<p id="isPasted">As smart home systems become more advanced, designers must balance power consumption, wireless interoperability, memory, footprint, and security needs. For engineers building smart locks and similar battery-powered nodes, managing the engineering tradeoffs is simple enough in theory but complicated in practice.</p><p>This week’s New Tech Tuesdays looks at how power, footprint, multiprotocol systems, and security are redefining smart lock design, and why integrated wireless systems-on-chip (SoCs) are becoming a practical answer to those demands.</p><h2>Overcoming Power and Footprint Constraints</h2><p>Power optimization in connected edge nodes involves more than achieving a low sleep current. The real challenge is total system behavior across active, standby, and communication states. Battery-powered devices such as smart locks and sensors spend most of their time asleep. However, they still need to wake quickly, process securely, and exchange data efficiently when the application demands it.</p><p>At the same time, physical design constraints continue to tighten. Engineers need to add memory, interfaces, and protocol support without expanding the board, the bill of materials (BOM), or the battery.</p><p>Security adds another design constraint that cannot be ignored. The National Institute of Standards and Technology Interagency or Internal Report (NISTIR) 8259 emphasizes baseline device cybersecurity capabilities, including update processes, data protection, logical access control, and device identification. In other words, energy efficiency and security must coexist in the same architecture from the start.</p><h2>Integrating Multiprotocol Systems and Security</h2><p>Interoperability is one of the main reasons smart home design is becoming increasingly complex. Several standards exist to improve the connectivity and security of smart homes. For example, the Matter smart home standard is intended to improve interoperability across smart home products. Thread is a low-power, secure mesh protocol for the Internet of Things (IoT). Zigbee<sup>®</sup> has a large installed base and uses a low-power approach. Additionally, Aliro extends standardization to digital credentials across readers, smartphones, and wearables. While interoperability helps users simplify their smart home systems, it places the responsibility on design engineers to ensure compatibility.<sup></sup></p><p>Architecturally, supporting multiple protocols requires enough embedded memory to host modern networking stacks, enough processing headroom to manage application and wireless tasks, and a secure firmware update path that does not introduce a new attack surface.</p><p>This is where single-chip wireless architectures become especially appealing. By integrating multiprotocol radios, memory, peripheral interfaces, and hardware security features into a single platform, engineers can evaluate radio behavior, processing load, memory usage, and security controls in a unified way.</p><h2>The Newest Products for Your Newest Designs<sup>®</sup></h2><p>The <a href="https://www.mouser.com/new/nordic-semiconductor/nordic-nrf54lm20-dev-kit/" target="_blank">Nordic Semiconductor nRF54LM20-DK</a> development kit supports evaluation of nRF54LM20 wireless SoCs. It provides a platform for the nRF Connect software development kit (SDK) and enables evaluation of <strong>Bluetooth</strong><sup>®</sup> Low Energy, Matter, Thread, Zigbee, Aliro, and proprietary 2.4GHz operation in a single-board environment.</p><p>In practical terms, the nRF54LM20-DK gives designers a faster way to validate whether a single-chip architecture can meet the competing demands of smart locks and other connected edge nodes without compromising BOM cost, footprint, or battery life.</p><h2>Key Takeaway</h2><p>Power optimization in multiprotocol smart home designs is not only about lowering current consumption. It is also key to building compact devices that can communicate across ecosystems, stay secure throughout their lifecycle, and still deliver practical battery life in the field. As interoperability standards continue to reshape the smart home and access-control markets, highly integrated wireless SoCs are no longer optional; they are becoming a baseline design strategy.</p>

Explore power optimization in multiprotocol smart homes using integrated wireless SoCs for secure, compact, battery-powered smart locks.

