Germany’s Digatron Power Electronics is to unveil its next-generation battery/cell testers with silicon carbide (SiC) technology at the 2014 European Lead Battery Conference (ELBC) in Edinburgh.
The universal battery tester is designed to test batteries ranging from 0-20V, the cell tester to test cells from 0-6V. The charging/discharging rate is up to 150A per 1.8kW circuit.
According to the Aachen-based company, the SiC technology enables the test equipment to be cooler and quieter than other testing equipment in the industry. “The SiC technology is very exciting, but rarely used until now,” Ralf Beckers, Digatron Power Electronics’ head of marketing, told BEST. “SiC devices have lower losses and higher voltage,” he added. The company’s products use SiC metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors that are more efficient at high reverse voltages than Si insulated-gate bipolar transistors.
Both systems comprise of six independent circuits and have a packing density of up to 48 circuits per cabinet. The system can utilise two different kinds of energy regeneration. A so-called ‘Biconditional Energy Supply’ balances the energy flow between the circuits and tracks the energy balance of the DC link either to generate energy or to feed excess energy back to the three-phase grid.
The biennial ELBC takes in Edinburgh on 9-12 September.