INTERCONNECTION FEATURE


Networking - The art of connections Smart solutions for an electric world


The environment. The rise of EV transportation. Increased digitisation. Three core causes for the push for greater electrification. Duncan Nicol, sales and marketing manager at Phoenix Contact, divulges on how these could look in the near future


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limate change and the need to reduce carbon emissions in the atmosphere is driving change in many aspects of the industry and our daily lives. One of the obvious changes is the move from the internal combustion engine (ICE) to more efficient electric drive trains in transport, with the added bonus of fewer moving parts malfunctioning.


EV MOBILITY AND HOW THESE VEHICLES ARE POWERED There are also less obvious changes starting to gain momentum and they are all interconnected. For example, the shift towards electric mobility is accelerating the development of more affordable and improved energy density technology. This is enabling more affordable battery storage for domestic and grid level applications. As such, with the UK feed in tariffs for domestic solar all but gone, installing a battery together with solar panels makes it possible to store clean green electricity during the day and use it in the evening when it’s most needed. This increases the savings and returns on investments, and helps the environment to boot.


Another consequence of the move to electrification is in temporary power delivery systems, such as at airports. Traditionally, a diesel generator would be used to provide aircraft with power whilst on the stand. But now, inverters are being deployed to take power from the airport’s electricity grid and deliver it to the aircraft. Aircraft tugs are also going electric, helping to further reduce pollution in and around airports. Other applications, where off-grid power would have traditionally been achieved with the


can be significant and could reduce the demand for electricity from the grid.


use of diesel generators, are switching to battery storage connected to solar or wind farms. The Formula E electric racing championship is moving to such a system, enabling them to run race weekends completely off grid.


SMART MEASUREMENT An emerging trend is in electricity metering, where smart meters are being deployed to help consumers monitor usage. This rollout programme has been beset with problems and is likely to miss government targets, but the benefits are not just in changing behaviour and more accurate billing; they are also in the ability to measure exported electricity. Take a smart home with solar, battery storage and an electric car on the drive - all of these individual pieces of technology can work together to take advantage of renewable - or cheaper - off-peak imported electricity, to top up the home battery or charge the electric car, whilst exporting excess electricity back to the grid during peak times when electricity is expensive. The savings


/ ELECTRONICS


As electric vehicles become more commonplace, the connectors that enable their charging must be reliable and cost-efficient


INTERCONNECTION FOR THE FUTURE With the drive toward electrification, developments in connection technology are required to keep pace and enable smarter ways to connect our electric world together. For example, it is now possible to connect 232 amps onto a PCB using conventional copper cables, rather than using bulky and costly bus bars. Power bus systems are now possible using conventional plugs and headers, which enable several PCB modules to be connected together with cables, simplifying assembly and maintenance. Design for manufacture is an important


trend as the technologies get smarter and require more connectivity. There is an increasing number of PCB terminals designed for the automatic pick-and- place production process, with pitches up to 5.08mm, and cable cross sections up to 2.5mm/sq. The advantages are both in reduced PCB space needed for the connectors, and savings in the production costs of the device by removing a secondary manual assembly process. Phoenix Contact has designed and manufactured a selection of connectivity solutions, for applications that range from drives and frequency inverters to those referred to in this article. And with this new wave of applications, the company continues to develop its own solutions amidst this interconnected electric revolution.


Phoenix Contact www.phoenixcontact.co.uk ELECTRONICS | FEBRUARY 2020 29


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