電流分流電阻器發現可再生能源應用的新需求

　　來自可再生能源的能源供應增長：太陽能、風能和潮汐能，也促使人們對更精確的大電流測量解決方案的需求增加。這不僅是為了使公用事業公司更好地測量電網提供的電力用于計費的目的，或實現更精確的發電廠控制。相反，需要改進的精度比傳統的電能計量裝置，以確保所需的性能的各種元素的分布式電源系統。回歸傳統電表，采用并聯電阻大電流處理的原則似乎是答案。

　　可再生能源的性質

　　而一些形式的可再生能源，如水電，多年來一直是最近開發的太陽能和風力發電，已經成為世界各國政府關注的焦點，因為他們尋求實現其“綠色能源”的政策及承諾。

　　Unlike established coal， gas and nuclear generating plants which use turbines to directly generate AC （alternating current） power that can be fed into the grid via sub-station transformers， the nature of solar and wind power either generates DC （direct current） power or involves some conversion to and from DC. Solar power from photovoltaic panels is inherently DC generation and needs some form of inverter device to convert it to AC for connection to the grid. Many wind turbines， especially smaller units deployed in generating electricity for domestic， agricultural and industrial premises， also generate DC.

　　Even the larger wind turbines found on commercial wind farms， using generators that produce AC， can’t necessarily be directly connected to the grid. This is because not only does the voltage need to be compatible， but also so does the frequency， which is determined by the rotational speed of the turbine that in turn is dependent on wind speed. Gearboxes have been used to increase the rotational speed to overcome this problem， but they are heavy and expensive. So the trend is towards “direct drive” generators， even though this requires AC outputs to first be converted to DC and then back to AC via an inverter that ensures the correct frequency and voltage for the grid.