Technical Articles

Alternative sources of gas supply, according to the Ministry of Economy and EnergyAt the time of gas crisis in Bulgaria (January 2009) the Government declared its intention to work actively for limiting its dependence on gas supplies from Russia. Many alternative gas delivery sources, as Nabucco project, were widely discussed. Among the other mentioned possible ways for diversification of the supplies were construction of internetworks with neighbouring countries, the opportunity for increasing the capacity of the underground depository in Chiren ... more

SEEIM magazine presents few recent solar plant projectsin SEE countriesThe photovoltaic market has been booming over the last decade and is forecast to confirm this trend in the coming years. In 2008, the Global Photovoltaic (PV) market reached 5.6 GW and the cumulative PV power installed totaled almost 15 GW compared to 9 GW in 2007. Given the current crisis context, high uncertainties over the 2009 market exist.Experts believe the market could reach up to 7 GW in 2009, each ... more

Remote monitoring and control of home appliances is becoming a reality with support from a range of communication protocols.Rawin RojvanitMicrochip TechnologyFunctionally, the control-panel and display designs of appliances have not changed much in the past several decades. Each appliance still has a control panel consisting of knobs and buttons, and some type of display. The implementation of these inputs and outputs may have improved during the transition from mechanical to digital, but consumers still have to walk up to these ... more

South-East Europe Development Watch (SEEDW) projectSouth-Aast Europe (SEE) is at the hub of several contradictory factors influencing the development of its energy systems. On one hand, it is endowed with plentiful sources of renewable energy and has vast potential for increasing energy efficiency. On the other its legacy of communist-era power plants and inefficient transmission and distribution systems means that electricity generation continues to be associated with large, centralised, highly polluting facilities, or in some cases - particularly Albania - ... more

Using a mixed-signal microcontroller to drive a high-power LED, in either boost or buck-boost configuration, with peripherals to spare.Steve Bowling & Lucio Di Jasio Microchip Technology Inc.LEDs have emerged in recent years as viable sources of light and are no longer used solely as status-light indicators for electronic equipment. Advances in technology have provided LEDs that are typically three times more efficient than incandescent bulbs. LEDs are also extremely durable and have lifetimes exceeding tens of thousands of hours.Power LEDs ... more

Improving the balance between energy supply and demand is crucial to boost and sustain economic development in South Eastern Europe. This requires a strong commitment by the countries of the region towards market oriented reforms in order to: improve overall energy conservation and efficiency, reduce an excessively high energy intensity of production compared to international standards, strengthen national institutional capacities and adapt legislation and regulation to EU norms and practices. It also means that countries should be prepared to draw ... more

Adding natural voice to embedded designs is easy. Steven Bible of Microchip Technology explains.Adding voice to an embedded project can enhance the user experience of a product. Commands can be confirmed, the status can be announced and temperatures can be read aloud. However, adding voice has been perceived as a daunting task which is both difficult and expensive. This article demonstrates that using an 8-bit PIC microcontroller with a pulse width modulation (PWM) peripheral can provide a low-cost and easy ... more

Common European framework, long-term national objectives and problems the branch development is facingDuring the last several years investment interest in wind power engineering in Bulgaria has been continuously increasing. A number of factors contribute to the development of this branch, among which the EU policy on increasing the share of electricity generated from renewable energy resources and accompanying programs for renewable energy resource projects subsidizing. The active legislation and statutory instruments in Bulgaria in this field also contribute as they ... more

DSCs are replacing analogue PWM controllers to bring new levels of flexibility and cost reductions for intelligent power supplies.Bryan Kris,Microchip TechnologyMarket factors are driving the development of intelligent power supplies that involve external control of the power supply and soft configuration in production. One way to achieve this is with digital feedback control of the power-conversion loop. Power-supply designers have employed microcontrollers (MCUs) in intelligent power supplies for communications, monitoring, control and deterministic functions, such as power sequencing, soft start ... more

Metal processing machinery retrofit The leaders in the sector discuss the condition and perspectives for market development in BulgariaMuch can be said about this market niche. All about the condition of machine construction in Bulgaria between 1989 - 2008. Below you can read about the most interesting and important things that can be said about the retrofitting service in Bulgaria, by the people that know best what it is and if there are favourable conditions for its development in the ... more

Recent developments in Croatian biofuels industryVelimir Segon, Researcher, Energy Institute Hrvoje Pozar, CroatiaVelimir SegonAfter almost 15 years of continuos promotion of biofuels benefits and recent and still ongoing rapid development of biofuels industry in almost every European country, first amounts of biofuels are finally to be produced in Croatia. Croatia is a country with very limited fossil fuel resources. Around two third of the consumption has to be imported. Of these petroleum products needs, diesel fuel consumption for the transport ... more

Future-proofing embedded automotive systemsMaking the right microcontroller architecture choose can reduce development costs and future-proof automotive embedded systems developmentDan Termer, Vice President, Vertical Markets Group, Microchip TechnologyThe automotive electronics industry continues to expand its usage of 8- and 16-bit microcontrollers (MCUs). As the MCU is the cornerstone of electronic control modules (ECMs), from safety to convenience systems, and from chassis and driver information to security systems, the selection of the appropriate 8- or 16-bit MCU supplier is critical for the ... more

The current picture of South-Eastern European (S.E.E.) biomass energy marketBy Giacomo BizzarriThe continuous changes in the composition of European Union (E.U.) imply continuous focuses on some major markets of common relevance. Biomass energy market is indeed one of these. The potential of the various biomass sources is evaluated through an analysis that focuses especially on the opportunities still unexploited. By providing detailed knowledge of some national strategies and policies on biomass energy, the study aims at enabling a better estimation ... more

Appliance designers can now take advantage of the latest Digital Signal Controllers (DSCs), such as Microchip’s dsPIC33F motor-control family, to improve energy efficiency and cost savings in motor systemsJorge ZambadaMicrochip TechnologyGiven that motor-driven equipment, including motors, pumps and fans, can account for 64 percent of the electricity consumption, improvements to motor systems could result in dramatic savings in energy and cost. The Brushless DC (BLDC) motor is used in both consumer and industrial applications, owing to its compact size, controllability ... more

South East Industrial Market is offering its readers the chance to win the new PIC32 Starter Kit!! The Starter Kit provides the easiest and lowest cost method to experience the PIC32 microcontroller for the first time.Microchip’s PIC32 family of 32-bit microcontrollers (MCUs), add more performance and memory while maintaining pin, peripheral and development compatibility with Microchip’s 16-bit MCU/DSC families. The new PIC32 family is fully supported by Microchip’s free MPLAB® Integrated Development Environment (IDE) which now offers unprecedented compatibility by ... more