WHAT POWER SUPPLY DO I NEED?HOW TO SPECIFY AND SELECT THE POWER SUPPLY |
To properly specify a power supply you need to determine the following:
1. Application and environment (such as commercial, industrial, rackmount, laboratory, external, home PC, etc.) .
For PC see Computer Power Supply page, which includes form factor guides, wattage and models reviews.
2. Power system configuration (stand-alone, N+1 current share, current share with hot swap, battery backup, UPS, etc).
3. Maximum continuous and peak output power.
4. Output voltages are currents (continuous and surge).
5. Other electrical characteristics (ripple, noise, regulation, hold-up time, etc.)
6. Input voltage range (for example, 90-265 VAC for AC input, 36-72 VDC for telecom, 240-300 VDC for military aircraft);
7. Cooling (forced air cooled, free air convection cooled or conduction cooled).
8. Dynamic characteristics (transient response, sequencing, power on/power off time, etc.
9. Specific features, indicators and communication (output and input status visual indicators and/or signals, remote program, etc). Don't overspecify- everything comes with a price tag. On the other hand, you may want to select a power supply that provides a safety margin for the future expansion of your system.
10. Required reliability (if your application is high availability systems be careful with cheap off-shore sources- consider paying premium for reliability and enhanced production screening).
11. Form factor, connectors.
12. Required agency certifications and approvals (such as UL, CSA, TUV, CE mark, etc.) and other applicable standards.
13. Requirements for electronic components if any (such as derating, flammability, etc).
14. Standard ("off the shelf"), custom or modified standard? Note that under other equal conditions a mature standard product will generally be more reliable then a a brand new custom one.
15. Price target (perform a price research for similar standard supplies as a starting point). Expect to pay premium plus NRE for a custom model.
1. Application and environment (such as commercial, industrial, rackmount, laboratory, external, home PC, etc.) .
For PC see Computer Power Supply page, which includes form factor guides, wattage and models reviews.
2. Power system configuration (stand-alone, N+1 current share, current share with hot swap, battery backup, UPS, etc).
3. Maximum continuous and peak output power.
4. Output voltages are currents (continuous and surge).
5. Other electrical characteristics (ripple, noise, regulation, hold-up time, etc.)
6. Input voltage range (for example, 90-265 VAC for AC input, 36-72 VDC for telecom, 240-300 VDC for military aircraft);
7. Cooling (forced air cooled, free air convection cooled or conduction cooled).
8. Dynamic characteristics (transient response, sequencing, power on/power off time, etc.
9. Specific features, indicators and communication (output and input status visual indicators and/or signals, remote program, etc). Don't overspecify- everything comes with a price tag. On the other hand, you may want to select a power supply that provides a safety margin for the future expansion of your system.
10. Required reliability (if your application is high availability systems be careful with cheap off-shore sources- consider paying premium for reliability and enhanced production screening).
11. Form factor, connectors.
12. Required agency certifications and approvals (such as UL, CSA, TUV, CE mark, etc.) and other applicable standards.
13. Requirements for electronic components if any (such as derating, flammability, etc).
14. Standard ("off the shelf"), custom or modified standard? Note that under other equal conditions a mature standard product will generally be more reliable then a a brand new custom one.
15. Price target (perform a price research for similar standard supplies as a starting point). Expect to pay premium plus NRE for a custom model.