Key technical characteristics of new energy cables (core difference from traditional cables)

1. Weather resistance and environmental adaptability: coping with extreme environments

• UV resistance and aging ： PV cable It needs to be exposed to outdoor sunlight for a long time, and the outer insulation materials (such as cross-linked polyethylene XLPE, polyolefin PO) need to be added with anti UV agent to ensure that the service life is not less than 25 years under the environment of - 40 ℃~125 ℃ (the outdoor service life of traditional industrial cables is usually only 5-10 years);

• Low temperature resistance and torsion resistance : The wind power cable needs to work in the wind power cabin in cold regions (such as Northeast Europe and Northern Europe), and the cable needs to withstand continuous torsion when the cabin rotates (the torsion angle of each turn is ≤ 360 °). Therefore, "flexible conductor+low-temperature resistant elastomer insulation" (such as EPDM EPDM) is used to ensure that it can still remain flexible below - 40 ℃, and will not break after more than 100000 times of torsion;

• Salt spray and corrosion resistance : Offshore wind power cables and coastal photovoltaic power station cables shall be resistant to seawater salt spray. The conductor shall be tinned copper (anti-corrosion), the outer sheath shall be neoprene (CR) or polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), and the salt spray resistance rating shall meet the GB/T 10125 standard for 96 hours without corrosion.

2. Electrical performance: adapt to high voltage and high current

• High voltage resistance and low loss : High voltage cables of new energy vehicles and medium voltage cables of energy storage system shall withstand 500V-15kV DC/AC voltage, and the insulation layer shall have high breakdown strength (≥ 20kV/mm) and low dielectric loss (tan δ ≤ 0.003) to avoid insulation breakdown or heating loss under high voltage;

• Large current carrying capacity : New energy vehicle motors and photovoltaic inverters need to transmit large current (for example, the current carrying capacity of vehicle high-voltage cables can reach more than 200A), so "multi strand fine stranded copper conductors" are adopted (the current carrying capacity of traditional single strand conductors is increased by 15% - 20%), and the insulation layer is made of high temperature resistant materials (for example, XLPE resistant to 150 ℃) to reduce the impact of current heating on cables.

3. Safety performance: low risk, high reliability

• Flame retardant and low smoke halogen-free (LSZH) : The internal space of new energy vehicles and energy storage cabinets is narrow, and the cables must meet the flame retardant standards (such as UL94 V-0 GB/T 18380）， In addition, the smoke density during combustion is low (light transmittance ≥ 80%), and there is no halogen release (halogen element content ≤ 500ppm), so as to avoid the generation of toxic gas during fire (hydrogen chloride is released from the combustion of traditional PVC cables, endangering personnel safety);

• Anti electromagnetic interference (EMI) : In the new energy system, the cable is close to the electronic equipment (such as photovoltaic inverter, automobile BMS battery management system), so it is necessary to reduce the interference of electromagnetic radiation on the signal through "shielding layer design" (such as copper tape shielding, tinned copper wire braided shielding) to ensure the stable operation of the control system (shielding efficiency ≥ 80dB).

4. Mechanical performance: suitable for dynamic conditions

• Vibration and fatigue resistance : The cables of new energy vehicles need to withstand continuous vibration (frequency 10-2000Hz) while driving, and the wind power cables need to withstand long-term torsion. Therefore, "elastomer buffer layer" is used between the conductor and the insulation layer to avoid conductor fracture or insulation cracking caused by vibration/torsion, and the fatigue life is more than 1 million times;

• Lightweight and flexible : New energy vehicles have a high demand for weight reduction (1% energy consumption can be reduced for every 10kg weight reduction). Cables adopt "thin wall insulation+lightweight conductor" (for example, aluminum alloy conductor is 30% lighter than copper conductor). At the same time, flexible lifting (bending radius ≤ 5 times of cable outer diameter, and traditional cable is usually 10 times) is used to facilitate wiring in the narrow space of vehicles.