latest QuarEgg supports 70 W designs, making non-PFC designs available to applications that might previously have required correction. This is built around Eggtronic’s patented and proven low-loss, forced ZVS flyback architecture and provides the efficiency with a combination of a low, 90 V input voltage and a full load, which is typically the ‘worst-case scenario’ for a switched mode power supply (SMPS).
Using the architecture, designers can significantly reduce total operational losses when compared to conventional active clamp flyback (ACF) and quasi-resonant (QR) topologies, simplify overall circuit design and thermal management and reduce component count, form factor and cost without the need for PFC circuits.
The design is based around Eggtronic’s EPIC QuarEgg IC, a mixed-signal, low-power controller with multi-mode operation and synchronous rectification control that provides all the necessary primary side regulation without the need for an optocoupler. This highly integrated, miniature 5 x 5 mm device incorporates an optimised low-power mode for enhancing performance at zero and light loads and provides built-in protection against overvoltage, overcurrent, brownout and extreme temperatures.
“Integrating PFC into a design increases complexity, component count and size, three things that OEMs look to minimise wherever possible,” says Igor Spinella, Eggtronic’s CEO and founder. “To date, designers have had to choose 65 W technologies and sacrifice efficiency for cost with QR topologies or spend more to obtain the higher efficiencies of ACF. Now, by creating a 70 W version of our proven QuarEgg forced ZVS AC/DC architecture, we are opening up the possibility of PFC-free designs to higher powers than previously possible using the best ACF architectures, with smaller form factors and at costs that are comparable with QR alternatives.”
Eggtronic has built a demonstration of the new QuarEgg technology, which provides a 70 W output power in a form factor of just 72.6 mm x 39.1 mm x 17.5 mm. Smaller form factors will be possible using the architecture and target applications will include chargers for portable equipment, set-top boxes, routers and Bluetooth speakers, IoT and small consumer devices, and high-brightness LED lamps.
If you enjoyed this article, you will like the following ones: don't miss them by subscribing to :
