The testing and validation of batteries and fuel cells can be a large endeavor with a sizeable infrastructure including (but not limited to) environmental chambers (e.g., temperature or explosion-proof chambers), temperature sensors, racks of programmable DC power supplies, electronics loads, and measurement racks with the supporting I/O for the automated control and monitoring of data.
Regenerative power supplies combine the programmable DC power supply and electronic load into one piece of equipment, providing both a source and a sink for tests. This technology provides an alternative to the conventional approach of using resistive load banks to burn excess energy.