PowerEl

ect
roni
csi
sthest
udyofswi
tchi
ngel
ect
roni
cci
rcui
tsi
nor
dert
ocont
rolt
hef
low of
el
ectr
icalenergy
.PowerEl
ectr
oni
csi
sthetechnol
ogybehi
ndswi
tchi
ngpowersuppl
i
es,
powerconv
ert
ers,
powerinvert
ers,mot
ordr
ives,
andmot
orsoftstar
ter
s.

Conv
ert
ersar
ecl
assi
fi
edbyt
her
elat
ionshi
pbet
weeni
nputandout
put
:
AC-
to-
DCConv
ert
er(
Rect
if
ier
s)
Theac-
dcconv erterproducesadcout putfrom anaci nput.Averagepoweri stransf
err
edf r
om anac
sour
cetoadcl oad.Theac- dcconvert
erisspecif
ical
l
ycl assi
fedasar
i ect
if
ier.Forexample,anac-
dc
conv
ert
erenablesi nt
egrat
edcircui
tstooperatef
rom a60- Hzacl i
nevolt
agebyconv er
ti
ngtheacsignal
toadcsignal
oft heappropri
atevol
tage.

DC-
to-
ACConv
ert
er(
Inv
ert
er)
Thedc-
acconver
terisspeci
fi
call
yclassi
fedasani
i nver
ter.I
nt heinver
ter
, av
eragepowerf
lowsfr
om the
dcsi
detotheacsi de.Examplesofinver
terappli
cat
ionsincludeproducinga120- Vrms60-Hzvol
tage
fr
om a12-
Vbat t
eryandi nt
erf
acinganal t
ernat
iveenergysour cesuchasanar r
ayofsol
arcell
stoan
el
ect
ri
cuti
l
ity
.

DC-
to-
DCConv
ert
er(
Chopper
)
Thedc-dcconvert
erisusef
ulwhenaloadrequi
resaspecif
ied(oft
enr
egul
ated)dcvol
tageorcurr
entbut
thesourcei
satadi f
fer
entorunr
egul
ateddcval
ue.Forexample,5Vmaybeobt ai
nedf
rom a12-Vsource
viaadc-dcconver
ter
.

AC-
to-
ACConv
ert
er(
Cycl
oconv
ert
er)
Theac-
acconvert
ermaybeusedtochangetheleveland/orf
requencyofanacsi
gnal
.Exampl
esi
ncl
ude
acommonlight
-di
mmercir
cui
tandspeedcontr
ol ofaninduct
ionmotor.

Appl
i
cat
ionsofPowerEl
ect
roni
csi
nVar
iousFi
elds

Aer
ospace
Spaceshuttl
epowersuppl
i
es
Satel
li
tepowersuppl
ies
Air
craftpowersy
stem

Commer
cial
Adver ti
sing,heat
ing,air-
condit
ioni
ngpowersuppl i
es,computer,of
fi
ceequi pment,elevator
s,l i
ght
dimmer ,uninterr
uptibl
epowersuppl i
es,andcent ralrefri
gerati
on.Bothinaerospaceandsat ell
i
tepower
suppli
esar eSwi tchModePowerSuppl y(SMPS)t ypepowersuppl y
.Her e,t
hepowersemi conduct or
switchislocatedi nbetweeni nputandout putsupplylines.Itact
sasast at
icswitch.Itcont
inuouslyt urns
onandof fthei nputpowerandt hustheconv ert
stheinputpoweri nt
orequi
redoutputpower .Suchki ndof
powersuppl ieshasmor eadv antagesthanconv enti
onall i
nearpowersuppli
es.Thecompar i
sonofSMPS
withli
nearPowersuppl yisdiscussedinsepar at
epost .

I
ndust
ri
al
ArcandIndustr
ialf
urnaces,bl
owersandfans,pumpsandcompr
essors,
indust
ri
all
aser
s,t
ransf
ormert
ap
changer
s,rol
li
ngmi l
ls,
texti
l
emi l
l
s,excav
ators,cementmi
l
ls,
wel
ding

Resi
dent
ial
Aircondit
ioni
ng,cooki
ng,l
i
ghti
ng,refr
iger
ators,el
ect
ri
c-dooropener
s,dr
yer
s,f
ans,per
sonalcomput
ers,
vacuum cl
eaners,washi
ngmachine,f
oodmi xers

Tel
ecommuni
cat
ion
Bat
ter
ychar
ger
s,powersuppl
i
es

Tr
anspor
tat
ion
Batt
erychar
gers,t
ract
ioncont
rolofel
ect
ri
cvehi
cl
es,el
ect
ri
clocomot
ives,st
reetcar
s,t
rol
l
eybuses,
subways,
automoti
veel
ectr
oni
cs.

Ut
il
it
ysy
stems
Highvol
tageDCTransmissi
on,Exci
tat
ionsystems,VARcompensat
ion,St
ati
cci
rcui
tbr
eaker
s,f
ansand
boil
erf
eedpumps,
supplementaryener
gysystems(sol
ar,
wind)

El
ect
ri
cDr
ives
Oneofthemaj orareaofapplicat
ionsofpowerel ectroni
csisthecont rolofel
ectricmotors.
Att hehigh-powerendar ev erylargemot orsf orindustri
alandt ract
ionapplicat
ions(wi
thpower
measur edi nmegawat ts)downt osmallel ectri
cmot orsi nconsumerel ect
roni
cequipment,eg.
Dr i
vemot orsintaperecorders,wher et
hepowermaybel essthanawat t
.
Acr ossthisrangethereisar equi
rementf oraccur at
econt rolofspeed,torqueandt heposi
ti
onof
thear mature.
Powerel ectroni
ccontrolcir
cui t
splayav i
talroleincontroll
ingthesemot ors.