Light Rail Power Supply Solutions

Light Rail power supplySchaefer specializes in custom light rail power supply solutions for on-board and trackside that meet EN 50155 compliance. Our transit power supplies and light rail power supply conversion products include AC-DC power supplies, DC-DC power converters, rectifiers and battery chargers and DC-AC sine wave inverters.

A light rail network is defined as rapid transit, commuter rail, or tram-like system that may operate on city streets. There are considerable challenges in creating a stable light rail power supply solution. Light rail power solutions require an adherence to strict technical and performance requirements that must conform to several international standards that ensure reliability in the most unforgiving environments where extremes temperature, vibration, dirt, dust and moisture will be encountered.

Schaefer’s rugged light rail power supply construction ensures long-life, reliable operation. Our unique design and manufacturing capabilities permits us to offer an endless combination of input and output voltages for your light rail power needs. Let our experienced team help modify an existing product or design a custom product that will deliver the right solution for your transit and light rail power conversion application.

      • 24 , 36, 37.5, 48, 600, 750VDC or higher voltages and 115 and 230V AC voltages on request
      • Buck, boost, or isolated topology
      • DC/DC, DC/AC, AC/DC or AC/AC
      • Custom solutions, typically with no NRE
      • Ultra-wide input ranges to handle extremes, including transients from 3rd rail or catenary
      • High efficiency for lower cost of ownership
      • Hermetically sealed solutions
      • Natural convection or water-cooled solutions
      • Redundant configurations for longer life operation in critical applications
      • Ultra-wide temperature ranges
      • Reverse polarity protection option
      • Lightweight, high power density for smaller package designs

To ensure a high reliability and quality of our power supplies, they have to pass through internal testing for high industrial requirements. Furthermore, they can be tested against increased shock and vibration resistance, as well as extreme environmental conditions. All components are selected according to criteria of durability, availability and performance. According to customer requirements national and international rail-specific standards can be tested in cooperation with external laboratories.

  • EN 50155
  • EN 50178
  • EN 60664-1
  • EN 60950-1
  • EN 61000-6-2
  • EN 61000-6-4
  • EN 55011 / EN 55022 class A
  • EN 61140

By default, all devices are designed with electronic current limiting, overvoltage protection and continuous short circuit protection. Optionally, the modules can be expanded as follows:

      • Inrush current limiting
      • Reverse polarity protection for DC input
      • Decoupling diode for redundant / parallel operation
      • Active current sharing for parallel operation
      • Hot-pluggable solutions
      • Monitoring of input and output voltage
      • Output programmable
      • Power factor correction (PFC) for single phase input
      • Temperature compensated charging voltage
      • Automatic / manual selection of charging characteristics
      • Remote ON / OFF (inhibit)

By default, all modules will be offered as a 19″ module or 19″ sub-rack according to IP20.  Optionally, the modules can be expanded as follows:

      • Wall mount, chassis mount, DIN-rail mount, 19″ rack or customized design
      • Fan or liquid cooled
      • Mating connectors, wiring and monitoring instruments in accordance to the customers’ requirements
      • Digital or analog V- and A-meters
      • Monitoring & programming via potentiometer, analog signals or RS232 / IEEE488 interfaces
      • Designed for a high level of shock and vibration
      • Tropical protection finish on all circuit boards and components to ensure an increased protection category to protect the module from extreme climatic conditions
      • Robust enclosure that can withstand wind, sun, salt water, dirt or dust.
      • Hermetically sealed enclosure for high protection category
Product Features
      • 24 , 36, 37.5, 48, 600, 750VDC or higher voltages and 115 and 230V AC voltages on request
      • Buck, boost, or isolated topology
      • DC/DC, DC/AC, AC/DC or AC/AC
      • Custom solutions, typically with no NRE
      • Ultra-wide input ranges to handle extremes, including transients from 3rd rail or catenary
      • High efficiency for lower cost of ownership
      • Hermetically sealed solutions
      • Natural convection or water-cooled solutions
      • Redundant configurations for longer life operation in critical applications
      • Ultra-wide temperature ranges
      • Reverse polarity protection option
      • Lightweight, high power density for smaller package designs
Engineering Standards

To ensure a high reliability and quality of our power supplies, they have to pass through internal testing for high industrial requirements. Furthermore, they can be tested against increased shock and vibration resistance, as well as extreme environmental conditions. All components are selected according to criteria of durability, availability and performance. According to customer requirements national and international rail-specific standards can be tested in cooperation with external laboratories.

  • EN 50155
  • EN 50178
  • EN 60664-1
  • EN 60950-1
  • EN 61000-6-2
  • EN 61000-6-4
  • EN 55011 / EN 55022 class A
  • EN 61140
Electrical Features

By default, all devices are designed with electronic current limiting, overvoltage protection and continuous short circuit protection. Optionally, the modules can be expanded as follows:

      • Inrush current limiting
      • Reverse polarity protection for DC input
      • Decoupling diode for redundant / parallel operation
      • Active current sharing for parallel operation
      • Hot-pluggable solutions
      • Monitoring of input and output voltage
      • Output programmable
      • Power factor correction (PFC) for single phase input
      • Temperature compensated charging voltage
      • Automatic / manual selection of charging characteristics
      • Remote ON / OFF (inhibit)
Mechanical Features

By default, all modules will be offered as a 19″ module or 19″ sub-rack according to IP20.  Optionally, the modules can be expanded as follows:

      • Wall mount, chassis mount, DIN-rail mount, 19″ rack or customized design
      • Fan or liquid cooled
      • Mating connectors, wiring and monitoring instruments in accordance to the customers’ requirements
      • Digital or analog V- and A-meters
      • Monitoring & programming via potentiometer, analog signals or RS232 / IEEE488 interfaces
      • Designed for a high level of shock and vibration
      • Tropical protection finish on all circuit boards and components to ensure an increased protection category to protect the module from extreme climatic conditions
      • Robust enclosure that can withstand wind, sun, salt water, dirt or dust.
      • Hermetically sealed enclosure for high protection category

Light Rail Charging Station

The 300kW charging station developed by Schaefer allows the ultra fast charging in 3-10 min of Lithium Ion Batteries on board of these electrical busses successfully tested in Umea (Sweden) in the “Artic-Whisper” prototype busses that are billed as the world’s first fast-charged hybrid bus.

DC/AC Three-Phase Inverter System for Motor Drive

DC/AC Inverter Systems are designed with the application of modern technology resulting in compact machines for motor drives. Besides offering reliability and high performance, which will guarantee long operating periods without requiring any maintenance, SCHAEFER solutions present outstanding operating features.

COTS Custom Engineered Light Rail Power Supply Solutions

With nearly 50 years of experience and thousands of custom designed power products, you can rely on Schaefer’s engineering and manufacturing expertise for your specific application needs. Our COTS power converters can be built into sealed high IP rated enclosures with increased mechanical strength and hermetically sealed MIL connectors. We can optimize our standard products by installing them into custom enclosures and adding meters, switches or any other functionality you require, with little or no NRE!

Research and testing are provided for:

  • Thermal Analysis
  • FMECA
  • Halt
  • Hass
  • Loop Stability/Optimization
  • MTBF, FIT, PDR, and CDR

Schaefer’s electrical and mechanical engineering teams are true industry craftsmen, contact us to discuss your shipboard and subsea power supply requirements or to request a quote.

Additional Examples of Schaefer’s Custom Power Solutions

Our experienced engineering and manufacturing team has delivered over 2,000 custom power solution products. To learn more about our custom solutions click on the button below.