This brief identifies key features of the V20 Siemens motor drive. It is application-focused and quickly introduces an engineer to the essential attributes without opening the manual.
Selection Summary
- The Siemens SINAMICS V20 is biased toward stand-alone motor control using discrete or analog control.
- While the V20 does have MODBUS control, it lacks the full-featured PROFIsafe interface of a drive such as the G120.
- The V20 is low cost compared to similarly rated Siemens VFDs. You can compare pricing across VFD families at DigiKey.
- The V20 does not incorporate Safety Integrity Level (SIL) or Required Performance Level (PL) functionality. Add machine guarding or additional safety features as identified by a safety audit.
This article is part of the DigiKey Field Guide for Industrial Automation
Location: Select It → Motor Drives
Difficulty: 
Engineer — difficulty levels explained
Author: Aaron Dahlen | MSEE | Senior Applications Engineer, DigiKey
Last update: 06 Jun 2026
Figure 1: Siemens V20 6SL32105BB215UV1 drive.
The Siemens V20 is designed for “simple motion sequences” with sizes ranging from 0.16 to 40 hp. The typical applications for the V20 are shown in the Figure 2 connection macros.
This is not a typical chart, because each macro binds internal drive configuration to the physical wiring guide of the drive. We see this clearly in the column headers of Figure 2, which correspond to the physical wiring in Figure 3.
Example Control Modes
Here are a few examples:
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Factory default, Cn 001: The drive is controlled via the front panel or the optional Basic Operator Panel (BOP). There are no connections to the I/O. Note that the BOP interface is required for remote mounting of the BOP.
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Local variable speed with jog, Cn 002: The drive is controlled via four mechanisms including a potentiometer as well as switches for activation, direction, and jog.
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Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) control, Cn 008: The setpoint command is monitored by analog input 1 and the feedback is monitored on analog input 2. Note that a 10 VDC excitation voltage is available on terminal 1.
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Remote control via MODBUS RS-485 or MODBUS RTU, Cn 010 and Cn 011: The unit is controlled via a MODBUS network physically connected to the P+ and N- terminals.
Figure 2: Macro options for the V20.
Figure 3: Representative wiring diagram for the V20.
Tech Tip: An AC shield kit may be used for EMI reduction of the drive to motor cables (Figure 4). An example is this kit matched to the type AC frame size for the drive pictured in Figure 1.
Figure 4: Cable shield kit.
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About This Author
Aaron Dahlen, LCDR USCG (Ret.), is a Senior Applications Engineer at DigiKey in Thief River Falls. His background in electronics and industrial automation was shaped by a 27-year military career as both technician and engineer, followed by over a decade of teaching.
Dahlen holds an MSEE from Minnesota State University, Mankato. He has taught in an ABET-accredited electrical engineering program, served as coordinator of an electronic engineering technology program, and instructed military technicians in component-level repair.
Today, he has returned to his home in northern Minnesota, completing a decades-long journey that began with a search for capacitors. Read his story here.