Intepro Claims 85% Energy Saving in Power Supply Testing Costs

29th August 2007

ES Admin

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Intepro Systems announces the worldwide availability of its Loadsaver range of advanced, programmable electronic loads. Loadsaver offers all those involved with any aspect of power supply testing significant economic benefits by reducing energy waste by up to 85%. Conventional power supply burn-in and test systems convert the output power of the device under test into heat generated by resistive loads. This is an immediate waste of costly energy compounded in most facilities by the need to remove this heat by fans or air conditioning. In large manufacturing operations many hundreds of power supplies may be under test for 24 hours or more resulting in tens of kilowatts of wasted energy annually.

The key to the Intepro Loadsaver’s energy saving is its unique power-recycling unit. Power into the electronic loads is routed through a special DC:AC converter and passed back into the test facilities main AC supply. The combined efficiencies of the load and converter enable Loadsaver to return over 80% of the input power. This not only dramatically reduces energy costs but also eliminates the need for air conditioning of the test environment.

Loadsaver offers a highly flexible modular architecture allowing cost-effective test solutions to be tailored to individual needs. Testing of all power products, from low power DC:DC converters to high current power rectifiers and even UPS systems may be carried out. Systems may grow as demand increases and its open architecture facilitates simple integration of additional test equipment to be included to complete test solutions.

The Windows based PowerStar 5 virtual instrument software simplifies generation and control of test programmes allowing users to manage the system as a single station or an array of burn-in cells. PowerStar 5 makes functional tests such as power cycling and load profiling simple to achieve. Loadsaver is PC controlled via RS232 or RS485 with optional IEE4888 to simplify integration into existing installations and quality-assurance procedures.

Loadsaver is made up from three standard product families with a choice of power recycling up to 25KW. Individual Electronic Loads (ELUs) can be configured from 125W to 10KW and may be run in parallel for higher power requirements. Custom loads for DC:DC converters and AC applications can be easily incorporated.

Colin Sycamore, European Sales Manager for Intepro comments, ”Loadsaver is a remarkable system which takes a lot of the financial pain out of testing and burn-in of power supplies. Thorough testing not only increases the quality of the end product but also enhances the reputation of suppliers. The very large energy savings Loadsaver can bring soon justifies the initial investment.”

Loadsaver may be used during power supply design verification, ESS and burn-in, HALT (Highly Accelerated Life Testing) and for service and repair testing. Test reports may be archived for quality analysis, product history and traceability, especially in high reliability and military applications.

Intepro can provide complete, turnkey power supply test installations including manual or automated fixturing and additional functional and safety test equipment.