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December, 2015
DC/DC Converters: It’s Not Your Father’s Input Voltage Anymore!
By Dennis Kelemen, Administrator, Power Products, Pico Electronics
mainstream. This includes 480VAC that can be converted to approximate- ly 680VDC, which is closely tied to great technical leaps in the battery industry. Improved power and relia- bility are opening up more opportuni- ties in our newest designs. Utilizing these new input volt-
S
ages often requires challenging design criteria, such as selecting proper com- ponents to handle higher currents while safely maintaining a small form factor. New discrete modules regulate wide input voltages to a stable range that can be reduced to the normal working output of a specific circuit. These challenges are being addressed in new DC/DC designs. The industry standard of 5 and
12VDC input voltages has been expanded by adaptations to handle 24, 28, and 48VDC inputs as well. Many companies have added these to standard product lines and also begun to accommodate a wide range of input voltages from 100 to 400VDC in brick formats. These designs have aided engineers in handling point-of-load requirements without additional cir- cuitry and have reduced board level component counts.
AC/DC Modules Some companies now offer mod-
ules that address these needs, while others use modules with only a DC input. With most commercial de - signs, the limits on the upper level AC/DC use make such units unsuit- able for high-reliability and critical applications. The typical universal 90 to 265VAC input AC/DC module, which will accept DC input voltage, offers a typical input of 125 to 380VDC. Beyond input voltage con- straints, physical size and construc- tion are typically large, open-frame designs built for commercial use, with a few higher-end open frame and encapsulated units available. Besides the typical 5, 12, 24, with few 48VDC outputs at hand, obtaining a full spectrum of output voltages might be a chore, since special out- puts and modified configurations are almost nonexistent in this large-vol- ume oriented field.
olar, wind turbines, and AC inputs for high-power industrial use are all part of today’s design
Existing DC/DC Products Pico Electronics, like many
manufacturers throughout the power supply industry, offers products with input voltage ranges from 100 to 180
with an input range of 120 to 370VDC in a full-brick package with power up to 300W and regulated isolated out- put voltages from 5 to 300VDC. The 16 standard, regulated output volt- ages are current-limited, have built-in
encapsulated for use in rugged, criti- cal applications where reliability and size constraints are required features of an optimized design.
Output Voltages Are Also Changing
It should be noted that these
new criteria are not limited to the input voltage requirements. More frequently, higher outputs are being made necessary in all fields of endeavor — commercial, industrial, COTS (Commercial Off-the-Shelf), and the military — creating a need for small, reliable modules. Designs for photomultipliers, piezo devices, spectroscopy, capacitor charging, aerospace, and military applications now require output voltages of up to 10,000VDC and higher. These new types of DC voltage
Large grid systems power the world — homes, farms, industrial facilities, and beyond.
and 200 to 380VDC and the capabili- ty to refocus the nominal input to match specific applications. These are commonly available in half- and full-brick configurations with single and dual isolated outputs and output voltages from 3.3 to 350VDC. Pico is addressing these new
requirements by offering three series of modules with input ranges up to 900VDC. These new modules come in quarter-, half-, and full-brick mechan- ical packages and provide output power up to 300W. They are suitable for use as a discrete component, or for use as a board level rail source that offers lower fixed voltages. The HiQP series, with an input
range of 125 to 475VDC, is available with output voltage regulation and isolated output voltages from 5 to 200VDC with a maximum power rat- ing of 50W, in a quarter-brick design. The series complements the standard QP modules (6, 12, 24, 48QP) which offer input ranges of 4.5 to 9, 9 to 18, 18 to 36, and 36 to 72VDC input, respectively. Each series offers a large variety of isolated DC outputs from 5 to 500VDC for normal industry use. Joining the HiQP is the DC1,
over-temperature shutdown, and operate at a fixed frequency of 100kHz. Alongside these pro ducts is the
DC3 series, a 50W half-brick package. With an input range of 300 to 900VDC, regulated, isolat- ed outputs from 3.3 to 300VDC, and short-circuit protection, the DC3 mod- ules are highly flexible and useful for many appli- cations. In addition to the wide input and output voltage ranges, these mod- ules can be purchased in through-hole design for board level mounting or with a terminal strip con- nector for convenient in - stallation when a board is not available. All three series are available with an optional expanded operating temperature of –55 to +85°C (–67 to 185°F), and selected Mil Standard 883 environ- mental screening. Pico will also review specifications or requirements with which a piece of equipment must comply. These modules are fully
sources continue to improve, and new battery technologies are pushing the envelope for sustainability and power density. Solar use in the industrial world and beyond is an everyday occurrence. Wind turbine fields fill the landscape and our oceans. This kind of technology will continue to penetrate into daily design requirements, and to meet these new challenges, the DC/DC converter industry will continue making advancements in size reduc-
Today’s designs utilize Lithium-Ion systems and save energy in a variety of industries.
tion and reliability improvement. r Contact: PICO Electronics, 143
Sparks Avenue, Pelham, NY 10803 % 914-738-1400 E-mail:
info@picoelectronics.com Web:
www.picoelectronics.com.
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