ITECH Electronic wins coveted T&M Leap innovation award

A programmable, four quadrant ac/dc grid simulator power source that doubles as a four-quadrant power amplifier won its creator, ITECH Electronic in Taiwan, a 2021 Leap Award.

The Leap Award competition addresses products across 12 categories. More than 100 entrants were received for the annual event which celebrates the most innovative and forward-thinking products serving the design engineering space. This year’s winners were chosen by an independent judging panel of 12 engineering and academic professionals.

The IT7900 Regenerative grid simulator has high power density, 15 kVA and sits in a 3U high enclosures. The power output ranges from 5 kVA to 960 kVA. The IT7900 is also a four-quadrant power amplifier, which can be applied to P-HiL tests and tests of many different types of grid-connected equipment. Besides a single-phase and three-phase output, it also has reverse phase as well. Under the reverse phase mode, it can reach double voltage output. It has working modes of CC, CV, CP.

An islanding mode (RLC settable) lets a single IT7900 handle the anti-islanding protection test. Generally, to test a grid-connected inverter, you need to use a PV simulator, an RLC anti-islanding load, a grid simulator, a power meter and an oscilloscope. With the built-in “anti-islanding protection” function, IT7900 has actually integrated a “RLC anti-islanding load” and “grid simulator” in one. You can configure the RLC, or active power and reactive power of each phase, to simulate the linear and non-linear loading of the grid. Besides, it also has a built-in power meter as well.

Further, the instrument supports regulatory testing that includes IEC61000-4-11/4-13/4-14/4-28 and so on. IT7900 is a grid simulator that represents a new generation of power electronics technologies. It adopts the third-generation semiconductor SiC components. It is only one-third the size of a conventional grid simulator but it exhibits the highest power density among similar products on the market.

The IT7900 is mainly used in the testing of power modules such as energy storage converters, wind energy converters and PV inverters.