Power Optimization in Multiprotocol Smart Home Designs

<h1 id="isPasted">Question:</h1><p>Is a power management system required for battery-powered systems?</p><h1>Answer:</h1><p>Yes, most battery-powered systems need to implement a battery charging concept. In this article, we describe how different power management functions are designed and optimized for battery-operated systems. An example system diagram that contains many of the functions that are needed in battery-powered electronics is introduced. Different aspects of power conversion efficiency are also discussed.</p><h1 id="isPasted">Introduction</h1><p>Many systems require battery power. Batteries are used for power redundancy in case of a line power outage, but mostly in portable equipment, which can be large like an electric vehicle or small like a hearing aid. In all battery-powered systems, power efficiency is key. The less efficient the power supply, the larger and more costly the battery for the same runtime. Also, batteries supply different voltages depending on the charge state. This requires special power converter capability to regulate the varying voltage from the batteries to a stable voltage for the system electronics. Most battery-powered systems today implement a rechargeable battery rather than a primary non-rechargeable battery. This requires systems to include a battery charger. This article explains various battery charging architectures along with new, innovative examples. Certainly, power conversion efficiency is a must.</p><p><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1788382001804-555851-fig-01.jpg" style="width:100%px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Figure 1: The simplified system diagram of a battery-operated system." /><span class="fr-inner">Figure 1: The simplified system diagram of a battery-operated system.</span></span></span></p><p>Figure 1 shows a system diagram of a battery-operated system. While the exact implementation varies for different use cases, the main function blocks shown in this diagram are usually available in all systems. There is a supply voltage, which sources the power to the system. This connection often needs to be switchable. If the power source is a wall wart AC line power converter, unplugging the low-voltage power cable is the same action as switching the power switch in Figure 1 to the off position. Such power path management is necessary to avoid losing valuable battery energy to additional circuitry attached to the source. Also in Figure 1, we see a potential second power source. The power switch block would switch the power flow coming from Power Source 1 or Power Source 2. For example, Power Source 2 may be a USB 5V power source. </p><p>Then the power is converted to safely charge the available battery and/or to power the system directly. If no input power is available, the stored energy in the battery is taken with a very high-efficiency switch-mode power converter to power the system.</p><h1>Power Efficiency in Battery-Powered Systems</h1><p>The charging of a battery usually does not have to be very power efficient. In most battery-powered systems, except energy harvesting, there is enough power available to recharge a battery. For example, when a mobile phone is connected to a phone charger, the exact efficiency of the charging process is typically not relevant to most people.</p><p>In energy harvesting systems, however, the power efficiency during the charging process is key. Ultimately, higher power efficiency during charging directly translates to smaller energy harvesters, which reduce system cost and may decrease system size.</p><p>All battery-powered systems, however, value power conversion efficiency while the battery is discharged. Higher power conversion efficiency during this process directly translates to smaller battery capacity for the same system operating time.</p><p>The efficiency of such a power conversion stage from the battery to generate the voltage required for the load needs to be evaluated further. There is a full-load conversion efficiency, which provides information about how long a system may run at nominal load, and there is also the light-load efficiency, which matters in many systems. This is the efficiency of power conversion during very light load conditions. For example, when we look at a battery-powered smoke detector, it runs at a low-load current in the smoke-detecting stage for many years until the moment when smoke is detected and an alarm sounds. The alarm is enabled by a high current, but the power efficiency during this phase is not so relevant for the point in time when batteries need to be replaced.</p><p>For very low-power load efficiency, the quiescent current IQ is relevant. The lower, the better. This quiescent current, together with the switching scheme, determines the low-load efficiency. In Figure 2, a typical efficiency plot is shown with and without light-load efficiency mode. Light load efficiency mode is the blue curve, and fixed switching frequency mode is the black dashed curve. Many power conversion circuits have such a mode to increase the light-load efficiency. Typically, the way it works is that the constant switching frequency is stopped, and a few switching pulses are generated only when the output voltage dips slightly. In between those bursts, the power converter shuts down many functions to save power. These low-power modes may differ slightly with regard to the exact architecture from IC to IC, but the result of such special modes is always a very high efficiency at light loads.</p><p>The efficiency difference at 1mA output load is quite high in Figure 2. With power save mode activated at a light load of 1mA (even down to 100μA load), we see 50% power conversion efficiency. At 600kHz fixed switching frequency, without power save mode activated, we only get roughly 15% efficiency.</p><p><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1788382050153-555851-fig-02.jpg" style="width:100%px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Figure 2: The power conversion efficiency of an ADP2370 buck regulator with low load power saving mode activated and with fixed 600kHz switching frequency at all loads." /><span class="fr-inner">Figure 2: The power conversion efficiency of an ADP2370 buck regulator with low load power saving mode activated and with fixed 600kHz switching frequency at all loads.</span></span></span></p><h1>Power Conversion Challenges</h1><p>As mentioned, power conversion efficiency is very important in battery-powered systems. All existing types of topologies may be chosen for a battery-powered system. However, one topology that is used often is the four-switch buck-boost converter. Many systems require 3.3V of supply voltage and are powered by a single lithium-ion battery cell. Such cells provide a nominal voltage of 3.6V, but toward their discharged state, they only provide between 2.8V and 3.0V. For the longest run time of the system, we need to utilize as much energy from the battery as possible. In 3.3V systems, this forces us to step down from 3.6V to 3.3V when the lithium-ion battery is fully charged. However, when the battery is toward the end of its discharge, 2.8V need to be boosted to 3.3V. This requirement calls for a buck-boost circuit. Many different types of buck-boost circuits exist. Just to name a few, suitable topologies include the transformer-based flyback, two-inductor single-ended primary-inductor converters (SEPICs), and the four-switch buck-boost. The four-switch buck-boost is usually chosen since it typically offers the highest power conversion efficiency compared to the other two topologies.</p><p>Figure 3 shows the concept of a four-switch buck-boost topology.</p><p><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1788382070767-555851-fig-03.jpg" style="width:100%px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Figure 3: An example of a four-switch buck-boost power converter such as an LT3154 buck-boost DC-to-DC converter." /><span class="fr-inner">Figure 3: An example of a four-switch buck-boost power converter such as an LT3154 buck-boost DC-to-DC converter.</span></span></span></p><p>It is possible to avoid a buck-boost topology altogether by using two lithium-ion batteries in series, rather than just one. Then only a simple step-down stage power converter is needed. However, this requires additional effort and cost for the second battery cell. Also, charging two battery cells is a bit more challenging than just charging a single cell. When two cells are used in series, the max voltage of the two cells in series is 7.2V. This requires a power converter with a higher-voltage semiconductor process than the typical 5.5V max processes. This is not a problem but may make the semiconductor of the DC-to-DC power converter slightly higher cost.</p><h1>Selecting the Right Battery Charger</h1><p>There are many battery charger ICs available on the market. A battery charger is a device that provides voltage and current in a manner that safely recharges batteries. When choosing an integrated circuit, the first decision that needs to be made is whether to use a linear charger or a switching charger. Linear chargers are like linear regulators. They can only step down an available voltage. The input current roughly equals the output current.</p><p>For example, if a depleted battery has a voltage of 0.8V, and the available system voltage is 3.3V, the linear charger must step down to 2.5V. If the charge current is 1A, 2.5W is dissipated into heat by the linear charger. While this may be possible, imagine a system voltage of 12V. Here, the dissipated power amounts to 11.2W. Linear chargers are a reasonable choice for applications with low charging currents and a system voltage close to the battery voltage.</p><p>For all other applications, switching chargers are recommended. Most battery charger ICs available are switch-mode battery chargers. They are classic switch-mode power supply (SMPS) devices with special features enabling battery charging. They can charge with constant voltage or constant current, sometimes even both, and they provide special features to make charging safe. This can be a timer to detect if an attached battery is defective, or it may include a temperature sensor to limit battery temperature during charging to avoid thermal runaway in different circumstances. A feature that is becoming more and more popular is the safety check between a battery pack and a battery charger, which monitors whether an authorized battery is attached to the system.</p><p>Figure 4 shows a standalone SMPS battery charger solution. It is the <a href="https://www.analog.com/en/products/max77985.html" target="_blank">MAX77985</a>, and it implements the step-down SMPS battery charger as well as a power path switch. The power path switch is essential to most applications. It can disconnect the input voltage rail from the battery, once the battery is fully charged, to prevent the battery power from dissipating through any circuitry that might be attached to the input power line. Also, the solution has a digital I2C interface to change certain settings on the charger IC as well as for telemetry purposes. To make a battery charger as flexible as possible, digital interfaces enable settings for different battery types and battery sizes.</p><p><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1788382121575-555851-fig-04.jpg" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Figure 4: A MAX77985 standalone battery charger simplified circuit diagram." /><span class="fr-inner">Figure 4: A MAX77985 standalone battery charger simplified circuit diagram.</span></span></span></p><p>Among many different features, one item is especially noteworthy. The integrated power switches in the MAX77985 can not only be used in step-down mode for charging the battery, but they can also be used to boost the battery voltage to a higher system voltage. In a way, this specific battery charger combines the system power converter with a pure battery charger.</p><p>Battery-powered equipment requires many different electrical functions. Some products offer only basic functionality, while other products are highly integrated with most functions available in an integrated circuit. Such products are called system power management integrated circuits (PMICs) and are especially popular in battery-powered applications. This has multiple reasons. One is that many battery-operated systems are rather small and, as such, require a compact system solution. The second reason is that each separate IC has some quiescent current; some power that is always consumed when the IC is turned on or off. This will eventually drain the battery. Combining many different integrated circuits into one PMIC device reduces the system’s quiescent current in most cases.</p><p>The availability of high-capacity lithium-ion batteries has especially transformed the landscape for battery-powered systems within the past 20 years. Many integrated circuits are available for charging and discharging those batteries efficiently. Today, a lot of research is being performed for future battery construction to increase the capacitance per weight and volume and to increase the possible charging speed while maintaining the safety of operation. There is no end in sight to innovations in battery charging and discharging integrated circuits to keep up with these battery developments.</p><hr /><p>Originally written for <em><strong>Mouser Electronics</strong></em> by <em><strong>Frederik Dostal</strong></em>, Power Management Expert, Analog Devices</p>

Explore power conversion efficiency in battery-powered systems, from buck-boost converters and battery chargers to low-power PMIC design.

