Electric Power Products
Barber-Nichols Inc. (BNI) is a turnkey supplier for custom electric power products including motors, alternators, generators, power electronics, converters, control electronics, and circuit boards in prototype to production quantities. BNI designs, manufactures, and tests custom power converters for use with permanent magnet and switched reluctance motors/alternators. When a motor/alternator's operating speed or electrical frequency exceeds the limits of utility grade variable frequency drives (VFD), BNI will design and build a custom electronics package tailored to your project's requirements. As a part of the custom electronics design, additional Input/Output (I/O) can be implemented for an integrated solution
Custom Motors & Alternators/Generators
Barber-Nichols designs and 
manufactures permanent magnet and switched reluctance motors and alternators for demanding applications. BNI often works on projects where a motor's form factor, efficiency requirement, or speed capability must exceed what is commonly available from standard manufacturers. In these cases, BNI uses Motorsoft SPEED® to design custom motors and alternators which can range in power from fractional Watts to 375 kW and speeds up to 400,000 rpm.
Available Products Include:
- Rare Earth Magnet Motors & Alternators Using Samarium Cobalt & Neodymium-Iron-Boron Magnets
- Switched Reluctance Motors & Generators
- Harsh/Unusual Environment Motors & Generators (Cryogenic to High Temperature)
Power Electronics & Converters
Barber-Nichols has in-house capability to design, manufacture and test custom power 
converters. BNI often works on projects where turbine form factor, efficiency, or power would be limited if the operating speeds were constrained to those available using “off-the-shelf” VFDs. In order to overcome these limitations BNI offers a full range of electrical design services which can allow for the design of fully integrated turbine/alternator/inverter systems.
With the introduction of these electrical capabilities BNI can now offer a completely “turn-key” solution for all of your turbine and high speed motor/alternator needs. Power converter designs can range from 100s of watts to 100s of kilowatts.
Available Products Include:
- DC/AC Power Converters for Use With High-Speed Motors & Utility Interface Inverters
- AC/DC Power Converters for Use With Power Production Systems
- DC/DC Power Converters for Use With Power Conditioning Applications
- Passive Diode Rectifier Front-Ends
- SCR Phase Control Front-Ends
- IGBT Active Rectifier Front-Ends
Control Electronics & Circuit Boards
In order to satisfy customer requirements for system operation and/or packaging form factor Barber-Nichols 
offers custom circuit board design, fabrication, and testing. Circuit board designs range from two-layer, high-weight power boards to multi-layer, high-density control boards. In these designs, BNI uses Altium Designer® for integrated CAD schematic capture and circuit board layout.
Available Products Include:
- Custom Controller Design to Provide Real-Time Control of all Converters & Interface to Customer Equipment
- Analog & Digital Circuit Simulation for Design Verification
- Custom Circuit Board Design to Provide Integration into Even the Most Volume Sensitive Systems
Please contact Barber-Nichols any time to talk with our experienced engineering staff regarding your Custom Electric Power requirements.