Panasonic — HE Series Relays

The HE series of relays supplied by Panasonic gives designers the option to switch relatively large amounts of power through a device mounted on the main system’s PCB. This means that they can in many cases avoid using a conventional discrete high-power switching board, and thus save space, reduce cost and improve power efficiency.

The compact HE series relays have a high load capability – up to 120 A at 480 V ac or 55 A at 800 V ac in the case of the HE-N. Panasonic’s use of appropriate materials and well thought out design decisions have resulted in a product which is capable of switching large amounts of energy at high voltage safely, with minimal risk of arcing.

Use of the HE series relays contributes to energy as well as space savings: extremely low power dissipation at the contacts is achieved by reducing the contact resistance to between 1mΩ and 3mΩ. This means that thermal losses are kept to a minimum: at a current of 35 A and a contact resistance of 2 mΩ, power dissipation is only 2.45 W.

The HE Relays PV Type products feature the minimum contact gap and 2.5 kW surge breakdown capability required by safety standards applied to photovoltaic energy generation equipment. These relays help solar energy systems to minimize power losses with their low coil holding voltage which can be reduced to just 40% of the nominal coil voltage.

The HE series’ implementation of PWM switching also limits operating power consumption, which is as low as 170 mW in the HE-S model. In most cases, so little waste heat is generated that ventilation is unnecessary.