What is a Load Bank?

Load bank is a device used to simulate the load of electrical equipment. It consumes or converts electrical energy through equivalent impedance (resistance, inductance, capacitance) to test the load characteristics of power supply or power generation equipment. Its core principle is to simulate the power consumption of real load through adjustable impedance elements, so as to detect the stability, output capacity and efficiency of the power supply system and other performance indicators.

1. Core composition and working mechanism

Impedance element: Resistive load: consumes electrical energy through resistance wire or power resistor, converts it into heat energy, and simulates pure resistive load (such as incandescent lamp, electric heater).

Inductive load: uses inductor coil to generate inductive reactance, consumes reactive power, and simulates inductive equipment such as motor and transformer.

Capacitive load: provides capacitive reactance through capacitor bank, compensates or simulates capacitive load (such as inverter, capacitor bank).

Comprehensive load: adjustable resistance, inductance and capacitance ratio, simulates complex load (such as nonlinear load, harmonic load).

Control module: adjusts the impedance value through manual or intelligent control system to achieve precise control of power (active/reactive) and power factor.

Cooling system: Resistive loads generate a lot of heat and need to be equipped with air cooling, water cooling or natural heat dissipation devices to ensure long-term stable operation.

2. Key parameters

Rated power: The maximum power (kW/kVA) that the load bank can operate stably for a long time.

Power factor: 0.1~1.0 adjustable (inductive/capacitive/resistive), adapted to different load characteristics.

Adjustment accuracy: The adjustment resolution of power, voltage, and current affects the test accuracy.