With best-in-class power converters and variable-frequency drives (VFDs), you can optimize efficiency for any electric or motor technology. Pioneers of VFDs since 1968, we enhance business operations for a wide range of industries, OEMs, and system integrators.Our goal is your success: At Danfoss Drives we have more than 4,700 experts working towards one goal: to drive the world – and your business – forward. Whether you need to improve uptime in your production facility or minimize how much energy you use. Everything is possible – if you work with a partner who knows you and your industry inside out. A partner more than capable of directing your business down a smarter, more sustainable path.
Innovative technologies and services from Danfoss open new opportunities to reach your climate targets. You don’t have to imagine a world where industrial progress is aligned with environmental responsibility. It's here. Our innovative technologies and services open new pathways to help you reach your targets.
Danfoss know-how and technology open the way to the best solution design for any electrification task. Welcome the era of electrification, fueling progress with energy that benefits people and the planet. Enlist support from Danfoss to fuel progress with open technology and clean energy alternatives that are also competitive.
With variable speed control we open new opportunities in energy efficiency and decarbonization.Energy efficiency and decarbonization are achievable with precise speed control. Danfoss VFDs are the key to unlocking optimal performance while reducing energy consumption by up to 80%.
Energy-efficient and time-saving technologies continuously open productivity up to higher levels.Productivity and energy efficiency can be the best of friends if we let them. At Danfoss Drives, our high-performance, energy-saving technology elevates your productivity to the next level.
Integrated intelligence, digital tools, and simulation open pathways to unparalleled control of systems. Together, we can open the potential of digitalization, connecting data and technology to protect the environment. Unparalleled control of systems gives you increased uptime, more energy efficiency, and operating cost savings.
New motor? There’s no need to change out the variable speed drive (VFD). Your Danfoss VFD optimizes any motor technology, effortlessly and for decades to come. Connect the motor and your VFD will automatically self-tune and optimize IM, PM, SynRM, or any motor of your choice. This allows you to match the variable frequency drive to your specific application and to ensure you get the best mix of efficiency, speed and torque.
Innovative power converters from Danfoss drive efficiency, reliability, and grid compliance wherever power flows: from fast charging and energy storage to shore supply, hydrogen electrolysis, and beyond.
Stay connected and in control with advanced communication options. VFDs and power converters from Danfoss provide the connectivity you need to enhance productivity and real-time responsiveness.
Use cloud-free artificial intelligence already integrated in your VFDs, for early detection and notification of maintenance needs. Integrated intelligence allows you to make near real-time decisions.
At Danfoss Drives, our leading-edge technology safeguards the environment and opens the route to competitive solutions. We partner with you, sharing our application know-how and engineering expertise to support your business growth. Our solutions for superior motor control and electrification through highly efficient power conversion pave the way for enhanced energy efficiency and productivity. Through digitalization and integrated intelligence, our drives, power converters, and services save energy, maximize performance, and minimize emissions to support you in meeting your climate targets. We share knowledge to elevate your business.
A variable frequency drive (VFD) is a device used to control the speed of an electric motor in order to:
What is a VFD?
Your operation runs on a complex system that consists of many dynamic parts, meaning it requires a great level of control to operate smoothly: whether that comes in the form of motion control, motor speed control, servo motion control or otherwise. And so, the right variable frequency drives (VFDs), bring greater intelligence and efficiency to your operations for an overall better performance. Using VFDs, you can maximize system uptime, extend motor lifetime, and reduce energy consumption by up to 80%.
Learn more about VFDs
Explore the world’s broadest portfolio of variable frequency drives
Reduce energy consumption by up to 80%. By working with different voltages and frequencies, variable speed drives can control the speed of electric motors to align with load demand – instead of running at full speed at all times. By matching motor speed precisely to demand, it’s possible to enhance process control, reduce energy usage and optimize the performance of motor control applications.
Today you can find a wide range of VFDs, with single-phase and three-phase varieties in particular having evolved to suit a number of applications. Drives also differ when it comes to the methods used to control frequency and voltage, with some relying on harmonic mitigation technology to function. Explore the range
Increasingly, energy storage is being used to create hybrid solutions such as DC/DC converters, which help improve performance by optimizing energy. Although there are various energy storage methods available, decreasing battery costs and increasing energy density have made battery utilization the fastest growing and most easily integrated storage medium available today. With a DC/DC converter you can connect to a wealth of sources including batteries, super capacitors, fuel cells, solar panels and the like.
Where can you get help anytime, anywhere, to troubleshoot your Danfoss drive or power converter? When you need information quickly, ask MyDrive® Assistant for fast, AI-guided troubleshooting. Ask MyDrive® Assistant
Visit the Drives expert hub to browse a wealth of information about all the ways in which VFDs and power converters can optimize your operations. Here you can read more about cybersecurity, energy efficiency, condition monitoring. harmonic mitigation, and more.Or, explore our many case stories to learn about real-life installations equipped with VFDs and power converters.
A VFD is a type of motor controller that drives an electric motor by varying the frequency and voltage supplied to the electric motor. It also has the capacity to control the ramp-up and ramp-down of the motor during start and stop, respectively.
A soft starter is a solid-state device and type of motor controller that only provides a gentle ramp-up to full speed during the startup of an electric motor.
An across-the-line contactor is a type of motor controller that applies the full line voltage to an electric motor.
Power is the rate of doing work, which is the amount of energy transferred in a given timeframe. Because the energy requirement for the driven equipment (pump, fan, compressor or any other mechanical movement) in a motor-drive system (MDS) typically varies over the operating period, supplying more than the power needed will result in wasted energy or inefficient use of energy. A VFD has the ability to vary the power supplied to match the energy requirement of the driven equipment, and this is how it saves energy or optimizes energy consumption.
The ability of a VFD to gradually ramp the motor up to speed will reduce peak current drawn during startup, which delivers two main benefits to users:
Protection from peak-demand electricity prices that the utility charges to companies for exceeding preset limits
Protection of the motor equipment against premature damage due to exceedingly high peak currents exposure during startup
In addition, today’s VFDs integrate networking and diagnostic capabilities to better control performance and increase productivity. So, energy savings, intelligent motor control and reduction of peak-current drawn are three great reasons to choose an variable frequency drive as the controller in every MDS.
Installing a VFD as a motor controller in an motor-drive system can often increase the system efficiency by up to 30%. The average payback period varies but rarely exceeds 3 to 4 years, making such an investment a highly cost-effective measure with a good return on investment (ROI).
The PWM technique requires switching the VFD's inverter power devices – transistors or insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) – on and off many times in order to generate the proper root-mean-square (RMS) voltage levels. Controlling and varying the width of the pulses is how PWM varies the output frequency and voltage.
The three major variable frequency designs used today are PWM, current source inverter and voltage source inverter. The PWM technique is the most common.
Generally, for industrial facilities, the measured value of total harmonic distortion at any point of common coupling (PCC) should not exceed 5%. Based on this, the recommended correction methods are an active front-end drive, a low harmonic VFD with an active filter and an 18-pulse drive. Learn more about harmonics and efficient harmonic mitigation