Designing for Optimal Power Conversion Efficiency in Battery-Powered Systems

<p id="isPasted">Educational technology company Sphero has launched ‘Bolt+’, an updated version of its ‘Bolt’ smart robot, designed to help students learn how to code. Aimed at grades three to ten, BOLT+ can be programmed via an app to perform a variety of tasks, such as following a path, changing the colors of its lights, or updating its display, all using Nordic Semiconductor Bluetooth® LE wireless connectivity. </p><h3>Extended battery with nPM1100 PMIC</h3><p>Powered by Nordic’s <a href="https://www.nordicsemi.com/Products/nRF5340">nRF5340</a> SoC and using the <a href="https://www.nordicsemi.com/Products/nPM1100">nMP1100</a> PMIC for power management, the BOLT+ can be programmed in one of three ways, depending on the user’s coding experience. In ‘Draw Canvas’ mode, students can simply sketch the path they would like the device to follow, while ‘Block Coding’ mode allows users to drag and drop modular commands to create programs visually. Finally, in ‘Text Programming’ mode, more advanced coders can write their programs in JavaScript or Python.</p><p>“Sphero BOLT+ is a round programmable robot that delivers best-in-class, hands-on classroom learning experiences and supports beginner to advanced coders – featuring a suite of programmable sensors and motors, a vivid LCD screen, and endless hands-on learning opportunities,” says Jeff Wiencrot, Senior Director of Firmware and Hardware, Sphero. “One BOLT+ supports up to two learners and promotes pair programming and collaborative learning.”</p><p>The BOLT+ links with the user’s smartphone via the nRF5340 SoC’s 2.4 GHz multiprotocol radio. Once connected, students can use the ‘Sphero Edu’ app to program the device to move, change the color of its lights, trigger light displays or matrix animations, illuminate the display, emit sounds, or combine multiple actions using if/then statements. It also includes a convenient ‘shake to wake’ function for quickly powering the device back on after periods of inactivity.</p><blockquote><p id="isPasted">We love the nPM1100, it consolidates multiple power management functions into a single IC, and it's super small, so it saves valuable board space. We also found it to be extremely power efficient</p><p>Jeff Wiencrot, Senior Director of Firmware and Hardware</p></blockquote><p id="isPasted">This device employs Nordic’s nPM1100 dedicated PMIC, which delivers up to 92 percent power conversion efficiency. The PMIC includes a highly efficient dual-mode configurable buck regulator and integrated battery charger to help prolong battery life.</p><p>“We love the nPM1100,” continues Wiencrot. “It consolidates multiple power management functions into a single IC, and it's super small, so it saves valuable board space. We also found it to be extremely power efficient.”</p><p>The nPM1100 is designed to complement Nordic’s nRF52 and nRF53 Series SoCs, providing efficient, low-power operation and reliable power delivery. With its compact form factor, it is also well suited to space-constrained applications such as this. </p><h3>High performance application processor</h3><p>The nRF5340 SoC features dual Arm® Cortex®-M33 processors to provide ample computational overhead for the robot. The high-performance application processor capable of DSP and Floating Point (FP), offers voltage and frequency scaling options and runs up to 128 MHz (514 CoreMark) with dedicated 1 MB Flash and 512 KB RAM. The fully programmable, ultra low power network processor runs at 64 MHz (244 CoreMark) and includes dedicated 256 KB Flash and 64 KB RAM.</p><blockquote><p>“The nRF5340 is the sole microcontroller, responsible for all operations on the robot, including communicating by Bluetooth with our Sphero Edu App, running the RGB LCD, controlling the motors, and operating the various sensors,” says Wiencrot.</p></blockquote><blockquote><p>“We also love working with Nordic in general. We’ve used Nordic products in nearly every Sphero robot for almost a decade now. The technical support, sales support, and documentation are all excellent.”</p></blockquote><p class="highlight-box"><a href="https://sphero.com/">ABOUT SPHERO</a></p>

The Sphero BOLT+ programmable smart robot employs the nRF5340 SoC for Bluetooth LE connectivity and the nMP1100 PMIC for extended battery life

Nordic-powered educational robot helps teach coding to students across a range of ages and ability levels

<p id="isPasted">Over the last three decades, the rise of smaller renewable energy sources, such as photovoltaic (PV) solar panels and wind turbines, coupled with smart grid technology, has fundamentally altered how homes and businesses interact with the power grid—with both now consuming and generating electricity.</p><p>This fundamental shift—the decentralization of power generation—is changing how national grids function, altering the relationship between homes, businesses, and electricity suppliers. Although this transition is already underway, the International Energy Agency (IEA) projects that over 100 million households will feature rooftop PV solar panels by 2030, a substantial rise from today’s 25 million.</p><p>Therefore, the decentralization of power has only just started, and for electrical engineers, several new challenges and opportunities are on the horizon. In this article, we will explore the shift in national power grids and analyze the technical and societal implications.</p><h2>The Factors Driving the Evolution of Power Grids</h2><p>The growing decentralization of power grids has been driven by several factors, primarily centered around the limitations inherent in centralized power grids and the unique benefits of decentralized power.</p><p>One key driver for decentralized energy has been the development of smaller renewable power sources. Achieving energy independence before the rise in popularity of solar panels and small wind turbines meant deploying some form of electric dynamo power generator, such as a gas-, coal-, or water-driven turbine. These generators require extensive physical resources while potentially introducing significant safety, technical, and social ramifications.</p><p>Another primary driver behind decentralized energy production is the increasing need for more power. Meeting this rising demand with large, centralized power plants requires significant planning, resources, and time, with nuclear power plants requiring around six to eight years to construct and commission.</p><p>Smaller decentralized energy resources (DERs) can be deployed much faster: Large-scale solar farms typically take just one to three years to bring online, whereas smaller residential and industrial solar installations (<strong>Figure 1</strong>) take between six and 18 weeks on average. In many cases, it is more straightforward and more cost-effective to address increasing energy requirements with numerous smaller distributed sources than with a single centralized one.</p><p><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1788378318922-Adobe-Stock-935574039-jpg.jpg" style="width:100%px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Figure 1: Small commercial solar installations, like the one shown, can be installed in just a few days." /><span class="fr-inner"><strong>Figure 1: </strong>Small commercial solar installations, like the one shown, can be installed in just a few days.</span></span></span></p><p>The declining costs and improved efficiency of renewable technologies, paired with rising electricity prices, have also made solar PV and wind power increasingly attainable. Advancements in energy storage and management technologies are further enhancing the viability of distributed renewable energy.</p><h2>The Rise of Decentralized Power</h2><p>The increasing demand for decentralized power results from large-scale trends and advancements in renewable energy, power electronics, and battery energy storage systems (BESS). Electronic innovation is helping to create new opportunities for DERs by increasing system efficiency, intelligence, and safety, while also reducing packaging considerations and costs.</p><h3>PV Solar and Wind Turbine Developments</h3><p>In the early 2000s, typical residential and commercial PV solar panels had an efficiency of approximately 15 percent. Since then, developments in PV cell design and fundamental shifts in material composition have helped to increase this value, with today’s panels typically offering around 20 percent.</p><p>Oxford PV, a University of Oxford spin-off, recently set a world record with its commercial-size perovskite-on-silicon tandem solar cell, achieving an efficiency of 28.6 percent—a significant step suggesting that even greater efficiency improvements are possible. Increases in panel efficiency can help drive DER adoption by reducing the area needed for a viable solar deployment (provided panel costs remain flat).</p><p>Wind turbines are also seeing significant development, with emerging bladeless turbines (<strong>Figure 2</strong>) capable of overcoming several persisting challenges. The absence of traditional rotating turbine blades simplifies and enhances the safety of system integration into buildings while also decreasing maintenance expenses and mitigating bird strikes. These benefits can help companies deploy wind turbines in new areas, including closer to solar panels or smaller residential locations, where planning restrictions often prevent the installation of turbines with rotating blades.</p><p><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1788378373759-1788378373759.png" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Figure 2: Bladeless wind energy uses wind oscillations and alternators to generate electricity without blades." /><span class="fr-inner"><strong>Figure 2: </strong>Bladeless wind energy uses wind oscillations and alternators to generate electricity without blades.</span></span></span></p><p>BMW’s Oxford Mini plant recently added the world’s first stationary energy system from Aeromine Technologies to complement its existing solar power setup. By manipulating airflow with its aerofoils, the turbine creates a low-pressure zone behind the unit, which drives air through its internal propeller, converting wind energy into electricity.</p><p>Vortex Bladeless, a Spanish startup, is developing a turbine-less system for wind-powered electricity generation. This system harnesses vortex shedding, the creation of swirling vortices by wind flowing around a cylinder, to induce oscillation that is converted into electricity via an internal electromagnetic alternator.</p><h3>Advancements in Inverter Technology</h3><p>Advances in power electronics, particularly the adoption of silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductors, are enhancing inverter efficiency, reducing both energy losses and thermal management requirements. Compared to traditional silicon-based devices, wide-bandgap SiC semiconductors exhibit lower switching losses, higher thermal conductivity, and greater power density.</p><p>While the latest silicon inverters can achieve 98 percent efficiency, SiC inverters can achieve around 99 percent efficiency across a wide power range, resulting in a 50 percent reduction in energy loss. A theoretical 1 percent gain applied to the European Union’s total 259.99GW of solar capacity would add around 2.6GW to the total output—equivalent to 6.5 million 400W solar panels.</p><p>The improved thermal performance of SiC reduces cooling requirements, allowing manufacturers to design smaller, lighter, and more reliable inverters. This reduction in size enables the deployment of DER installations in more space-constrained residential and commercial settings. These characteristics, coupled with the growing economies of scale in SiC manufacturing that lower its costs, are helping drive the creation of smaller and more efficient solar inverters that could result in a new wave of solar adoption.</p><h3>BESS Evolution</h3><p>Within BESSs, the shift to lithium iron phosphate (LFP) has resulted in improved thermal stability and longevity compared to traditional lithium-ion batteries. Meanwhile, new modular designs, including rack-mount batteries, offer more cost-effective and scalable installations, enabling residential and commercial users to optimize system capacity for their energy requirements.</p><p>Battery management systems (BMS) are also starting to incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, which can further enhance the reliability and efficiency of BESS. AI functions can better predict battery degradation, optimize charge cycles depending on environmental conditions, and dynamically manage energy flow to maximize both battery lifetime and performance.</p><h2>Conclusion</h2><p>DERs give businesses and homeowners alike the opportunity to achieve energy independence while enhancing their sustainability. However, as energy needs increase and national power grids become more complex, the market must provide efficient, reliable solar and wind power solutions that integrate seamlessly into homes, businesses, and the broader grid.</p>

