Whether it be at home or at a very large industrial complex, space is always at a premium. We start out with a layout which has plenty of space for expansion but soon, and invariably, we start running out of space. There often is a need to replace a faulty piece of equipment, and commonly the new equipment will not fit into the available space.
Why can we not design equipment in small sizes? Engineers certainly try to, but every machine or drive equipment needs cooling proportional to the power it consumes or generates. Additonally, cooling efficiency depends largely on the physical size and layout—unless you ensure forced cooling with water or air. Water cooling, because of the high specific heat of water, is much more effective in carrying away large amounts of heat. That is a special characteristic of the Siemens GH180, water-cooled, cell based power drive. Water cooling permits GH180 to pack a much greater punch in a much tighter space. The new GH180 is nearly 20% smaller than the previous designs.
The smaller size of GH180 gives it a number of advantages over other devices with similar ratings and larger sizes.