CUSTOMER STORY: CAREL INDUSTRIES

POWER ELECTRONICS AND CONTROL FOR HIGH-POWER HVAC SYSTEMS

How CAREL INDUSTRIES and Prima Electro jointly developed integrated solutions for medium- to high-power Rooftop and Chiller applications, now also deployed in the US market.

CAREL is an Italian multinational company specializing in the development of hardware and software solutions for HVAC/R system control, with a strong focus on energy efficiency and sustainability.
The company operates globally, supporting OEMs and system integrators across commercial, industrial and residential applications through advanced control platforms, humidification systems and interconnected digital solutions. With strong technological expertise and a continuous focus on innovation, CAREL is a leading partner in the development of integrated and IoT solutions for high-performance HVAC applications.
 

A partnership built on complementary expertise

The collaboration between CAREL and Prima Electro was established to bring together highly specialized expertise in two distinct yet complementary fields: application control and power electronics.

“The partnership with Prima Electro is based on a joint development approach, with clearly defined roles and continuous coordination between the two companies. In this context, innovation comes from the exchange and collaboration between different areas of expertise,” said Marco Marzari, Inverter Product Manager at CAREL.

The project was built around a clearly defined system architecture: CAREL retained ownership and development of the control logic, while Prima Electro was responsible for developing the power electronics system. The project followed a co-design approach, with close collaboration between the technical teams of both companies. Prima Electro’s experience in power electronics design enabled CAREL to extend its inverter portfolio towards higher power ratings by redesigning the power stage while preserving, wherever possible, the architecture already developed by CAREL.
 

This approach made it possible to retain existing elements of the CAREL system – including the control board and auxiliary power supplies – while developing a new power stage designed to interface with the existing electrical and functional architecture. This design strategy preserved the value of CAREL’s existing technology while introducing the specialist expertise required to address higher-power applications.
 

The developed solution

As part of the project, Prima Electro developed a power electronics system based on CAREL’s Power+ drive family, designed to control compressors equipped with brushless permanent-magnet motors.

The system was designed for high-power HVAC/R applications, providing:

• precise compressor speed control;
• optimized start-up management and programmable compressor dynamics; 
• integrated, certified compressor protection logic;
• high mechanical configurability; 
• high energy efficiency. 

Design flexibility was one of the key elements of the development process.

In addition to adapting the electronics to CAREL’s existing interfaces and subsystems, Prima Electro developed different mechanical and cooling configurations, including air-cooled, liquid-cooled and uncovered (“naked”) versions, to meet the integration requirements of different end applications.
“The key value of this project was our ability to integrate our power electronics expertise into an established architecture without redesigning the entire system from scratch. We adapted the power stage to CAREL’s existing interfaces and subsystems, while also developing different mechanical configurations to meet the requirements of different applications. It is a concrete example of our co-design approach: developing custom electronics around not only the customer’s specifications, but also their existing system,” explains Remo Miligorini, VP R&D at  Prima Electro.

From an architectural perspective, the CAREL solution, based on the pCO platform, manages the unit’s thermodynamic control logic, while the power drive developed by Prima Electro controls the compressor via Modbus serial communication.
“At the heart of the control system is CAREL’s pCO technology, which enables advanced algorithms for energy load management. Thanks to its high computing capability and native integration with high-efficiency devices, the platform helps minimize environmental impact while maintaining optimal thermal performance,” explains Marzari.

This architecture provides effective functional separation while maintaining a high level of integration between the two components.
CAREL’s product portfolio is used across key HVAC/R applications where efficiency through load modulation plays a primary role, from heat pumps and refrigerated display cases to large air handling units. In particular, the solution is now widely used in medium- to high-power Rooftop and Chiller units with cooling capacities above 50 kW. 
In this context, the growing adoption of high-efficiency permanent-magnet compressors, combined with increasing integration between control systems and power electronics, enables dynamic cooling capacity modulation, improving overall system performance and optimizing energy consumption. 
 

From co-design to industrialization

The collaboration between CAREL and Prima Electro extended beyond the design phase. The teams worked together throughout development, certification and industrialization, including the selection of common suppliers to optimize the supply chain and production costs while maintaining the required quality standards.

 

An Italian partnership with an international reach

Two Italian companies, complementary areas of expertise, and a solution now deployed in a highly competitive market such as the United States.
“Over the past five years, the US market has shown a strong and growing preference for solutions that improve system efficiency by using dedicated devices. This trend confirms the relevance of advanced technologies capable of optimizing performance and energy consumption, even in highly competitive environments,” said Marco Marzari, Inverter Product Manager at CAREL.

The combination of specialist know-how, design flexibility and engineering quality has enabled the solution to meet international requirements, creating new opportunities for further joint development.