Explore how renewable energy, SiC inverters, battery storage, and smart technologies are accelerating the decentralization of power grids.

The Growing Decentralization of Power Grids

<p id="isPasted">Electrified transportation and the AI data center buildout are both pushing power electronics toward higher density. And, to move more power through smaller packages, many engineers are starting to embrace higher switching frequencies and currents. </p><p>However, as transients get faster and systems start generating more heat, current sensing becomes significantly more difficult for designers to implement. For those reasons, there is a pressing industry need for new solutions that provide accurate, isolated sensing at even faster data rates.</p><p>Understanding these issues, Allegro MicroSystems offers the ACS37035, an integrated Hall-effect current sensor that pairs high-bandwidth sensing with factory-trimmed accuracy and configurable overcurrent protection. With the ACS37035, engineers have a compact path to improve current measurement and protection in high-density power stages.</p><h2>Modern Challenges in Current Sensing</h2><p>A confluence of variables makes current sensing a particularly difficult challenge in modern applications. </p><h3>Bandwidth at Fast Switching Speeds</h3><p>When designing fast-switching power stages, engineers need sensing bandwidth beyond what most current sensors offer. Many integrated sensors roll off somewhere between 100 and 250 kHz, but a fast control loop often needs flat response approaching 1 MHz to track its current accurately.</p><p>For example, pulse-width modulation (PWM) motor drives and switch-mode power supplies switch at hundreds of kilohertz, and the newest wide-bandgap designs push fundamental switching frequencies past 1 MHz. Even when the switching frequency remains low, the sharp edges of a GaN or SiC device carry harmonic content that reaches well into the megahertz range, with the fastest edges completing in tens of nanoseconds. </p><p>A sensor that responds only on a microsecond timescale can’t resolve those events. Worse, the added delay appears as phase lag in the control loop, and that lag eats into the phase margin needed to stay stable. As a result, too-slow sensors return incomplete measurements, giving the controller only an approximation of the actual power-stage behavior.</p><h3>Drift Over Temperature</h3><p>In addition to speed, power engineers also lose sensing accuracy to temperature. </p><ul><li><p>In shunt-based sensing, resistors are prone to changing value as they heat. </p></li><li><p>Unchopped Hall sensors drift as junction temperature climbs</p></li></ul><p>These problems are most significant when sensing at low currents, as offset error can easily dominate the reading and hide small light-load signals. Manufacturers may correct the sensor inaccuracy after assembly with field calibration and programming, but that only raises cost and line time.</p><h3>How to Implement Isolation?</h3><p>Power engineers working above a few hundred volts also need galvanic isolation between the power stage and the low-voltage controller.</p><p>In traditional shunt-based sensing, a shunt resistor sits directly in the current path, so it dissipates I²R power as heat and provides no isolation on its own. Recovering an isolated measurement means adding an isolation amplifier across the barrier, which brings extra components, cost, and propagation delay. </p><p>Magnetic sensing takes a different route. It measures the field around the conductor rather than a voltage across it, so it stays out of the current path, avoids the I²R loss, and inherently provides isolation. The tradeoff is that a single-ended magnetic sensor also picks up stray fields from nearby conductors and can’t separate that interference from the signal it is trying to measure.</p><h3>Protection Demands Fast Response</h3><p>Where current sensing depends on fast response times, no place has a smaller margin for error than protection circuitry. In a hard short circuit, the fault current can rise at hundreds of amperes per microsecond, and wide-bandgap switches tolerate that condition for only a few microseconds before their junction temperature runs away and the device is destroyed. That leaves the sensing and comparison path just microseconds to detect the overcurrent, flag the fault, and command a shutdown before the damage is done. A sensor with slow response, or a fault path with long propagation delay, simply can’t act inside that window.  <iframe id="6a56b7934c4cb41f24de3253" width="250" class="specs-iframe" height="440" src="https://wevolver.com/iframe/specs/allegro-microsystems-acs37035-aec-q100-1mhz-hall-effect-current-sensor?iframe=true" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"><span class="fr-mk"> </span></iframe></p><h2>Allegro’s ACS37035 Current Sensor</h2><p>Allegro designed the ACS37035 to solve those challenges specifically for applications such as motor control, switch-mode power supply, and load management. Qualified to AEC-Q100 Grade 1 for ambient operation to 125°C, the line spans bidirectional ranges of ±20, ±40, and ±65 A across 3.3 and 5 V supplies. And, all six variants share the same SOICW-16 footprint, so designers can move up or down the current range as their power stages grow without reworking the board.</p><h3>1 MHz Sensing Bandwidth</h3><p>Allegro built the Hall-effect sensor to meet all four criteria in a single SOICW-16 package, opening with 1 MHz of bandwidth and a typical 0.45 µs response. At that speed, the sensor can track PWM and fast-switching waveforms as they happen, resolving the edges that a slower part would blur and feeding the control loop without adding the phase lag that erodes stability.</p><h3>Chopper-Stabilized Accuracy</h3><p>To hold accuracy across temperature, Allegro chopper-stabilizes the signal path, continuously canceling the offset that would otherwise climb with die temperature. Sensitivity error stays within ±1.5% from 25 to 125°C and withino ±3% between -40°C and 125°C, while maximum offset voltage stays within ±10 mV from 25 to 125°C. The sensor also reads its Hall plates differentially to reject the common-mode fields that nearby conductors inject, and Allegro reports no magnetic hysteresis.</p><h3>Reinforced Isolation in the Package</h3><p>Allegro builds reinforced isolation into the same package, separating the sensing die from the conductor it measures and letting designers place the sensor on the high side at full bus potential. That barrier carries a 500 VRMS reinforced working voltage along with a 4242 VRMS withstand that Allegro rates over a 60-second test. </p><p>The device is also rated to UL 62368-1 (edition 3) with certification pending, and features 8 mm of clearance and creepage. Meanwhile, a typical 1 mΩ internal conductor resistance keeps insertion loss and self-heating low, so the isolation arrives without a power penalty.</p><p><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1788451928769-Screenshot+2026-09-03+at+8.42.18%E2%80%AFAM.jpeg" style="width:100%px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" /><span class="fr-inner">Source: Mouser.</span></span></span></p><h3>Adjustable Overcurrent Protection</h3><p>The ACES37035 includes an adjustable overcurrent fault on the same die, separate from the analog measurement, so the response never waits on filtering. Designers set the trip point anywhere between 50 and 200% of full-scale current with a resistor divider on the VOC pin, and when the current crosses that threshold, the open-drain FAULT output trips in a typical 0.5 µs. With that fault response, the device can support fast overcurrent detection, helping give the gate-driver protection path time to shut the stage down before damage occurs.</p><h2>Sensing Faster, Protecting Sooner</h2><p>As power designers drive up switching speed and current density in their systems, control and protection will only ever be as reliable as the current sensing underneath them. Sensing that keeps up with the switch lets engineers spend design margin on performance instead of on guard bands. With parts like the ACS37035, Allegro is enabling a future for better-performing, safer, and more reliable power electronics.</p><p>To explore detailed specifications and learn more about this solution, visit the <a href="https://www.mouser.com/en/new/allegro/allegro-acs37035-hall-effect-sensors?utm_source=wevolver&amp;utm_medium=techspec&amp;utm_campaign=allegro-acs37035-hall-effect-sensors">Allegro ACS37035 page on the Mouser</a> website.</p>

