Semiconductor Devices for Power

Electronics
PRELIM PERIOD
• For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that
whosoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life.
John 3:16

2/9/2019 2
Power Electronics

2/9/2019 3
Introduction

Power electronics is solely concerned with the processing of electric

energy. Its focus is on conversion, efficiency of conversion and control of
energy.
The objective of power electronics is to improve the quality and
utilization of electric power. The power electronics deals with the interfacing
of different technologies that need intelligent control and conversion
techniques.
The application of power electronics are ranges in mill watts (wireless
communication) to megawatts in high voltage dc transmission systems and
huge industrial motor drives.

2/9/2019 4
Converter Classification

Power electronics converters may be classified into four categories on the

basis of the type of the source and type of desired output characteristics:
1. DC to AC Converter
2. AC to DC Converter
3. DC to DC Converter
4. AC to AC Converter

2/9/2019 5
Power Electronics Concepts

Figure 1-4 Asimple voltage divider for

creating 3 V from a 9-V source.

2/9/2019 6
Electronic Switches

An electronic switch is characterized by having the two states on and off,

ideally being either a short circuit or an open circuit. Applications using switching
devices are desirable because of the relatively small power loss in the device.
Diode. A diode is the simplest electronic switch. It is uncontrollable in that
the on and off conditions are determined by voltages and currents in the circuit.
Thyristors. Thyristors are electronic switches used in some power
electronic circuits where control of switch turn-on is required.
Transistors. Transistors are operated as switches in power electronics
circuits. Transistor drive circuits are designed to have the transistor either in the
fully on or fully off state.

2/9/2019 7
Switch Selection

• The selection of a power device for a particular application depends not only
on the required voltage and current levels but also on its switching
characteristics.
• Switching speeds and the associated power losses are very important in
power electronics circuits.
• When selecting a suitable switching device, the first consideration is the
required operating point and turn-on and turnoff characteristics.

2/9/2019 8
Example
• The circuit of Fig.(a) has two switches.
Switch S1 is on and connects the voltage
source (Vs = 24 V) to the current source (Io
= 2 A). It is desired to open switch S1 to
disconnect Vs from the current source. This
requires that a second switch S2 close to
provide a path for current Io, as in Fig.(b).
At a later time, S1 must reclose and S2
must open to restore the circuit to its
original condition. The cycle is to repeat at
a frequency of 200 kHz. Determine the type
of device required for each switch and the
maximum voltage and current requirements
of each.

2/9/2019 9
Solution

2/9/2019 10
Power Computations

2/9/2019 11
Power and Energy

Instantaneous Power
p(t)=v(t)i(t)

p(t) < 0 indicates p(t) > 0 indicates

power is being power is being
absorbed supplied by the
source.

2/9/2019 12
Power and Energy

Energy
Energy, or work, is the integral of instantaneous power. Observing the
passive sign convention, energy absorbed by a component in the time
interval from t1 to t2 is

If v(t) is in volts and i(t) is in amperes, power has units of watts and energy
has units of joules.

2/9/2019 13
Power and Energy

Average Power
Average power is the time average of p(t) one period or more periods. Also
know as active power or real power.

Average power is sometimes called real power or active power, especially in

ac circuits. The term power usually means average power. The total average
power absorbed in a circuit equals the total average power supplied.

2/9/2019 14
 Example
Voltage and current, consistent with
the passive sign convention, for a
device are shown in Fig(a), (b), and
(c).
(a) Determine the instantaneous
power p(t) absorbed by the
device.
(b) Determine the energy absorbed
by the device in one period.
(c) Determine the average power
absorbed by the device.
2/9/2019 15
Solution

(a) The instantaneous power is Instantaneous power, shown in Fig.

computed from the given equation. (c), is the product of voltage and
The voltage and current are current and is expressed as
expressed as

2/9/2019 16
Solution

(b)

(c)

2/9/2019 17
Inductors and Capacitors

• For an inductor, the stored energy is

• If the inductor current is periodic, the stored energy at the end of one
period is the same as at the beginning. No net energy transfer indicates that
the average power absorbed by an inductor is zero for steady-state periodic
operation.

2/9/2019 18
 Inductors and Capacitors

• Furthermore, from the voltage-current relationship for the inductor

2/9/2019 19
 Inductors and Capacitors

• For a capacitor, stored energy is

• If the capacitor voltage is periodic, the stored energy is the same at the end of
a period as at the beginning. Therefore, the average power absorbed by the
capacitor is zero for steady-state periodic operation.

2/9/2019 20
 Inductors and Capacitors

• From the voltage-current relationship for the capacitor,

2/9/2019 21
Example

• The current in a 5-mH

inductor of Fig.(a) is the
periodic triangular wave
shown in Fig.(b).
Determine the voltage,
instantaneous power, and
average power for the
inductor.

2/9/2019 22
Solution

• The voltage across the inductor is

computed from v(t)=L(di/dt) and
is shown in Fig.(c).
• The average inductor voltage is
zero as can be determined from
Fig.(c) by inspection.

2/9/2019 23
Solution

• The instantaneous power in the

inductor is determined from
p(t)=v(t)i(t) and is shown in Fig.(d)
• When p(t) is positive, the inductor
is absorbing power, and when p(t)
is negative, the inductor is
supplying power. The average
inductor power is zero.

2/9/2019 24
Energy Recovery

• Inductors and capacitors must be energized and deenergized in several

applications of power electronics

2/9/2019 25
Energy Recovery

Transistor on: 0 > t > t1

2/9/2019 26
Energy Recovery

Transistor off: t1 > t > T

2/9/2019 27
Energy Recovery

2/9/2019 28
Example

The circuit of Fig. (a) has VCC = 90 V, L = 200 mH, R = 20Ω, t1

= 10 ms, and T = 100 ms. Determine
(a) the peak current and peak energy storage in the inductor,
(b) the average power absorbed by the resistor, and
(c) the peak and average power supplied by the source.

2/9/2019 29
Solution

2/9/2019 30
Solution

2/9/2019 31
Effective Values: RMS

• The effective value of a voltage or current is also known as the root-mean-

square (rms) value.
• The effective value of a periodic voltage waveform is based on the average
power delivered to a resistor.
• For a periodic voltage across a resistor, effective voltage is defined as the
voltage that is as effective as the dc voltage in supplying average power

dc voltage across a resistor

2/9/2019 32
Effective Values: RMS
Computing average resistor power

Equating the expressions for average power

resulting in the expression for effective or rms voltage; rms current developed from P = I2rms as

2/9/2019 33
Example

Determine the rms value of the periodic pulse waveform that has a duty ratio
of D as shown:

2/9/2019 34
Solution

2/9/2019 35
La Sallian Prayer

“I will continue, O my God,

to do all my actions for the love of Thee.”
St. John Baptist de La Salle, pray for us.
Live Jesus in our hearts, forever.

2/9/2019 36