Testing and Measuring our Way into the Fall

It’s time to break out the sweaters, the mittens, and the pumpkin spice lattes – fall is upon us! Hopefully, you had a chance to go on holiday at least once, before heading into the busiest time of the year!

And with the fall, we turn our attention towards one of the most quintessential topics, test & measurement. T&M is a fundamental step in the design process, so whether you’re working on ICs, PFCs, or SoCs, you’ll want to put it through the wringer at some point.

It’s also a rapidly expanding market, with one estimate claiming the test & measurement space should reach $42.9 billion by 2028, up from $34.3 billion in 2023.

And with that, let’s dive right in to the September issue, starting with a vital concern of end-users – making sure their EV chargers function properly.

With the “Importance of On-site EV Charger Testing,” Megger’s Dr. Ahmed El-Rasheed references a J.D. Power report which blames inadequate testing for the unsuccessful charging of EVs in 2 out of every 5 visits!

How can motorists possibly build confidence in EVs when recharge stations fail 40% of the time?

The default solution – remote telemetry – just isn’t cutting it, necessitating periodic on-site testing which, according to Dr. El-Rasheed, should check for safety and touch voltages, that the telemetry is correct, proper functionality (the charger responds correctly), and for performance and disturbances/harmonics that can negatively impact the locally supply as well as the wider grid.

“Using good testing practice with the right tools is critical to the safe and correct operation of charge points,” says Dr. El-Rasheed.

From there, we pivot towards power quality measurements (and the accurate achievement of such), courtesy of Roland Buerger from DANISENSE.

Roland calls attention to several questions that don’t receive a lot of attention, like “How much DC offset is injected to the grid?” and “How should the DC components be measured and qualified in a reliable way?”

“An important power quality parameter, which is often not considered nor included in the standards, is the DC offset component,” Roland says.

Finally, I’d like to call out “Choosing the Perfect Electronic Load” by EA Elektro-Automatik’s Steven Soria.

Electronic loads are growing in importance as end-users rely on increasingly efficient devices and longer battery run times, with the market itself set to grow 6.3% per year.

And it won’t be easy – “With advancements constantly reshaping the landscape of electronic loads, it can be challenging to identify a cost-effective solution that meets both current and future application requirements.”

Enjoy the September issue!

Best Regards,

Jason Lomberg

North American Editor, PSD