The Allegro MicroSystems ACS37035 AEC-Q100 1MHz Hall-Effect Current Sensor is an isolated current sensor designed for high-frequency current measurement in power conversion and automotive applications.

Fast, Accurate, Isolated Current Sensing with the Allegro ACS37035

<p id="isPasted">It can be extremely challenging for engineers when trying to integrate standard power supplies into sophisticated industrial systems. For example, conventional constraints such as high inrush current can force trade-offs between reliable circuit protection and system scalability, and require engineers to add cost and complexity to their installations. Similarly, limited peak current headroom, the absence of digital communication interfaces, and rigid certification profiles all constrain where and how standard DIN Rail supplies can be deployed.</p><p>Fortunately, MEAN WELL’s brand-new XDR series of single-phase DIN Rail power supplies offers an advanced suite of features that deliver all the performance benefits without the trade-offs. With new offerings such as reduced inrush current, improved transient-handling capabilities, and adherence to rigorous qualification standards, the XDR units let engineers deploy more robust, compact, and digitally integrated power architectures in their industrial designs.</p><h2>Mitigating System Stress through Inrush Current Suppression</h2><p>A major new feature introduced in the XDR series is improved inrush current suppression. </p><p>Inrush current occurs when a power supply’s internal bulk capacitance draws large amounts of energy to reach its required operating charge at system boot-up. For high-performance switching power supplies, inrush currents historically range from 30 to 80 A and can last for millisecond durations. In these instances, systems can experience nuisance tripping, where a short-duration startup spike exceeds a breaker's trip threshold, causing the system to shut down even when the continuous operating current remains perfectly safe. </p><p>In contrast, MEAN WELL’s new XDR series technology limits inrush current draw to less than 10 A at 230 Vac. By dampening this initial surge, the XDR series lets engineers use smaller, standard circuit breakers without the risk of nuisance tripping during system activation. And, because the XDR series manages these electrical transients internally, specialized breakers with expensive, high-tripping curves become unnecessary for most installations.</p><p>Beyond simplifying breaker selection, the improved inrush current suppression directly extends the lifespans of switches and protection relays. MEAN WELL achieves this by preventing contact pitting, a form of electrical wear in which high-current arcs damage metal surfaces, and by reducing overall thermal stress on the wiring. Such refined current limiting is especially important for high-voltage installations or EU-standard 230V grids, where inrush currents are naturally larger. Consequently, engineers can design more efficient distribution panels that use standard, lower-cost protection hardware without losing system reliability during cold starts.  </p><h2>Dynamic Power Delivery for Inductive and Laser Loads</h2><p>Industrial loads are rarely static. Motors, solenoids, and laser systems all impose short-duration current demands that far exceed their steady-state draw, and a power supply that can’t accommodate those peaks becomes a bottleneck. The XDR series addresses this with two distinct levels of dynamic current support, each tuned to a different class of transient load.</p><h3>Transient Handling with Pulse Current Operation</h3><p>First, the XDR series introduces pulse current operation, which provides up to 600% of the supply’s rated current to handle extreme transients. </p><p>In traditional power supplies, high-current transients can cause voltage instability or system-wide power dips if not properly accounted for. With the ability to withstand significantly higher lagging currents than nominal, the XDR series helps power engineers guarantee robustness against volatile transients for stable output quality in all operating conditions. To further support this effort, MEAN WELL also designed advanced internal circuitry into the XDR series to actively manage associated thermal and electrical stresses.</p><p>Pulse current operation is particularly useful for applications such as industrial 3D printers and laser-guided automation tools. Specifically, industrial robotic applications can use XDR power supplies for high-speed laser etching or diode applications that require near-instantaneous on-off cycles to function correctly. With quick on-off transitions, these laser diodes often source high currents at millisecond intervals, which can cause instability or trigger protection shutdown in other power supplies. The XDR series prevents these operational failures with its generous current overhead designed specifically for fast switching.</p><h3>Peak Power Capabilities</h3><p>Beyond handling fast transients, the XDR series also supports a 200% peak power rating to meet the sustained, heavy demands of inductive or capacitive loads. </p><p>While pulse current operation handles millisecond spikes, peak power operation is meant for advanced current loads with durations of several seconds. Specifically, motor-driven equipment such as conveyor systems, pump motors, and pneumatic actuators all exhibit this startup profile, drawing high current to generate initial torque before settling into steady-state operation. With the XDR series, engineers have a tool that can support these longer-duration load currents without fear of shutdown or system failure. By supporting these transients natively, the XDR series removes the need for separate soft-start modules or oversized supplies in motor-heavy configurations.</p><p>Because of the XDR series’ peak power rating, engineers can select a power supply based on their continuous operating loads rather than a brief startup peak. As such, they can reduce the total cost and physical size of their control system.</p><p><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dii"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1786377327160-1786377327160.jpeg" width="624" height="348" class="fr-fic fr-dii" /><span class="fr-inner">High-capacity data center. Source: AdobeStock</span></span></span></p><h2>Optimizing Space and Connectivity</h2><h3>High-Density Thermal Engineering</h3><p>Another benefit of the XDR series is its ultra-slim chassis, which reduces the power supply's footprint by up to 45% compared to legacy XDR models. Because of its smaller size, the XDR series can deliver power densities up to 960 W and be paralleled to deliver up to 3.84 kW of output power. In data centers, for example, more power-dense solutions help engineers use less space for power infrastructure and repurpose it for more computing or memory, increasing return on investment. </p><p>MEAN WELL achieved this high power density by designing the XDR series with advanced components and an efficient layout that minimizes parasitics that would otherwise generate excess heat. For example, the series maintains up to 91% efficiency and less than 1 W of no-load power consumption. Similarly, MEAN WELL improved the system’s heat dissipation, enabling it to operate reliably even at extreme temperatures up to +85 °C. As such, designers can deploy the XDR series in unconditioned outdoor enclosures or on high-temperature factory floors where standard power supplies would typically fail.</p><h2>Tool-Free Wiring for Faster Installation</h2><p>Standard DIN Rail power supplies have historically relied on screw-type terminal blocks, which require a screwdriver and precise torque management to install correctly. Improper torquing leads to loose connections, higher contact resistance, and premature failures in high-vibration environments. For large-scale panel builds that require dozens of power supplies, the cumulative installation time and the risk of operator error can become significant concerns.</p><p>The XDR series addresses this with two tool-free terminal block variants as standard options. The first is a lever-actuated terminal, where installers lift a lever, insert the conductor, and lock it in place, with no tools required. The second is a push-in terminal that accepts wires with a single insertion motion, eliminating the need for manual torque. Both variants deliver consistent clamping force on every connection to reduce variability introduced by manual installation and improve long-term reliability.</p><p>For OEMs and system integrators assembling large control panels, these terminal options can substantially accelerate the build process and lower the risk of field failures caused by loose wiring. Teams can also standardize their wiring procedures for any installation type, regardless of operator experience level.</p><p><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dii"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1786377327168-1786377327168.jpeg" width="624" height="248" class="fr-fic fr-dii" /><span class="fr-inner">Integrated network display. Source: AdobeStock</span></span></span></p><h2><br /></h2><h2>Digital Integration via Modbus RTU</h2><p>For more intelligent system management, the XDR series also includes native Modbus communication in its higher-wattage models. Modbus RTU is a standard industrial communication protocol that lets many types of hardware devices share data over a single wired network. With built-in communication ports that support Modbus, the XDR series can help engineers more easily integrate power data into broader SCADA or PLC environments.</p><p>With more integrated networks, designers can monitor electrical and diagnostic data without needing physical access to the unit. As such, predictive maintenance workflows become a realistic possibility, meaning engineers can anticipate hardware failures before they occur and act accordingly to prevent system damage or unwanted downtime. </p><p>Similarly, the XDR series’ Modbus features enable engineers to connect multiple power supplies in parallel to scale system capacity without losing centralized control. Specifically, each unit can communicate its load to maintain a balanced, stable power system even when paralleled. In turn, these communication features directly reduce unexpected downtime and unlock a more intelligent approach to power management.</p><h1><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dii"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1786377327176-1786377327176.jpeg" width="624" height="416" class="fr-fic fr-dii" /><span class="fr-inner">Engineers monitoring operations in a marine environment. Source: AdobeStock</span></span></span></h1><h2><br /></h2><h2>Compliance and Reliability for All Environments</h2><h3>Specialized Safety and Marine Certifications</h3><p>The XDR series comes pre-certified to a range of unique safety standards, including DNV-GL maritime standards. For marine environments specifically, MEAN WELL designed the XDR series with a rugged mechanical construction that protects the internal electronics from vibration and shock. These power supplies also have conformal-coated PCBs, which prevent moisture and salt from causing short circuits or corrosion, helping the units operate for longer periods in the humid, corrosive atmospheres found at sea.</p><p>Beyond maritime use, the XDR series also meets the C1D2 requirements for installation in hazardous locations. This C1D2 certification gives engineers confidence that their power supply won't release sufficient electrical energy to cause sparks or ignition in volatile environments, which is mandatory for sites that process flammable substances. Specifically, gas stations, chemical processing facilities, and similar sites require C1D2-rated equipment for any electrical hardware installed in classified zones.</p><h2>Semiconductor Fabrication and Power Stability</h2><p>The XDR series also complies with the Semi-F47 standard, which specifies how a power supply should behave when the main AC supply experiences brief, unexpected interruptions. Meeting this standard means that the XDR series provides voltage-sag immunity on par with the demands of advanced semiconductor manufacturing facilities. In practice, this means the power supply can sustain its output through momentary grid dips that would otherwise interrupt sensitive lithography or deposition equipment.</p><p><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dii"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1786377327184-1786377327184.jpeg" width="624" height="351" class="fr-fic fr-dii" /><span class="fr-inner">Robotic Nanofabrication Systems, Photonic Lithography for Semiconductor Manufacturing. Source: AdobeStock</span></span></span></p><h2><br /></h2><p>With access to a single power supply that adheres to many of the most rigorous international standards for every major industrial sector, engineers can standardize on a single power supply family for complex global projects, knowing the hardware will meet whatever local safety and performance requirements they encounter. In turn, teams can build supply chains that are simpler, less prone to volatility, and easier to manage.</p><p><a href="https://www.sager.com/newsroom/the-new-standard-for-high-performance-power-with-the-mean-well-xdr-flagship-series" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1787949235968-Sager+MEAN+WELL+XDR+Flagship+Series+WP.png" style="width:100%px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" /></a></p><h2>The XDR Series for Intelligent Power Design</h2><p>The MEAN WELL XDR flagship power supplies are designed to handle the most demanding power requirements in industrial automation. By combining high-power-density hardware with intelligent monitoring and a suite of global certifications, MEAN WELL is making it easier for designers to deploy resilient power architectures in complex, harsh environments.  </p><p><strong>Explore the full <a href="https://www.sager.com/manufacturers/mean-well">MEAN WELL solution set</a>, available at <a href="https://www.sager.com/">Sager Electronics</a>.</strong></p>

