Regenerative DC power supplies save costs

The regenerative design of the new models enables the energy normally consumed to be returned to the grid cleanly, saving costs associated with energy consumption and cooling.

The automotive industry is using larger batteries to extend the range of electric vehicles (EV) and higher voltage electronics to reduce charging time. In fact, MarketsandMarkets estimates nearly 39% CAGR growth by 2020 for high voltage batteries to support longer range cars and larger electric vehicles including buses and trucks.

As the demand for high power grows, so does the need for high power test equipment. However, high power applications in aerospace defence and infrastructure, as well as automotive and energy, present unique challenges spanning site preparation necessities and safety requirements when transitioning from low power to high power.

Keysight's RP7900 is a part of the company's HEV/EV Power Converter Test Solutions which enable customers to deploy high-voltage, high-power solutions that meet the fast paced, high-growth demands of the hybrid-electric/electric vehicle (HEV/EV) market.

By combining the seamless source and load functionality into a compact 3U-high package, Keysight's RP7900 Series of regenerative power supplies minimises high-power test costs by shrinking floor space usage, reducing heat dissipation and maintaining uptime.

These new power supplies, available in two models - 20 kW and up to 2,000 V - offer the following key features and benefits:

• Two-quadrant, bidirectional sourcing and sinking capability allows for seamless, uninterrupted transitions between sourcing and sinking current without changing the power supply's output characteristics or introducing any disruptive behaviour.
• Autoranging output characteristic improves flexibility over rectangular, or traditional, output characteristic power supplies due to expanded power curve, which delivers more voltage and current combinations in one power supply.
• Provides fast output speed, sub-millisecond command-processing time (≤ 1 ms), and output list that help achieve significant throughput gains in testing.
• Offers simultaneous voltage and current measurement capabilities delivering high accuracy and resolution.
• Reduces rack space requirements due to superior power density in the power range of 20 kW in 3U height.

"The next generation of hybrid-electric and electric vehicle power electronics developed and manufactured by our customers require higher voltage, increased bandwidth and exceptional control capability in design qualification and manufacturing test," said Christopher Cain, vice president and general manager of Keysight's Electronic Industrial Products. "Keysight's RP7900 series power supply capabilities enable automated testing to accelerate time to market and lower operational costs, while the unique regenerative capability delivers substantial operational savings as load-current is converted into AC grid power, instead of simply dissipating as heat that must be further managed in the test environment."