High-Current Connectors for Power Applications

Electrification and energy management go hand in hand as industries and societies strive to transition to renewable energy sources, while also struggling with burgeoning power demands in areas such as new data centers supporting artificial intelligence and machine learning.

These issues are creating great potential for new high-power applications such as more efficient charging for electric vehicles (EVs), smart factory automation and smart building management, public transportation, medical equipment, and hospital energy management, among many others. Engineers and vendors are facing vast opportunities for new applications that can address market trends and the needs of commercial customers and consumers.

"The anticipated and accelerating boom in electrification unlocks significant value creation opportunities across the electrification value chain, including in assets, components, and raw materials," McKinsey analysts wrote.

Electrification can reduce overall emissions, lower energy costs, and provide utility power grids with operational flexibility to optimize distribution and generation assets, instead of adding infrastructure, asserts the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Electricity.

"Transportation, buildings, industry, and agriculture are the economic sectors that are beginning to electrify," according to that agency, citing both light-duty and fleet EVs, the adoption of efficient electric appliances in new residential and commercial buildings, and the retrofitting of older buildings, industrial processes and equipment, and agribusiness equipment.

High-current connections are vital

High-current, high-voltage connections will bind the electrical circuits of many applications as market demand grows for electrification and energy management applications.

Reliable and flexible high-current connectors and cable assembly solutions are essential for designing robust electronic applications that can meet industry and government safety standards and respond to rapidly evolving customer requirements, including:

• Enabling electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, charging infrastructure, and battery management systems
• Supporting industrial automation, robotics, machinery, and power generation and distribution
• Facilitating solar, wind, hydro, and geothermal power generation and storage
• Enhancing the performance and safety of laptops, tablets, smartphones, gaming consoles, and wearable devices

Molex has been an innovator in power connectors since the mid-1960s. The company created a unique pin-and-socket design that allowed metal pins to be keyed for the right orientation, leading to secure mating for small connectors and a reduction in sizes.

Smaller interconnects are essential for industries seeking to fit more electronics in increasingly smaller spaces. Molex has sought to meet these needs with a comprehensive selection of power connectors that support very high-current transfer for power supplies and systems in challenging spaces, often with strict thermal constraints.

Molex developed the COEUR socket technology (Figure 1) to overcome the challenges and harsh environmental conditions of high-current, high-performance applications.

Figure 1: Molex COUER socket technology provides greater conductive surface area and minimizes heat generation. (Image source: Molex)

The stamped and conical shaped socket with angled contact beams of the COUER design maximizes the number of contact points around the radial axis of the mating pin. The mating zones of each contact beam provide greater conductive surface area, which also minimizes heat generation for high current-carrying applications.

The COUER socket technology is a key element of the company's PowerWize wire-to-board/wire-to-busbar connectors, and the UltraWize line of wire-to-board high-current connectors and cable assemblies. This technology provides low contact resistance and low voltage drop at the contact interface due to multiple contact beams.

The PowerWize connections can be mounted on either printed circuit boards or busbars, making them suitable for a wide range of applications in data centers, telecommunications and networking, industrial settings, and blind-mating applications. They can support up to 1,000 V and 190 A, and are available in 6 mm versions with side locking and 8 mm with top locking; both are mechanically keyed to eliminate mismating during system integration.

PowerWize headers (Figure 2) and receptacles comply with industry-standard touch-safe requirements. They can be attached to various substrates and crimped to a wide range of wire styles and gauges. PowerWize crimp sockets can accept 1/0 AWG, 2 AWG, 4 AWG, 6 AWG, 8 AWG, or 10 AWG wires.

Figure 2: A Molex PowerWize 2046000001 connector header. (Image source: Molex)

UltraWize connectors and cable assemblies for circuit board implementations are more specific to data centers where space saving and power density are key considerations. These connectors (Figure 3) are also mechanically keyed, with location pegs to ensure correct mating and a positive lock to prevent accidental unmating.

Figure 3: A Molex UltraWize 2185670002 connector for placement on printed circuit boards. (Image source: Molex)

UltraWize cable assemblies enable a cable-side exit configuration that minimizes stack height and PCB footprint by eliminating the need to accommodate a cable-bend radius. The cable assemblies are capable of a maximum voltage of 125 V and current of up to 170 A, and are available in right-angle to right-angle (2262692025) and right-angle to vertical (Figure 4) versions.

Figure 4: A Molex UltraWize right-angle to vertical 2262702025 cable assembly. (Image source: Molex)

Conclusion

Molex PowerWize and UltraWize connectors provide vendors with various options for very high-current applications. Both connector types are engineered with safety and performance in mind, featuring mechanical keying and locating pegs to prevent mismating, as well as design flexibility to meet diverse application needs.