I am planning to build a tethered drone powered by a 12s battery system (44.4 volts) with an overall current consumption of approximately 50 amps. To achieve this, I require a rectifier system to convert 230VAC to 450VDC, as well as a DC-DC buck converter to step down the voltage from 450VDC to 44VDC on the drone side.
How can I create this? Do anyone have any ideas or circuit diagrams that could assist in developing an indigenous project model?
Additionally, are there any ready-made 230VAC to 450VDC rectifiers or 450VDC to 44VDC DC-DC step-down modules available in the market?
I think what You have described is architecture of active PFC PSU. not sure why 450VDC? Do You need actualy 450VDC to be available outside of power supply?
I think You could find some industrial 48V power supply, which due to some requirements related to power has to be equipped with active PFC (at least in EU).
Mean Well makes such PSUs - for example RSP-2400-48
Be aware of the weight - adding a 50v 50amp PSU to a multirotor is a significant payload, along with the weight of the tether. Consider the weight of the 20amp 240v tether cable too, that will be quite significant. And it should be a 48v to 50v PSU, not 44v.
Run all the options through ecalc to get an idea of the feasibility - even if ecalc is not going to be perfectly accurate in this case.
A PSU like that could cost something like AUD$1600, remember it’s got to handle the high voltages that the ESCs give back when doing regenerative braking (which is just about all the time).
Do you really need the copter to stay aloft indefinitely, or would quick-change batteries suit?
Or two copters?
EDIT: I found a similar PSU to what Adam mentioned
I need this because transmitting power from the ground rectifier station at a higher voltage will reduce the wire gauge and overall weight of the wire across its entire length. This allows for the use of thinner gauge wire, which is highly suitable for my project.
I came across a company (Link - https://www.dwe-oss.nl/) that offers rectifiers and converters of this type, but their products are quite expensive. Do you know of any other sources where I can find similar modules at a lower price?
