Vacon has launched its first range of AC drives tailored specifically to meet the needs of HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) applications. Heikki Hiltunen, Vacon’s executive vice-president believes that, in many ways, the new Vacon 100 HVAC drives “will set a new benchmark for AC drives in the building automation industry”.

For example, the drives place considerable emphasis on environmental considerations. They use lead-free PCBs, complying with the RoHS Directive, and all of their recyclable parts are marked. Unlike traditional AC drives that use electrolytic capacitors which are considered a hazardous waste in the EU, the new drives use environmentally-friendly, thin-film power capacitors.

The drives (above) have been designed to be easy to use. Their basic functions are accessed via a graphical user interface, and more demanding applications can handled using Vacon`s standard programming tools. The drives comply with the new harmonics standard, IEC/EN 61000-3-12.

They incorporate the TCP/IP communication protocol as standard, allowing easy connection to Ethernet-based networks. "We firmly believe that, in the future, TCP/IP will become the standard for communications in building automation systems,” says Hiltunen.

The HVAC drives made their public debut at this month’s SPS/IPC/Drives show in Germany.