The present disclosure relates to electric motors. The teachings thereof may be embodied in a power module, e.g., a power module for the delivery of a phase current for a current phase of an electric motor. For example, a power module may include: a circuit carrier having a surface; at least two first contact surfaces, a second contact surface, at least two third contact surfaces defined on the surface; a first power transistor connected to each of the at least two first contact surfaces; at least two second power transistors connected to the second contact surface; wherein the at least two second power transistors are connected via a further contact surface to one of the at least two third contact surfaces; and the at least two first and the at least two third contact surfaces are arranged one after the other, in one direction, and the second contact surface is disposed next to both the at least two first and the at least two third contact surfaces.

The present disclosure relates to electric motors. The teachings thereof may be embodied in a power module, e.g., a power module for the delivery of a phase current for a current phase of an electric motor. For example, a power module may include: a circuit carrier having a surface; at least two first contact surfaces, a second contact surface, at least two third contact surfaces defined on the surface; a first power transistor connected to each of the at least two first contact surfaces; at least two second power transistors connected to the second contact surface; wherein the at least two second power transistors are connected via a further contact surface to one of the at least two third contact surfaces; and the at least two first and the at least two third contact surfaces are arranged one after the other, in one direction, and the second contact surface is disposed next to both the at least two first and the at least two third contact surfaces.

A power distribution system for providing a desired value of voltage regulation is presented. The system includes at least one power source, at least one sink, a distribution feeder configured to couple the at least one power source to the at least one sink. The system includes a plurality of modular voltage regulation units coupled to the distribution feeder, where each of the plurality of modular voltage regulation units includes a transformer including a primary winding having a first end and a second end and a secondary winding having a first end and a second end; and at least one switch coupled to the primary winding of the transformer, where the first end of the secondary winding is coupled to at least one of the first and second ends of the primary winding via the at least one switch. A method of operating a power distribution system is also presented.

Described examples include DC to DC converters and systems with switching circuitry formed by four series-connected switches, inductors connected between the ends of the switching circuitry and corresponding output nodes, and with a flying capacitor coupled across interior switches of the switching circuitry and a second capacitor coupled across the ends of the switching circuitry. A control circuit operates the switching circuit to control a voltage signal across the output nodes using a first clock signal and a phase shifted second clock signal to reduce output ripple current and enhance converter efficiency using valley current control. The output inductors are wound on a common core in certain examples.

The central voltage control device includes a power-distribution estimating unit to estimate a power distribution in the power distribution line on the basis of first received measurement information, a voltage-distribution estimating unit to estimate a voltage distribution of the power distribution line on the basis of the power distribution, a tap-position determining unit to determine a tap position of the voltage controller when a voltage deviates from the proper voltage range in the voltage distribution, and a correcting unit to correct the power distribution in the power distribution line on the basis of the received deviation information. When the power distribution is corrected, the voltage-distribution estimating unit estimates the voltage distribution using the corrected power distribution.

A voltage regulation system for an electrical power distribution network that receives electricity from one or more distributed energy resources includes: a voltage regulation device configured to maintain a voltage in the electrical power distribution network to within a voltage bandwidth, the voltage bandwidth including a range of voltages; and a control system coupled to the voltage regulation device, the control system configured to: analyze voltage data, the voltage data including a plurality of voltage samples, each of the voltage samples representing the voltage in the electrical power distribution network at a time within a period of time; determine an adjusted voltage bandwidth for the voltage regulation device based on the analysis; and change the voltage bandwidth of the voltage regulation device to the adjusted voltage bandwidth.

A system for discovering the topology and phase of an electrical power distribution system is provided. For example, a group of meters connected to an electrical power distribution system can process sensor data obtained at the meters and generate descriptors based on the processed data and transmit the descriptors to a headend system. The headend system can, after receiving the descriptors from the various meters in the system, group these meters to generate a grouping by applying clustering algorithms to the descriptors of these meters. The headend system can further compare the current grouping with past groupings to determine a confidence level of the current grouping and assign a segment identifier or a phase identifier or both to one or more of the meters based on the confidence level.

A system for discovering the topology and phase of an electrical power distribution system is provided. For example, a group of meters connected to an electrical power distribution system can process sensor data obtained at the meters and generate descriptors based on the processed data and transmit the descriptors to a headend system. The headend system can, after receiving the descriptors from the various meters in the system, group these meters to generate a grouping by applying clustering algorithms to the descriptors of these meters. The headend system can further compare the current grouping with past groupings to determine a confidence level of the current grouping and assign a segment identifier or a phase identifier or both to one or more of the meters based on the confidence level.

A DC-DC converter (1) with low start-up power and voltage includes an inductor (3) connected to an input voltage source (2), a switch (11) connected to the inductor and controlled by a controller (10) and a diode (12) connected to a connection node of the inductor and the switch to provide an output voltage (Vout). The controller includes an oscillator and a monostable element, which are powered by the input voltage (Vin). The oscillator provides an oscillation signal (OSC) having a period T of a switching cycle of the switch. The monostable element (103) is controlled by the oscillation signal to determine a duration Tn of conduction of the switch, during which an increasing current (IL) flows through the inductor. The input impedance of the DC-DC converter increases, when the input voltage (Vin) drops below a first voltage threshold with a decreasing duty cycle d=Tn/T.

A PoDL system includes a PSE connected via a wire pair to a PD, where differential data and DC power are transmitted over the same wire pair. Typically, low voltage/current detection and classification routines are required upon every powering up of the system to allow the PD to convey its PoDL requirements to the PSE. Various techniques are described that simplify or obviate such start-up routines or enable increased flexibility for the PoDL system. Such techniques include: ways to specify a particular PD operating voltage; ways to disable the PD's UVLO circuit during such routines; using opposite polarity voltages for the two routines; using voltage limiters or surge protectors to convey the PoDL information; detecting loop resistance; using a PSE memory to store previous results of the routines; and powering the PD communication circuit using the wire pair while the PD load is powered by an alternate power source.