67a4c951e749ecf6b388d5e7 250110 Prodmod Bourns Digital Current Sensor Web

Shunt Current Sensors Bring Affordable Precision to Battery Apps Up to 250 A

Feb. 6, 2025

The latest digital shunt sensor from Bourns is a precise, compact, cost-effective measurement solution that supports RS-485, Modbus, and CAN bus interfaces.

Lee Goldberg

Related To: Electronic Design

Bourns Inc. expanded its Riedon family of digital shunt sensors with the Riedon Model SSD-250A Series of devices. Able to precisely measure currents of up to 250 A, the new series comprises two versions: the RS-485 serial interface model, which can also be configured as a Modbus RTU, and a customizable CAN bus model. This series of sensors is available with current ranges of 100 A and 500 A, too.

Offered in a compact system-in-package (SIP), the Model SSD-250A Series delivers calibrated and temperature-compensated digital output across a −40 to +115°C operating temperature range. Combined with 1,500-V DC galvanic isolation, it’s well-suited for current-sensing solutions across a wide variety of battery-related applications, including renewable-energy systems, motor drives, and EV charging stations.

Like the other members of its product family, the SSD-250A can help eliminate the need for periodic device calibrations, all while providing highly accurate measurements. In addition, the new series features considerably lower insertion resistance than passive shunt sensors and Hall-effect sensors.

The Riedon Model SSD-250A Series Shunt Sensor, available now, is RoHS-compliant.

About the Author

Lee Goldberg | Contributing Editor

Lee Goldberg is a self-identified “Recovering Engineer,” Maker/Hacker, Green-Tech Maven, Aviator, Gadfly, and Geek Dad. He spent the first 18 years of his career helping design microprocessors, embedded systems, renewable energy applications, and the occasional interplanetary spacecraft. After trading his ‘scope and soldering iron for a keyboard and a second career as a tech journalist, he’s spent the next two decades at several print and online engineering publications.

Lee’s current focus is power electronics, especially the technologies involved with energy efficiency, energy management, and renewable energy. This dovetails with his coverage of sustainable technologies and various environmental and social issues within the engineering community that he began in 1996. Lee also covers 3D printers, open-source hardware, and other Maker/Hacker technologies.

Lee holds a BSEE in Electrical Engineering from Thomas Edison College, and participated in a colloquium on technology, society, and the environment at Goddard College’s Institute for Social Ecology. His book, “Green Electronics/Green Bottom Line - A Commonsense Guide To Environmentally Responsible Engineering and Management,” was published by Newnes Press.

Lee, his wife Catherine, and his daughter Anwyn currently reside in the outskirts of Princeton N.J., where they masquerade as a typical suburban family.

Lee also writes the regular PowerBites series.