The XDR Series offers reduced inrush current, improved transient-handling capabilities, and rigorous qualification standards, giving engineers a robust, compact, and digitally integrated power architecture for their industrial designs.

The New Standard for High Performance Power with the MEAN WELL XDR Flagship Series

This article explains what is a fuel cell by reviewing its components, classifications, performance, limitations, and real world uses.

What Is a Fuel Cell? Theory, Components, Types, and Applications

<p>Power, and how to use it efficiently, is top of mind for designers in all industries. Between soaring energy prices and tightening sustainability regulations, engineers bear the burden of finding innovative ways to design products that use less electricity. Whereas previously they may have used unidirectional power supplies, which only allow energy to flow from the grid to the load, now they can turn to bidirectional power supplies like the MEAN WELL BIC-5K, which can simultaneously take in and give back energy to the grid. With both AC-toDC and DC-to-AC capabilities in a single device, the MEAN WELL BIC-5K is a versatile and compact solution to many engineers’ power needs.</p><h2>Eliminating Energy Waste using Bidirectional Grid Recovery</h2><h3>Inefficiency of Passive Heat Dissipation</h3><p>Ordinary battery test and storage systems lose significant energy during battery discharging. Typically, these systems dissipate excess energy passively as heat, requiring companies to invest in expensive cooling infrastructure to keep everything running smoothly. The confluence of both of these factors incurs unnecessary, high costs for companies and forces them to waste enormous amounts of electricity.</p><p>When faced with these problems, engineers often implement energy recovery systems. However, they quickly face space constraints because they need to use separate rectifiers to convert AC to DC and inverters to convert DC back to AC. Using two separate devices not only increases system complexity but also introduces more points of failure within the power system.</p><p>Overall, companies that use battery test systems incur additional expenses and require additional physical space to recover energy that may otherwise be lost during discharge. This compounds over time with facilities continuously buying electricity they never recover. These linear, unidirectional power architectures, in which energy flows in only one direction, put companies at a competitive disadvantage, whether or not they attempt to recover wasted energy. The best solution to all these physical and economic limitations is integrated bidirectional systems.</p><h3>The Bidirectional Solution Space</h3><p>Bidirectional power systems enable engineers to treat the AC grid as a virtual battery for storing excess energy. Specifically, these systems manage electricity flowing in opposite directions within a single unit so that engineers can capture energy that would otherwise be lost to heat and return it to the grid. The result is that companies with these systems have a much smaller carbon footprint and a lower cost of ownership for high-power installations.</p><p>Bidirectional systems also simplify thermal management for companies by allowing them to eliminate large resistive load banks. Ordinary unidirectional power systems require load banks to dissipate excess energy as heat. In contrast, bidirectional systems don’t need them, as they can redirect excess energy back to the grid.</p><p><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1784559982726-AdobeStock_1966106615.jpeg" style="width:100%px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" /><span class="fr-inner">Large-format Battery Energy Storage System. Source: AdobeStock</span></span></span></p><p>Bidirectional architectures allow the power supply to function as both a source, providing power to a device, and a sink, absorbing power from a device, and adjust dynamically depending on the immediate needs of the application. By feeding captured power back into the local grid, companies can also offset the consumption of other equipment within the same building. All of this enables companies to optimize their resources in ways they would not be able to with ordinary unidirectional systems. Ultimately, bidirectional power architectures empower engineers to design smaller, more efficient installations that are both more cost-effective and sustainable.</p><h2>Industry Use Cases for the BIC-5K</h2><h3>Battery Formation and Grading Systems</h3><p>When manufacturing batteries, engineers need to perform thousands of charge-discharge cycles to verify the stability of each battery’s cell chemistry and its grade capacity. With bidirectional power systems like MEAN WELL BIC-5K, engineers can feed the energy discharged from one battery bank back into the facility grid to power other active charging stations. This capability helps reduce the facility’s total energy usage and keeps it cooler by avoiding the heat-generating resistive load banks required by unidirectional power systems.</p><p>In addition to improving the facility’s energy efficiency, the BIC-5K enables engineers to precisely control batteries' charging and discharging curves so that each cell meets strict current- and voltage-regulation standards. MEAN WELL also designed the BIC-5K for industrial-grade reliability, so engineers can confidently implement demanding applications, such as continuous duty cycling, on their equipment. </p><p>All of these features allow companies to scale their production lines in denser formations without a proportional increase in cooling infrastructure. The result is that the BIC-5K helps companies achieve higher efficiency, higher throughput, lower energy consumption, and lower environmental impact in their battery production processes.</p><p><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1784560167977-AdobeStock_193902732.jpeg" style="width:100%px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" /><span class="fr-inner">Charging station for EVs. Source: AdobeStock.</span></span></span></p><p>Bidirectional architectures allow the power supply to function as both a source, providing power to a device, and a sink, absorbing power from a device, and adjust dynamically depending on the immediate needs of the application. By feeding captured power back into the local grid, companies can also offset the consumption of other equipment within the same building. All of this enables companies to optimize their resources in ways they would not be able to with ordinary unidirectional systems. Ultimately, bidirectional power architectures empower engineers to design smaller, more efficient installations that are both more cost-effective and sustainable.</p><h3>Electric Vehicle Infrastructure and V2G</h3><p>Designers of Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) systems, which enable electric vehicle (EV) batteries to draw and return power to the grid, need specialized hardware capable of managing bidirectional power flow. With the BIC-5K, engineers can deliver V2G systems with a single unit that also meets utility companies’ safety and synchronization standards. With this feature, designers can form localized microgrids, where each parked EV is an independent energy storage node. </p><p>With microgrids, the broader electrical grid can better handle peak demand by drawing on the collective energy stored in connected EV fleets. The BIC-5K ensures that this power transfer stays clean and perfectly synchronized with the utility frequency by preventing electrical noise or timing mismatches that could otherwise destabilize local power.</p><h2>Kinetic Energy Recovery and Regenerative Loads</h2><p>Industrial automation teams frequently work with high-inertia equipment, such as large motors or elevators, which generate significant back-EMF during braking. Back-EMF is a voltage that occurs when a motor’s internal magnetic fields interact during deceleration, effectively turning the motor into a generator. To prevent damage to drive electronics, historical power systems would force this energy through braking resistors that dissipate excess energy as heat. </p><p>With the BIC-5K, engineers can capture this back-EMF energy and return it to the facility grid rather than dissipate it as heat. As a result, they can reduce their heavy machinery’s net electrical demand, as the recycled energy can later power other machines.</p><p><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1784560353337-AdobeStock_1914032654.jpeg" style="width:100%px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" /><span class="fr-inner">EV showcasing engine, battery, and brakes. Source: AdobeStock</span></span></span></p><p>Beyond energy savings, this regenerative approach reduces physical wear from mechanical braking. With the recovery unit offering electrical braking to handle much of the deceleration load, the BIC-5K transforms what was once a problematic source of heat waste into a reliable supplemental power source that maximizes energy efficiency for every part of a moving industrial automation system.