Electronic Loads and Sinks

Controllable/Programmable Electronic Loads for Simulation of Power Consuming Devices

What is an Electronic Load?

Electronic loads act as power sinks (as opposed to power sources) and consume power in a precise, controlled and manageable manner. Connected to an assembly under test, they simulate variable loads and thus help to study the behavior of the device under test. An electronic load replaces an ohmic load resistor/consumer ("electronically controllable resistance"). The power consumed by the load is usually dissipated as heat or fed back into the grid.

Where are Loads Used?

For testing all kinds of power sources such as batteries/accumulators/fuel cells (e.g. battery discharge curves), power supply units/power supplies, solar panels, DC/DC and AC/DC converters, LED light drivers, chargers for consumer products, charging stations, power management IC PMIC etc.

What do the Abbreviations CV, CC, CP and OVP, OCP, OPP Mean?

Loads offer different operating modes, for example

• Constant current - CC,
• constant voltage - CV,
• constant resistance - CR,
• constant power - CP.
  
  Often loads have protective mechanisms such as
• overvoltage protection - OVP,
• over-current protection - OCP,
• over-power protection - OPP,
• over temperature protection - OTP.