Energy metering chipset

27 April 2011 Power Electronics / Power Management

As installations of smart meters in homes and businesses accelerate globally, STMicroelectronics has unveiled a new set of energy metering chips for next-generation smart meters.

Unlike traditional induction Watt-hour meters, which are vulnerable to wear and fraud and provide only limited features, smart meters, or electronic meters, are intelligent devices that have no moving parts and can support sophisticated tamper detection and two-way communication for improved grid management and billing. More specifically, smart meters allow automatic remote meter readings by power utility companies and make energy consumption transparent and directly manageable for consumers.

Together, ST’s new STPMC1 and STPMS1/S2 create a cost-effective chipset for modular smart meters, supporting 50–60 Hz IEC and ANSI standards for up to 0.2-class AC Watt meters. The STMPC1 metrology IC, which has five input channels, accepts measurements from three phases with the option of using the fourth channel for tamper detection or temperature sensing, and the fifth channel to accept magnetic field information from a Hall sensor. The device can be configured and calibrated for any international distribution standard.

The STPMS1 and STPMS2 are dual-channel delta-sigma modulators that convert analog current and voltage values from each phase and transmit digital data to the STPMC1. They can be placed very close to the current sensor to avoid long analog tracks and high-noise capture. In addition, the reduced number of connections and the discrete implementation leads to the potential use of three shunt resistors via low-cost isolation on digital data paths, instead of using significantly more expensive isolated sensors. The STPMS1 has a first-order modulator, while the STPMS2 has a second-order modulator delivering enhanced accuracy.

Further reading:

Rugged railway-grade DC-DC power modules
iCorp Technologies Power Electronics / Power Management
iCorp Technologies has introduced the AIPUPOWER ZCD100 and ZCD150 Series, a family of rugged DC-DC converters designed to meet the demanding electrical and environmental requirements of railway and transportation systems.

Read more...

---

Four-quadrant regenerative grid simulator
Conical Technologies Power Electronics / Power Management
The IT7900EP series high-performance regenerative grid simulator from ITECH is a full four-quadrant AC grid simulator capable of both sourcing and sinking power.

Read more...

---

90 W PSU with 150% boost capability
Brabek Power Electronics / Power Management
RECOM’s cost effective REFIN2U-S90/CL DIN rail AC/DC boasts a 90 W rating with a boost capability of 150% for 4,5 seconds to allow for surge loads.

Read more...

---

Standalone USB PD controller
Future Electronics Power Electronics / Power Management
The STUSB4531 from STMicroelectronics is a standalone USB Power Delivery sink controller designed to streamline the implementation of USB-C power negotiation in sink devices without requiring a full software stack on a host microcontroller.

Read more...

---

Power module enhances AI data centre power density
Altron Arrow Power Electronics / Power Management
Microchip’s MCPF1525 power module with PMBus delivers 25 A DC-DC power and is stackable up to 200 A.

Read more...

---

MIL-Spec DC-DC power converters
Vepac Electronics Power Electronics / Power Management
PowerGood has introduced a range of 15 W to 600 W military DC-DC power converters engineered for mission critical defence applications.

Read more...

---

Compact power MOSFET for high current switching
Future Electronics Power Electronics / Power Management
onsemi’s NTMFSC2D6N08X is a high-performance 80 V N-channel power MOSFET engineered for demanding switching and power conversion applications.

Read more...

---

DC link capacitors for demanding applications
RS South Africa Power Electronics / Power Management
TDK Corporation has announced the B3271xP series of DC link film capacitors, offering high thermal robustness for demanding automotive and industrial power electronics.

Read more...

---

N-channel power MOSFETs
TRX Electronics Power Electronics / Power Management
The TSM2N7002 series from Taiwan Semiconductor are logic-level N-channel power MOSFETs designed with low drain-source on-state resistance, reducing conduction losses and improving efficiency in switching applications.

Read more...

---

Smart power protection, simplified
TRX Electronics Power Electronics / Power Management
onsemi electronic fuses (eFuses) deliver integrated, intelligent protection by combining overcurrent, overvoltage, over-temperature, reverse polarity, and inrush current safeguards in a single compact IC.

Read more...

---