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While power applications become smaller, faster and more complex, busbars remain the primary choice for electrical power distribution to carry and distribute electrical current.

busbars

In electric power distribution, a busbar (also known as bus bar or buss bar) is a metallic strip or bar, often housed inside switchgear, panel boards and busway enclosures for high current power distribution. They are also used to connect high voltage equipment at electrical switchyards, and low voltage equipment in battery banks.

Busbars are generally uninsulated, and have sufficient stiffness to be supported in air by insulated pillars. These features allow sufficient cooling of the conductors, and the ability to tap in at various points without creating a new joint.

Chemical etching allows manufacturers of busbars to cost-effectively produce precise and intricate designs in various metals. The busbar’s material composition and cross-sectional size determine the maximum current it can safely carry.

key features

unique features in mechanical design

  • reduce system costs
  • increase capacitance
  • lower inductance
  • improve reliability
  • eliminate wiring errors
industrial automation

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Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. Tecan manufactures precision etched busbars by photochemical etching for power distribution in electronics, power electronics, EV and data-centre hardware.

A busbar is a metal conductor that distributes electrical power and current between components within a device or system, providing a compact, reliable path for power distribution.

Photochemical etching produces busbars with clean, burr-free contact surfaces and no mechanical stress or heat-affected zone, which supports reliable electrical performance. Because it uses digital tooling, busbar designs can be changed quickly and prototyped without hard-tooling cost.

Busbars are typically etched from copper and copper alloys, and brass, for high electrical conductivity. Tecan’s in-house plating can be applied for improved conductivity, solderability and corrosion resistance.

Tecan etches busbars in material from 25µm to 2mm thick, holding a typical tolerance of ±10% of material thickness above 0.15mm, and ±15µm minimum below 0.15mm. Every busbar is developed to individual specification.

Yes. Because photochemical etching uses digital tooling, Tecan produces custom busbars to your dimensions, with prototypes made directly from drawings and the same design scaled to volume without new tooling.

Yes. Tecan produces busbar prototypes directly from drawings within days, then scales the same design to volume with no new tooling.

Send your drawings, material, quantity and tolerances via the Request a Quote page and Tecan will provide a quotation.