48 V DC Voltage For Industry

2023 Author : Hannah Pearcy | [email protected] . Last modified: 2023-05-24 11:12

A 48 V DC power supply is primarily known from the automotive industry. The vehicle electrical system is increasingly being supplied with 48 V voltage instead of the conventional 12 V or 24 V voltage. “A higher voltage means a lower current. This in turn ensures that cable cross-sections can be reduced,”explains Alexander Jellenigg, Business Development Manager at Eaton.

Smaller cable cross sections weigh less

This has great advantages in the vehicle, because cables with smaller cable cross-sections also weigh less. This means that fewer kilograms have to be braked and accelerated. This results in fewer CO ₂ emissions. If you consider that newly registered trucks from 2025, according to legal regulations and 15% from the year 2030 30% less CO ₂ allowed to emit as compared to 2019, which explains the growing megatrend to 48 V on-board networks.

Overcurrent protection

Fuse or circuit breaker?

“The 48-volt standard is specified in such a way that the voltage does not rise above 58 V even in extreme situations. This means that the systems always work with voltages that are safe for people,”says Ricardo Pimenta, Product Manager Transportation at ETA. A second important point, which is why 48 V technology is an important development for the automotive industry.

But what about machine and plant construction? Could the DC 48 V voltage level also gain in importance here? Patrick Schweer, who works in product marketing at Phoenix Contact Power Supplies, gives a clear “yes”: “48 V DC technology has already found its way into industrial applications and will also gain in importance in some areas. For example, drives in the low-power range up to a few hundred watts are often already supplied with 48 V DC voltage.”

Ricardo Pimenta also addresses another application that is increasingly finding its way into the industrial sector: “48 V DC is always the right choice when you need more power and at the same time want to avoid more weight and space. Driverless transport systems benefit from these advantages."

A coexistence of different voltage levels is also possible. For example, Phoenix Contact offers power supplies that provide a 48 V DC supply and also DC / DC converters that convert from or to a 48 V voltage level. This flexibility makes it possible to partially rely on the higher voltage level and to benefit from the advantages in individual applications.

More robust circuit breakers and relays required

Because a changeover also brings challenges. “Even small currents create an arc at 48 V. This puts a lot more strain on the electrical contacts than on 12 V or 24 V. Plugs, circuit breakers and relays must therefore be more robust,”explains Ricardo Pimenta. Both ETA and Phoenix Contact offer components that are matched to the DC 48 V systems. "However, the product portfolio in the 48 V DC range is smaller than in the standard 24 V range, so that not all components - consumers as well as sources - are available", Patrick Schweer points out. Users should pay attention to this during use.

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Eaton's expert Alexander Jellenigg expresses completely different considerations regarding the use of 48 V DC systems in industry: “We assume that the transmission of signals in automation technology will remain at the 24 V voltage level. With increasing use of DC technology, the transmission of power will pass into much higher voltage levels - here I am talking about 350 V / 700 V. We don't see that the 48 V DC voltage level prevails.”

Higher voltage levels expected

Jellenigg is also critical of the fact that the technology in the automotive industry is going to last a long time: “The automotive industry is currently in transition: plug-in hybrids and pure electric vehicles are increasingly entering the market. These are equipped with much higher voltage levels - 400 V to 800 V. A 12 V subnet is then often used. The 48 V vehicle electrical system is no longer necessary."

Nevertheless: For large commercial vehicles and mobile machines that are far from being fully electric, 48 V DC technology is certainly a way to make operation more efficient, and it also makes sense for compact industrial applications in the low-power range up to a few hundred watts to think about the use of this level of tension.

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