</p><h2>Technical Capabilities: Fast Switching, Efficiency, and Scalability</h2><h3>Ultra-Fast 1ms Bidirectional Switching</h3><p>One of the most important performance metrics for a bidirectional power system is the speed at which it can switch between AC-to-DC (rectification) and DC-to-AC (inversion)modes. The BIC-5K switches in under 1 ms, which keeps the system's DC bus stable during instant shifts between charging and discharging phases. In this way, the BIC-5K protects the entire system from transient voltage spikes that could damage sensitive downstream electronics.</p><p>The BIC-5K’s high-speed switching capability also enables engineers to implement highly responsive battery grading profiles, especially those that use immediate current reversal to represent real-world usage. With faster switching that reduces lag and gaps, operators can collect more precise data during battery testing. </p><p>To simplify the switching process, the BIC-5K uses a fully digitalized control loop that automatically transitions between inversion and rectification modes. In addition, the internal firmware automatically detects the direction of energy flow, a feature that reduces the external control logic required and simplifies the overall system architecture. Ultimately, with the BIC-5K, teams can create testing environments that are both more reliable and significantly faster than alternatives.</p><p><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1784560511364-BIC-5KSourceMEAN+WELL_page6image.png" style="width:100%px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" /><span class="fr-inner">BIC-5K. Source: MEAN WELL</span></span></span></p><h3>Peak Efficiency and Power Quality</h3><p>At the highest level, with a peak efficiency of 93.5%, the BIC-5K helps teams maximize the amount of energy they can recover and return to the facility grid. But, equally as important, greater efficiency – and, therefore, lower internal heat – means the BIC-5K can sustain full power operation in both directions without heat-related performance degradation.</p><p>Beyond raw efficiency, the BIC-5K maintains a Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) of less than3% in both conversion directions. The system’s low THD ensures that the power returned to the grid is clean and synchronized, thereby assuring compliance with strict utility power quality standards. This is non-negotiable for preventing electromagnetic interference with other sensitive electronic devices connected to the same local grid.</p><p>The hardware's versatility is further enhanced by a wide AC input range of 180-305 Vac, which lets engineers deploy the system in a variety of 230 or 277 Vac industrial environments. All of these features let the BIC-5K support large-scale energy recovery efforts without compromising the long-term stability or safety of local electrical components.</p><h3>Voltage Range and 3-Phase Scaling</h3><p>To guarantee compatibility with many industrial platforms, the BIC-5K offers four distinct models customized for specific DC bus requirements, ranging from low-voltage 24/48V options to high-voltage 96/380V units. These options give companies the breadth of tools needed to work with a wide array of DC battery chemistries and industrial motor voltages, all from a single product line.</p><p>And, if designers need power beyond a single unit's capacity, they can parallel up to 6 units. MEAN WELL enables this through a built-in active current-sharing function that automatically balances the electrical load across multiple devices. This configuration can achieve a total system capacity of 30kW in a 5+1 setup, where the sixth unit provides redundancy to ensure continuous operation if one module fails.</p><p>With a modular approach, teams can scale their power infrastructure linearly and increase capacity as an application grows without redesigning the power system. Teams can also integrate the BIC-5K into 3-phase 4-wire systems and standard industrial power setups consisting of three hot wires and one neutral by distributing single-phase units across the grid phases.</p><p><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1784560708233-AdobeStock_1606918636.jpeg" style="width:100%px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" /><span class="fr-inner">Safety mechanisms and circuit breakers on a bidirectional inverter. Source: AdobeStock</span></span></span></p><h2>Streamlined Digital Control and Safety</h2><p>With the BIC-5K, engineers can perform live monitoring and granular parameter adjustment via standard digital interfaces such as CAN bus or Modbus-RTU. They can use these protocols to precisely set both active power, which performs the actual work in a circuit, and reactive power, which maintains steady voltage levels in magnetic fields of motors and transformers. This type of control helps engineers make informed, analytics-driven decisions when managing distributed energy resources, such as localized solar arrays or battery storage units. They can also use the digital control interface to log performance data and diagnostic information, which is key to optimizing long-term system health and predictive equipment maintenance.</p><p>Beyond software control, MEAN WELL designed the BIC-5K to withstand harsh industrial environments while meeting the highest safety standards. It features an Over Voltage Category III (OVC III) rating, meaning it can withstand significant voltage transients common in fixed-plant installations, and a conformal coating that shields the internal circuitry from moisture and contaminants. It also includes internal protections such as AC fail detection and anti-islanding, which prevent the unit from feeding power back into a dead grid during an outage, thereby protecting utility workers performing repairs. The BIC-5K also meetsEN50549-1 grid connection standards.</p><h2>Competitive Advantages of Off-the-Shelf Integration</h2><p>A final benefit of the BIC-5K is that it’s a ready-to-use system. Rather than designing a custom solution from scratch, teams can simply pick the BIC-5K off-the-shelf and integrate it directly into their existing systems. They immediately avoid the exhaustive design and certification cycles typically required to build custom bidirectional power electronics from scratch. They can also trust that the unit is safe, as MEAN WELL has already pre-validated it against global safety standards, including IEC62368-1 for high-tech equipment.</p><p><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1784560859191-Sager+MEAN+WELL+WP.png" style="width:100%px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" /><span class="fr-inner">Various systems for integration: water treatment plant, marine battery charging module, EV charging station, &amp;battery cell formation. Source: AdobeStock</span></span></span></p><p>Beyond simplifying the initial engineering phase, the BIC-5K can also decrease a system's total cost of ownership. As a standardized unit backed by a five-year warranty, companies can rest assured that their systems will work for a long time, and even avoid the considerable costs and technical risks associated with independent grid-connection testing. Because the BIC-5K includes an extensive global support network and a comprehensive set of safety certifications, engineers can use it to implement a uniform solution that meets worldwide market requirements without ever changing their design to comply with specific regional requirements.</p><p><a href="https://www.sager.com/newsroom/bidirectional-energy-recovery-with-the-mean-well-bic-5k" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img src="https://s3-us-west-1.amazonaws.com/wevolver-project-images/froala%2F1784652058916-51.png" style="width:100%px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" /></a></p><h2>Leading the Eco-Friendly Transition</h2><p>The MEAN WELL BIC-5K gives companies a sophisticated and practical path to implement high-efficiency, bidirectional power systems within their infrastructure. As bidirectional power, thermal management, and environmentally-conscious designs become more pressing, a solution like the BIC-5K gives engineers the infrastructure they need to build for a more efficient, resilient, and eco-friendly future.</p><p>To learn more about the BIC-5K or to explore the MEAN WELL product portfolio, visit <a href="https://www.sager.com/manufacturers/mean-well" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.sager.com/manufacturers/mean-well</a>.</p><p><a href="http://www.sager.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">www.sager.com</a></p>

