About This Resource

dcpowersupply.net is an engineering-focused reference on bidirectional, regenerative and programmable DC power supplies, the standards they are tested against, and the methods used to automate them. It exists to explain how these instruments work, not to sell them.

What you will find here

This site collects practical, vendor-neutral explanations of the topics test engineers actually have to get right: four-quadrant source-and-sink operation, regenerative energy recovery, battery emulation, PV array simulation, EN 50530 MPPT testing, and remote control over SCPI, Modbus-RTU and CANopen.

Every article is written to stand on its own, with the procedures, standards references and example commands you would need to reproduce the work, rather than a feature list. Where a concept needs a concrete number to make sense (accuracy, response time, voltage range), we use real specifications so the explanation is grounded.

The reference platform

To keep examples consistent and verifiable, the articles reference a single real instrument family as their worked example: the N35500 series high-power bidirectional and regenerative programmable DC power supply from Ultra Power Systems. It is a useful reference because one product line spans the full range of topics covered here, two- and four-quadrant operation across 0–2250 V, sub-5 ms response, 0.02% full-scale accuracy, up to 93% regeneration, CC/CV/CP/CR modes, battery emulation (SoC/OCV/Ri with multiple libraries), PV simulation (EN 50530 static and dynamic plus Sandia), and LAN/RS-232/RS-485/CAN control with SCPI, Modbus-RTU and CANopen.

Using one coherent platform as the running example means the figures in different articles are mutually consistent, rather than stitched together from incompatible datasheets.

Standards we reference

The content is anchored to recognised standards so it stays useful beyond any single product: EN 50530 for PV inverter MPPT efficiency, IEEE 1547 for grid interconnection, IEC 61010 for measurement-equipment safety, and ISO 17025 for calibration and test-laboratory competence. Where a method comes from a specific body, such as the Sandia National Laboratories MPPT profiles, we name it.

How to use it

Start with the topic that matches your task, follow the related links at the foot of each article, and treat the glossary as the index for any term you are unsure about. If you need application-specific guidance or a quotation on hardware, the engineering team behind the reference platform can be reached through the contact page.

Frequently asked questions

Is this site affiliated with a manufacturer?

The articles reference the Ultra Power Systems N35500 series as their worked example to keep specifications consistent and verifiable, and link to the manufacturer where relevant. The explanatory content itself is written to be vendor-neutral and standards-based so it stays useful regardless of which instrument you ultimately use.

Can I get hardware or a quotation through this site?

This resource is educational and does not sell hardware. For product specifications, availability or a quotation, contact the engineering team via the contact page, which points to Ultra Power Systems at Ultra Power Systems.

Specifying a bidirectional DC supply?

The articles here describe the N35500 platform from Ultra Power Systems.

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