Bidirectional Power Supplies: Revolutionizing Energy Testing and Simulation
The market demand for bidirectional Power Supplies is steadily climbing. There are very good reasons for this trend, and it seems appropriate to elaborate on this topic with a sweet and short blog post.
Bidirectional Power Supplies - Basics
A bidirectional Power Supply combines the functions of a standard, unidirectional power supply with an E-Load.
This allows the device to source or sink power. As soon as we deal with several kW these devices are usually “regenerative”, which means that the absorbed power in sink mode is not converted to heat, but it is fed back into the AC grid with up to 95% efficiency.
This would be called a regenerative, bidirectional Power Supply.
Applications
A bidirectional DC Power Supply plus available Software can be used to test batteries, simulate batteries, and simulate PV panels under different conditions.
A bidirectional AC Power Supply (Grid Simulator) can be used to test the AC parameters of any device (e.g., Inverter) that needs and/or produces AC power.
With this full featured setup, it is possible to test all aspects of an integrated Inverter which include the MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking) controller, the battery controller (for both charge and discharge) and the AC inverter. With the PV Simulation the MPPT can be tested under various light conditions and panel configurations. The Battery Simulation is used to test the performance of the battery charger / controller and with the Regenerative bidirectional AC Power Supply all parameters of the AC generated by the inverter can be analyzed. The efficiency (and many other parameters) for all possible power flow directions can be qualified.
These are common examples of possible applications and by no means bidirectional Power Supplies are limited to these use cases.
Watts, Kilowatts or Megawatts?
Software
To unleash the full potential of these Power Systems there is also a variety of software available.
BUT …. The price!
Usually, bidirectional Power Supplies are significantly more expensive than unidirectional Power Supplies.
Not so with ITECH!
In the major series like IT-M3900 and IT-6000 the price difference between the unipolar model and the corresponding bidirectional model is less than 10%.
The unique and clever hardware architecture that allows an “almost free” bidirectional upgrade paired with a very attractive overall price / performance ratio makes ITECH one of the most competitive contenders in any Power System evaluation.
Stay in touch with Computer Controls AG
We have the expertise and a carefully selected product portfolio available to fulfill your requirements and support your visions with power supplies, E-Loads, Instruments and more. Talk to us.
