Efficient and adaptive energy recycling load

Efficient energy recycling load that can be used for various power supply, battery and generator tests is presented and analyzed. First, some existing approaches and solutions are reviewed and compared. Then, the major advantages of a selected two-stage recycler and its operation modes are described. The control circuit consists of an analog PWM controller, a microprocessor and a programmable logic device and provides a good cost-performance compromise. Most of the focus is on the first stage operation and its control. The review and analysis is verified by the practical design and measured experimental data of two versions of the recycling load having different ranges of input voltage and power.