Advanced packaging of a 600 Amp power plant

The rapid increase of revenue generating phone services to the telecommunications marketplace has increased the premium applied to available space within outdoor equipment enclosures. Consequently, bulk power plant equipment is under increasing pressure not only to occupy zero space but to drive towards zero installation time. Every time-consuming installation feature is under scrutiny and questioned as to its “value added”. Every inch of rack space occupied by power equipment is undesirable because of its intrusion on revenue generating equipment. This paper presents innovative packaging techniques proposed to reduce the industry typical facial area occupied by a 600 Amp bulk power plant. While no compromise is accepted towards “front access”, plant depth, or “plug and play”, the effective power plant electronic density is increased by 100%. The result is more rack space for revenue generating equipment and less installation time. The final section of the paper compares theoretical analysis with experimental results on a full scale 18 kW engineering prototype unit. Comparisons include thermal analysis, component count trail, and setup time improvements through actual customer interview