The VACON NXP DCGuard is a device that maintains the safety and stability of a DC grid system by detecting and cutting off any faulty currents within 50 microseconds. This protects the surrounding equipment by preventing brownouts associated with typical fuse or breaker protections that take up to 100 times longer to trip. Further, it enables the connection of two DC grids with voltage differences, and, more importantly, prevents accidents and injuries.

The semiconductor protection device is based on standard VACON NXP inverter hardware and software. During a short circuit, the VACON NXP DCGuard disconnects the healthy side from the faulty side before the short circuit affects the healthy side. The fast isolation ensures the healthy side can continue to operate normally after the short circuit situation. This enables a secure DC grid and is a key enabler for DC networks used in many applications, such as data centers, commercial buildings, or factories.

Short circuit handling has been one of the hurdles for wider usage of DC power supplies and distribution in data centers, as it is difficult to ensure the required system functionality by using fuses. Therefore, data center owners and operators have not harvested the advantages of using DC power distribution systems. 

Unlike a fuse, the VACON NXP DCGuard can easily be reset and restarted once fault conditions have been removed. This will remove barriers for end users who are reluctant to switch to more efficient DC systems due to concerns over short circuit fault currents. It helps to enable a transition of efficient energy management of multiple power sources by reducing losses associated with AC-to-DC grid conversion.