Surface-mount current sensors handle up to 400 A

Allegro MicroSystems announced significant ease-of-use enhancements to its popular high current fully integrated ACS772/3 current sensor “CB” package family.

These industry-leading, automotive-grade high voltage isolation current sensors already provide economical and precise solutions for both AC and DC current sensing up to 400A. Building on that leadership and deep customer-understanding, Allegro’s new surface-mount leadform option for the CB package is the answer to many customer challenges by providing a flexible solution for space-constrained applications.

The ACS772/3 family of current sensor ICs has an enhanced feature set that helps engineers simplify their bill of materials and improve efficiency in the toughest of applications:

• Small form footprint over competing solutions
• Very fast 2.5uS response time that enables overcurrent fault detection – ideal for safety-critical applications
• Enhanced working isolation voltages up to 1300kV+ for basic DC voltage, and 650V+ for reinforced isolation DC voltage – No need for opto-isolators or other costly isolation techniques.
• High accuracy of +/-2.1% over the lifetime of the IC

These features make the ACS772/3 family ideal for a range of applications from industrial robotics to electric vehicles.

“Many of our customers, especially in green energy applications, are looking for higher working voltages which can provide efficiency improvements and cost reductions in their systems,” said Milano. “In solar applications for instance, raising the system voltage allows for longer strings, which eliminates significant wiring and connector combiner boxes.  It also allows for longer panel strings with higher rated output inverters, which reduces losses and improves efficiency.  These improvements are a win-win for our customers.”