Voltage Regulation Comparison for Different Power Applications Part 1

2023/05/31

Common Types of Unstable Power Situation

Unstable power supply from the grid can occur everywhere in the world. Have you ever experienced the situation where the lights flickered for a few moments and then went back to normal? This situation can be common in daily life, and it may be caused not only by weather or human factors but also to various conditions such as interference from communication devices, poor electrical grid quality, or excessive load in the system.

Among these conditions, one of the most common instances of power instability is voltage sag. This refers to a short-term drop in voltage within the system caused by faults, short circuits, overloads, or the use of transformers. Another common situation is voltage surge, which occurs when there is a sudden peak in voltage beyond the normal operating range. This is often caused by factors such as power start up or sudden high loads disconnection. Regardless of the specific circumstance, these are power quality issues that should not be ignored. This unstable power supply from the grid can result in abnormal operation of production equipment, reduced lifespan of devices, damage to mechanical components, and even may even cause malfunction. At this time, if a voltage regulator is installed in the system, additional time and money cost losses can be avoided.



Voltage Regulation Comparison

Here are some common types of voltage regulators.

  • Solid State Power Conditioner: By detecting the output voltage at the output terminal, multiple compensating transformers on the primary side are then controlled via power electronic components, and the rectified voltage is then delivered to the secondary side through a serial connection. The closed loop allows the output voltage becomes efficient and stable. Variable transformer with buck-boost is energy efficient, comes in a small size, and is relatively economical compared to other transformers. It is suitable for precision electronics, computers, communications, consumer electronics, and semiconductor-related production and experimental applications.


  • Servo Motor Type: Utilizing motors to change the position of the attached carbon brush and adjust the winding ratio of its transformer to offer stabilized voltage. This makes the regulators highly accurate, however, the response time can be slow due to the moving mechanism, and the carbon brush must be replaced regularly.


  • Magnetic Saturation: When the control circuitry detects differences between the output voltage and the desired value, the control coil feeds the appropriate amount of current to reach magnetic saturation, stabilizing the voltage. It offers a wide range of input voltage and high tolerance against overloads, but the additional waveform distortion is relatively high.


Below are the detailed comparison of voltage regulation solutions. Next article, we will introduce more voltage regulators in the market.



Preen’s Voltage Regulator Provides Safe and Stable Power

The APS series single unit has maximum output power of up to 300kVA, input voltage range from ±18% to ±25%, and voltage accuracy ±2% with response time ≤4ms. It is a high-precision and fast-responding static electronic compensation voltage regulator that can quickly detect changes in input voltage, perform voltage compensation, and provide three times overload capacity function. These features can effectively protect sensitive equipment from sudden high-voltage impacts and failures in the power grid. The APS series has an input power factor of ≥0.95 with high efficiency of up to 98% at full load. It is 5% to 10% higher on average compared to servo motor-based and magnetic saturation-based systems. APS series is also compact and lightweight design, weighing only 1/4th of traditional models with noise level ≤50dB. It exhibits excellent electromagnetic compatibility, has complied with CE certification, and is widely used in high-precision production equipment, including SMT production lines, medical equipment, and EMC test lab.



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