A sophisticated and practical path to implement high-efficiency, bidirectional power systems.

Bidirectional Energy Recovery with the MEAN WELL BIC-5K

<p id="isPasted">Automotive engineering has always evolved around a single constraint: the tools available to build the next great idea. For decades, those tools placed hard limits on component geometry, weight, and manufacturability. But additive manufacturing (AM)—layer‑by‑layer production driven entirely by digital design—is lifting those limits. The real magic isn’t just in printing the part itself; it’s in how engineers prepare parts for AM and use advanced materials to deliver lighter, better‑performing components that were impossible to manufacture before.</p><p>Major automakers produce thousands of printed components, accelerating vehicle development and preparing for a supply chain that operates digitally rather than physically. The transition from traditional manufacturing to AM marks one of the industry’s most important evolutions since the introduction of the assembly line. As automakers move toward software‑defined vehicles and electrification, AM is becoming an essential part of the engineering playbook.</p><h2>All Good Prints Begin with Digital Preparation</h2><p>Before any metal or polymer hits a build plate, the entire process begins as a digital model. This early stage shapes everything that follows. Engineers start by creating a 3D representation of the part using advanced computer-aided design (CAD) tools, such as PTC Creo, Siemens NX, CATIA, and Autodesk Fusion 360. These powerful engineering platforms simulate airflow, strain, vibration, and thermal conditions long before the first layer is printed. This allows designers to validate critical features for electrical housings, ducting, insulation, or bracketry before fabrication even begins.</p><p>Once a part is digitally sound, the slicing process transforms the model into instructions for the printer. Slicing software defines how each layer will form, how supports are added, which angles require reinforcement, and how heat will distribute during printing. Tools like Netfabb, EOSPRINT, and Siemens NX AM help engineers refine every detail to maximize throughput and minimize failure rates.</p><p>This preparation stage forms the backbone of the AM workflow. It ensures that when the part is finally built on the print bed, it already reflects hundreds of tiny engineering decisions supported by digital testing and simulation. Because AM allows geometries that traditional machining cannot produce, the digital preparation step becomes even more crucial.</p><h2>Engineering Lighter, Smarter Components</h2><p>Weight remains one of the most persistent and costly challenges in automotive engineering. Every kilogram removed from a component helps improve acceleration, braking, efficiency, and for EVs, precious battery range. AM doesn’t solve this problem by simply swapping materials; it solves it by allowing engineers to reshape the component entirely.</p><p>Instead of a solid block, parts can be constructed with internal lattice structures or hollow regions engineered for stiffness where needed and flexibility where possible. These shapes can’t be made with subtractive machining; they can only be grown layer by layer. This opens the door to 30–40 percent weight reductions in structural components like brackets, housings, or mounts.</p><p>Material selection plays an equally important role. Aluminum alloy AlSi10Mg offers excellent thermal properties for power electronics or under‑hood applications. Titanium alloy Ti64 provides exceptional strength‑to‑weight ratios suited for critical load‑bearing components. PA12 polymers deliver lightweight durability with low moisture absorption—ideal for electrical connectors, interior housings, or aerodynamic features. High-performance thermoplastics, such as polyetherimide (PEI, also known as ULTEM), withstand extreme heat, making them perfect for high-voltage electric vehicle (EV) components.</p><p>Together, geometry and materials redefine what “lightweighting” means. It’s no longer a compromise; it’s an opportunity to rethink performance at the design level.</p><h2>A New Kind of Automotive Workflow</h2><p>As AM becomes more integrated into automotive engineering, design decisions shift upstream. Engineers simulate not only how the part behaves in the car but also how it behaves in the printer. They account for thermal gradients, layer adhesion, shrinkage, and even how the printer might distort a shape as it cools. These new variables create a feedback loop between digital design and physical production that didn’t exist in traditional manufacturing.</p><p>And the effects ripple outward. Once validated, a part can be stored not in a warehouse but as a digital file. Automakers are building digital inventories that allow parts to be printed on demand, reducing storage requirements and eliminating long lead times. In some cases, this allows manufacturers to resurrect rare or obsolete components, keeping older vehicles operational long after traditional supply chains have ended.</p><p>For engineers, especially those in electrical and electronic design, AM also encourages integration. Engineers can build channels, thermal paths, wire routing, and shielding directly into the structure rather than adding them as separate parts. This reduces assembly complexity and improves reliability.</p><h2>Designing Without Boundaries</h2><p>Additive manufacturing is shifting from a prototyping tool to a core production technology. What once lived only in R&amp;D labs now plays a role in engine bays, chassis systems, EV thermal systems, electronics housings, and interior components. As CAD tools grow more capable and printers become more precise, engineers gain the freedom to develop parts defined by purpose rather than tooling.</p><p>For the automotive industry, this marks a turning point. When innovation is no longer constrained by traditional fabrication, new ideas emerge, including lighter components, more efficient shapes, and digital workflows capable of producing what the next era of vehicles demands.</p><p>The future isn’t arriving in big, dramatic leaps. It’s arriving one meticulously engineered layer at a time.</p>

Explore how additive manufacturing is transforming automotive engineering with lightweight components, advanced materials, digital inventories, and design freedom for next-generation vehicles.

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