Dear Friends,

It is always important to save space in your power supply design. You need to use the right controller to achieve the best efficiency.

Find all my magazines from 2006 on in our free archive on bodospower.com. There is no better way to communicate. We all share one world. As a publisher I serve the world: one magazine, on time, every time.

Best regards,
Bodo Arlt

ICERGi 70101 Totem-Pole PFC Controller delivers 99% Efficiency with Diode Rectification at Lower Cost

COP26 has highlighted the need to save energy and the pressure is on for power supply designers to deliver improved energy efficiencies. Totem-pole PFC designs using the existing commercially available control ICs still have not escaped from the power conversion trilemma of efficiency, size, and in particular – cost which typically will inhibit large scale adoption in price sensitive volume markets.

To date, 99% efficiency is typically achieved by:

• Switching GaN/SiC devices at low frequency of around 65 kHz
• Replacing rectification diodes with high voltage low RDS(ON) MOSFETs

The low switching frequency results in a bulky inductor penalizing the product volume while the use of WBG devices and active rectification materially increases the system BOM cost.

The ICERGi digital totem-pole controller IC70101 resolves this power conversion trilemma by optimizing the switching performance of the totem-pole PFC. Specifically, phase cancellation and active EMI control features enable:

• 75% size reduction in the PFC inductor
• 50% reduction in the switching loss
• 50% cost reduction in the power switches and inductor

All savings combined greatly benefit 700W – 5.5kW PFC applications by achieving 99% efficiency without the need for active rectification which reduces system cost and design complexity.

Key features of the IC70101 totem-pole PFC controller

• Enables peak efficiency >99% @ 230VAC and >98% @ 115VAC with diode rectification at the lowest cost
• Proprietary digital control algorithms for compact inductor and optimal efficiency
• Ideal for ATX/SFX power supplies, refrigeration & HVAC power, server power, and other offline power applications.

Learn more:

• Download the test report for ICERGi 3kW totem-pole PFC.
• Contact ttrongvu@icergi.com, info@icergi.com for the application notes and datasheets of IC70101.