SSD Digital Smart Shunt

Attaining the highest possible levels of efficiency is now an essential part of any electrical system. It’s through this that environmental guidelines can be adhered to and electricity consumption costs made more manageable. Conversely, elevated efficiency levels must be maintained in places where energy is being generated, so that it can always be used to full effect.

There are many high-power applications where accurate DC current monitoring will be pivotal in increasing the efficiency of such systems - thereby allowing operational cost and ecological benefits to be derived. By being able to get constantly updated current values, functions and processes may be better controlled, and energy wastage avoided.

In the past, getting good quality current measurement data from high-power system implementations proved challenging. It’s only recently that the situation has actually improved - thanks to innovations made by the technical team at Riedon.

Sensor Options Available for High-Power Current Monitoring

When looking to take current measurements from high-power systems, there are two main routes that can be followed. Engineers can either employ a conventional passive shunt current sensing methodology, or install Hall Effect sensors into their systems instead.

For shunt current sensing a low-value resistance is placed in the conductor carrying the current intended to be measured. A potential difference is created across this resistive element, which is directly proportional to the current present - facilitating extrapolation. Shunts are inexpensive, compact and simple to integrate. They give consistently stable readings (with their accuracy unaffected by other influences).

All SSD series devices feature a 16-bit automotive-grade microcontroller, a 24-bit analog- to-digital converter (ADC), with buffered analog inputs, plus flash memory with error correction code (ECC) capabilities. With ±0.1% full-scale accuracy, they can determine current values from 100A (2kA peak) to 1kA (20kA peak). A sophisticated non-linear temperature compensation mechanism protects sensor accuracy against ambient temperature variations. Long-term sensor stability is assured, with less than ±0.1% deviation during 1000 hours of operation (at 60°C terminal temperature).

These components only occupy 68.8x80mm of board real estate. Their ambient operating temperature range spans from -40°C to +115°C, enabling them to withstand harsh application settings. For greater system design versatility, engineers can choose either RS485 or CANbus interfacing.

Specifications:

• 0.1% Tolerance
• 100A to 1000A (2kA to 20kA Peak)
• 1500VDC Galvanic Isolation

• 16-bit Automotive +150°C Microcontroller
• 24-bit ADC with Buffered Analog inputs
• ECC Flash Memory with Autocorrect Single Bit Errors
• Internal and External CRC Data Error Detection
• Advanced Non-Linear Temperature Compensation

• Battery Systems
• Renewable Energy
• Motor Drives
• EV Charging Stations