Agilent Introduces Its First High-Power System Power Supplies
September 5, 2013. Agilent Technologies has introduced two high-power system power-supply families: The Advanced Power System (APS) family offers 1- and 2-kW power supplies for demanding ATE applications, and the N8900 Series provides programmable, 5-, 10- and 15-kW power supplies with autoranging outputs for basic ATE applications.
These two new power-supply families extend Agilent’s range of power supplies into the high-power market.
The APS power supplies with VersaPower architecture offer industry-leading specifications for fast operation, advanced measurements to accurately capture power profiles, and integrated features to reduce automated test system development time and support costs. The 1- and 2-kW models, expandable to 10 kW, are available in two performance classes to help test-system engineers meet their power testing needs. The APS N6900 Series DC power supplies are designed for ATE applications where high-performance is critical. The APS N7900 Series dynamic DC power supplies are designed for ATE applications where high-speed dynamic sourcing and measurement is needed.
Agilent APS power supplies help engineers overcome a variety of difficult test challenges related to power, including protecting high-value DUTs against power-related damage, maintaining output integrity under dynamic load conditions, and characterizing dynamic current profiles.
The N8900 Series extends Agilent’s basic power supplies into a much higher power range at a competitive price. Engineers will be able to operate multiple units in parallel to achieve power greater than 100 kW. These new power supplies are designed to meet the testing needs of high-power applications such as electric and hybrid-electric vehicles, wind and photo-voltaic inverters, and high-voltage lithium battery packs.
The N8900 Series models offer autoranging, which provides test engineers more flexibility than is possible with traditional or rectangular output power supplies. Supplies with autoranging outputs can produce many more voltage and current combinations at maximum output than a rectangular output power supply, which generates just one.
“We are excited to be able to meet the needs of our customers who require high power,” said Kari Fauber, general manager of Agilent’s Power and Energy Division. “With our entry into the high-power arena, engineers will be able to get the clean, dependable power and flexibility they count on from Agilent power supplies—but at much higher power levels.”
The industry-leading specifications and advanced measurement capabilities of the APS include 100x test speeds compared to standard system power supplies, full two-quadrant operation for power storage test applications, command processing speed of about 2 ms, up/down programming speeds of 500 µs, dual voltage and current measurement capability with DMM-like accuracy, current and voltage high-resolution digitizers for making dynamic measurements, built-in paralleling capability up to 10 kW, and smart triggering to protect high-value DUTs.
The N8900 Series, in addition to autoranging capability, offers 14 voltage, current and power combinations available in 208 VAC or 400 VAC (28 total models); up to 1,500 V and up to 510 A; built-in voltage and current measurement; and protection from over-voltage, over-current, and over-temperature.
Both power-supply families include LAN (LXI Core), USB, GPIB, and analog interfaces.
Additional information about Agilent’s APS power supplies is available at www.agilent.com/find/APS. To see how the Advanced Power System can help overcome tough power-related test challenges, go to www.agilent.com/find/TestChallenges.
Additional information about the N8900 Series power supplies is available at www.agilent.com/find/N8900.
The APS power supplies are available now. Prices start at $5,700.
All N8900 family models can be ordered now. The 400-VAC-input models will begin shipping in late 2013, and 208-VAC-input models will begin shipping in early 2014. Prices start at $7,722.