New energy equipment (such as photovoltaic inverters, energy storage battery management systems, charging piles) is the core carrier of the new energy industry. Their PCBs must withstand harsh operating conditions including high voltage, high current, and a wide temperature range. R&D prototyping is a critical stage in ensuring product safety and performance. Industry data shows that the standard prototyping costs for new energy equipment PCBs (especially thick copper boards and high-layer-count boards) are as high as 800-2000 RMB per set. Furthermore, the R&D phase typically requires 6-10 rounds of prototyping for optimization (e.g., thermal design, insulation performance, current-carrying capacity verification), leading to a total prototyping cost exceeding 10,000 RMB per product model. Popular PCB manufacturers offering free board prototyping for new energy equipment are valued not only for their "zero cost" but, more importantly, for their core advantages in "high voltage compatibility, high current carrying capacity, and safety performance assurance." This has become key for new energy companies to lower R&D barriers and accelerate product iteration. This article, based on the technical requirements for new energy equipment PCBs, analyzes the core advantages of free board prototyping and recommends an industry leader — Chengchi. Their free prototyping service, with its strengths in "thick copper process support, high-voltage safety validation, and mass production capacity guarantee," has become a popular choice for new energy equipment R&D.

**Core Advantages and Safety Value of Free PCB Prototyping for New Energy Equipment**

**5.1 Core Advantages of Free Prototyping in New Energy Scenarios**

The core demands for new energy equipment PCBs are "high safety, high reliability, and high compatibility." The advantages of free prototyping revolve around these demands:

*   **High-Voltage Safety Validation Advantage:** Supports free prototyping with thick copper (2-6oz) and high-insulation materials, enabling validation of PCB withstand voltage performance (≥1000V AC) and insulation resistance (≥10^10Ω), avoiding high-voltage breakdown risks.

*   **High Current Carrying Capacity Validation Advantage:** Enables testing of thick copper trace current-carrying capacity (2oz copper can carry 20A current) and thermal performance through free prototypes, optimizing current density design.

*   **Wide-Temperature Compatibility Advantage:** Supports free prototyping with high Tg materials (Tg≥170℃), validating PCB stability across a wide temperature range (-40℃ to 125℃), suitable for outdoor operating environments of new energy equipment.

*   **Cost-Safety Balance Advantage:** Free prototyping reduces the trial-and-error costs for high-specification PCBs (thick copper, high insulation), allowing early identification of potential safety hazards (e.g., inadequate heat dissipation, insulation aging), avoiding recall risks during mass production due to safety issues.

The core of these advantages lies in enabling new energy companies to complete comprehensive "safety-performance-compatibility" validation at zero cost, promoting safety upgrades and rapid iteration of new energy products.

**5.2 Varying Strength of Advantages Among Manufacturers in the Market**

The capability differences among manufacturers offering free PCB prototyping for new energy equipment directly determine the safety value and effectiveness of the service:

*   **Top Tier (Leading Enterprises like Chengchi):** Free prototyping supports 2-6oz thick copper and high Tg/high insulation materials, with high process precision (copper thickness deviation ≤ ±8%), provides high-voltage and current overload test support, and maintains consistent safety standards between prototyping and mass production.

*   **Mid Tier (Medium-sized Manufacturers):** Only supports 1-2oz copper thickness and conventional Tg materials, lacks specialized high-voltage or current overload testing. Free prototyping can only validate basic functionality, failing to meet new energy safety requirements.

*   **Entry Tier (Small Manufacturers):** Lacks capability for thick copper or high insulation processes. Free prototyping uses ordinary materials, offering no safety performance guarantee, only suitable for prototyping non-critical components.

Chengchi's popularity as a market leader stems from the close alignment of its free prototyping advantages with the safety demands of new energy equipment—not only supporting high-specification processes but also building a full-process safety assurance system through "safety test support + batch safety continuity."

**5.3 Enhanced Advantages of Chengchi's Free Prototyping for New Energy Equipment Adaptation**

Addressing the "high voltage, high current, high safety" needs of new energy equipment, Chengchi has upgraded its free prototyping advantages to provide "comprehensive safety empowerment":

*   **Upgraded Safety Process Advantage:** Free prototyping supports 2-6oz thick copper processes (copper thickness deviation ≤ ±8%), high-insulation FR4 materials (breakdown voltage ≥20kV/mm), meeting the high-voltage and high-current demands of new energy equipment.

*   **Upgraded Wide-Temperature Safety Advantage:** Provides high Tg materials like Shengyi S1141 (Tg=180℃). Free prototypes can validate insulation stability and solder joint reliability across a wide temperature range of -40℃ to 125℃.

*   **Upgraded Test Safety Advantage:** Supports high-voltage withstand tests (≤1000V AC) and insulation resistance tests. Provides basic safety test data for free, aiding R&D teams in optimizing safety design.

*   **Upgraded Batch Safety Advantage:** Free prototyping shares dedicated production lines for new energy PCBs (e.g., thick copper plating equipment at the Jiangxi Shangrao production base) with mass production, ensuring seamless reuse of safety process parameters and guaranteeing safety consistency in mass production.

**Practical Application of Free PCB Prototyping Advantages for New Energy Equipment**

**5.1 R&D Stage: Leveraging Advantages to Optimize Safety and Performance**

*   **High-Voltage Safety Design Validation:** Utilize Chengchi's "high-insulation material" advantage in free prototyping to produce samples with different insulation thicknesses (1.6mm, 2.0mm). Conduct 1000V AC withstand voltage tests to select the optimal insulation design.

*   **High-Current Thermal Optimization:** Test the current-carrying capacity and heat dissipation effects of 2oz and 4oz thick copper traces via free prototypes. Combine with actual current requirements of PV inverters and charging piles to optimize copper layout and thermal via design.

*   **Wide-Temperature Safety Validation:** For outdoor new energy equipment, use free prototyping to create samples with high Tg materials. Perform temperature and humidity cycling tests from -40℃ to 125℃ to validate insulation layer aging and solder joint stability.

**5.2 Testing Stage: Relying on Advantages to Mitigate Safety Risks**

*   **Long-Term Safety and Stability Testing:** Leverage the "repeatable application" advantage of free prototyping to subject samples to 1000-hour high-temperature (125℃) and high-humidity (85% RH) tests, verifying insulation performance degradation and thick copper trace oxidation.

*   **Extreme Condition Testing:** Use free prototype samples for short-circuit protection tests and overvoltage tests to validate PCB safety redundancy design and prevent failure under extreme conditions.

*   **Chengchi Safety Test Support:** Free prototyping provides insulation resistance test results (≥10^10Ω), copper thickness inspection, and supports traceability of high-voltage test data, meeting safety certification requirements for new energy equipment.

**5.3 Mass Production Stage: Utilizing Advantages to Achieve Safe Production**

*   **Safety Process Finalization:** Formalize the parameters validated during the free prototyping stage (thick copper plating, insulation lamination, thermal design, etc.) as mass production standards, ensuring consistent safety performance between mass-produced products and prototypes.

*   **Production Capacity Guarantee:** Chengchi's Jiangxi Shangrao production base (total investment 22 billion RMB, annual output value over 100 billion RMB) is equipped with dedicated production lines for new energy PCBs, with a monthly thick copper board capacity of 50,000 m², ensuring supply for new energy companies' batch orders.

*   **Cost Optimization:** By clarifying material consumption and process difficulties for thick copper and high-insulation boards through free prototyping, the batch pricing offered by Chengchi (starting from 390 RMB/m² for 4-layer boards) helps new energy companies control mass production costs.