High-Power Test Applications for Green Energy Technology
白皮书
Regenerative Power
Before trying to understand the term regenerative, let’s review the definition of a two-quadrant power supply. While applying a positive voltage, a two-quadrant power supply can source and sink current. A single-quadrant power supply design only supplies current. The difference becomes apparent when down-programming. Down-programming occurs when setting a power supply’s outputs to a lower voltage. A single-quadrant supply uses an internal resistor to load the output capacitor, converting the stored energy to heat. The internal resistor can handle the temporary power dissipation of the output capacitor. Connecting a single-quadrant power supply directly to a battery or large capacitor can damage the power supply because current from the external power source can damage the downprogramming resistor.