B Duncan Ltd
Power Electronics Design
Converters, inverters, and motor-drive power stages, designed together with the firmware that controls them.
What we do
Power stage design and review
We design new power stages, review and improve existing ones, and resolve stability, efficiency, and thermal problems.
Switching Power Supplies
SMPS and converter design for efficient, well-regulated DC power.
DC-DC & AC-DC Conversion
Conversion topologies matched to efficiency, size, and cost targets.
Heating & Load Control
Controlled power delivery for heating systems and other high-power loads.
Software-Controlled Power
Real-time feedback control of power stages across operating conditions.
Thermal Design
Thermal analysis and imaging to keep components inside their limits at worst-case load.
Problems
Problems we work on
The supply is unstable under load
Output that sags, oscillates, or drops far enough to reset the microcontroller when the load steps. Usually loop compensation or decoupling, and both are measurable.
Efficiency is short of target
Losses distributed across a dozen components, none of them obviously wrong. A full loss budget identifies where the watts actually go, which is frequently not where the design review assumed.
It fails EMC
Switching frequency, layout, filter placement, and cable dressing all move emissions. We can test the effect of each in our own pre-compliance lab.
Components run hotter than expected
Thermal imaging on a populated board under real load, rather than calculated junction temperatures that assume ideal airflow.
A design works at one voltage and not another
Low-line behaviour, wide input range, or a product moving between 120 V and 230 V markets.
Why us
Why choose us
Power and control together
The power stage and its control firmware from one team, which removes the argument about whether a problem is hardware or software.
Measured, not estimated
Efficiency and stability confirmed on hardware, because datasheet figures have proven unreliable.
Proven across domains
Power supplies, motor drives, heating control, and grid infrastructure.
Compliance built in
Thermal and EMC considered from the start, backed by our own pre-compliance lab.
FAQ
Common questions
Can you review a design rather than do it?
Yes. Independent review of an existing power stage is a common standalone engagement, covering topology choice, loss budget, protection, thermal headroom, and EMC risk.
Do you do the control firmware as well?
Yes, and it is usually the same engagement. Feedback control, protection thresholds, and fault handling are firmware decisions with power-stage consequences.
What about compliance?
We design with EMC and thermal limits in mind and test in our own pre-compliance lab. Formal certification is done by an accredited body.
Related services
Motor Control
The control firmware that drives the power stage: field-oriented control, VFDs, and sensorless drives, developed alongside the inverter and gate drive by the same team, so hardware and software fit.
Electronics Design
Mixed-signal electronics design when the board is more than the power stage, from concept schematic to a manufacturable layout.
EMC Pre-Compliance Testing
Switching designs are the most common emissions source we find, and we test their behaviour in our own pre-compliance lab.
Discuss a power electronics project
Tell us the load, the constraints, and the problem.