94% of developers responsible for power design said a deep understanding of power is important.

Molex, a global electronics leader and connector innovator, recently commissioned Dimensional Research to survey 824 select design engineers and engineering managers worldwide about their experience and expertise in power systems.

According to this, 94% of survey respondents said that understanding how to utilize power was a key requirement, and 83% cited power design as one of their biggest challenges.

About three-quarters of respondents were working to improve energy efficiency when designing their power systems, and more than half were simultaneously addressing power efficiency, cost, capacity, and performance monitoring requirements.

Respondents cited energy efficiency (73%) and functional safety (66%) as the top design priorities, followed by signal and power interference (57%), battery requirements (49%), and system and device miniaturization (47%).

Addressing harsh environments (41%) and environmental noise (38%) were also identified as important priorities to consider in system design and implementation.

The most challenging obstacles are cost-effectiveness (56%), safety (51%), thermal management (48%), electromagnetic interference (EMI) (45%), reliability over time (44%), and power Integrity (40%) and compliance (36%) were identified.

Seventy-two percent of survey respondents said that demand for both custom and off-the-shelf solutions continues to grow as design priorities and challenges increase, highlighting the need for power expertise among design engineers and power solution providers.

Respondents cited battery performance (34%), materials advancements (30%), more efficient thermal management (29%), and battery life (27%) as the most impactful improvements.

Additionally, 60% of respondents predicted that the demand for higher efficiency, along with advancements in battery technology (51%), high-voltage consumption demand (49%), wireless connectivity (42%), and miniaturization (40%), will drive innovation in power design.

Respondents said a number of macro trends are driving innovation, including the shift to renewable energy (54%), higher performance demands (53%), and rising energy costs (52%).

More than four in five respondents expected the demand for electricity-related expertise to increase in the next five years, and 57% said significant effort would be needed to better understand and comply with electricity-related regulatory requirements.

Additionally, to keep pace with rapid changes in technology, trends, and regulations, respondents said they needed more hands-on experience (71%) and supplier product training (58%), along with increased access to resources such as software tools (61%), design reference documentation (54%), and supplier customer support (52%).

Across regions, Chinese engineers reported a greater need to understand and comply with power-related regulatory requirements, and respondents in this region were most likely to leverage their practical experience to keep pace with power innovation.

British engineers rated peer mentoring or coaching as the most valuable, while German design engineers ranked the highest globally.It was analyzed that power considerations would most likely be incorporated in the early concept stages of product development.

“Engineers must consider multiple priorities when designing effective, efficient and sustainable power systems that fuel all types of product innovation,” said Brian Hauge, senior vice president and president of Molex’s Consumer and Commercial Solutions business. “Molex continuously collaborates with customers and suppliers across the power ecosystem to remove conductivity and connectivity barriers and reduce product design risk, ultimately developing reliable, durable and high-performing power interface and distribution systems tailored to specific applications and environments.”