POWER ELECTRONICS

7TH SEMESTER COURSE

B.E (ELECTRICAL)

NADEEM AHMED TUNIO

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
RECOMMENDED TEXT BOOKS

1) Power Electronics - circuits, devices &

applications by M H Rashid

2) Power Electronics by Dr P S Bhimra

Topic1: Introduction
 Course Objectives:
This course deals with the techniques of designing high current
electronic circuits using power semiconductor devices, like
Diodes, Transistors and Thyristors.
The subject covers:
Power semiconductor devices, their working, characteristics,
protection, and drive circuits.
Power electronic converters for controlled rectification,
inversion, dc-dc conversion, and ac-ac conversion, are covered.
Applications of power electronic equipment with emphasis on
dc and ac motor drives.
WHAT IS POWER ELECTRONICS ?
CONVERSION AND CONTROL OF ELECTRIC
POWER USING SEMICONDUCTOR ELECTRONIC
DEVICES AND RELATED CONTROL TECHNIQUES

Conversion: ac to dc ( rectification ), dc to ac ( inversion )

Control: To vary voltage, current, Hz, power etc

Note:
In Power Electronics applications, the devices operate in
switching (ON/OFF) mode only, rather than in the linear (active)
mode.

Topic1: Introduction
WHAT IS POWER ELECTRONIC
CONVERTER ?
Source
• An Equipment which Source
accepts electric power
from the existing source
(fixed V/Hz a.c, Battery
etc.) and converts it in a
controlled manner into a Converter
suitable form compatible Set
with the particular load.

Load
Prof A Rashid, PNEC/NUST
 WHAT IS POWER ELECTRONICS?
CONTD.

Power Input Power Output

Power Circuit
Source (Power Electronic Load
Converter)

A C Mains , Control Signals Motor

Battery,
etc
Controller Light
Ref Measurement
Heating
s
Electronic
E
Equipment
l
etc, eetc
Topic1: Introduction
POWER ELECTRONIC CONVERTERS

RECTIFIERS
(Controlled / Uncontrolled)

AC-AC AC DC
CONVERTERS DC-DC
●AC Voltage CONVERTERS
Controllers
(DC Choppers)
●Cycloconverters
●DC Link
Converters
AC DC

INVERTERS
Prof A Rashid, PNEC/NUST
POWER ELECTRONIC CONVERTERS

AC to DC: RECTIFIER AC Input DC Output

DC to DC: CHOPPER DC Input DC Output

DC to AC: INVERTER DC Input AC Output

AC to AC:
AC Input AC Output
CYCLOCONVERTER, AC
VOTAGE CONTROLLER
Prof A Rashid, PNEC/NUST
 The power electronic circuits can be classified
into six types

1) Diode rectifiers (uncontrolled rectifiers)

2) AC to DC converters (Controlled rectifiers)
3) AC to AC converters (AC voltage controllers)
4) DC to DC converters (DC choppers)
5) DC to AC converters (Inverters)
6) Static Switches
INTRODUCTION TO POWER ELECTRONICS
• Power electronics relates to the control and flow
of electrical energy
• Control is done using electronic switches,
capacitors, magnetics, and control systems
• Scope of power electronics: milliWatts ⇒ gigaWatts
• Power electronics is a growing field due to the
improvement in switching technologies and
the need for more and more efficient switching
circuits
 INTRODUCTION(CONTD.)
• It has been said that people do not use electricity, but
rather they use communication, light, mechanical
work, entertainment, and all the tangible benefits of
energy and electronics.
• In this sense, electrical engineering as a discipline is
much involved in energy conversion and
information.
• In the general world of electronics engineering, the
circuits engineers design and use are intended to
convert information.
 INTRODUCTION(CONTD.)
• What about the conversion and control of electrical energy
itself?The capabilities and flexibility of modern electronics
must be brought to bear to meet the challenges of reliable,
efficient energy.
• The branch of electronics involved to provide efficient
energy conversion for desirable usage is called Power
Electronics.
• This is the framework of power electronics, a discipline
defined in terms of electrical energy conversion,
applications, and electronic devices
 DEFINITION OF POWER ELECTRONICS
• Power electronics involves the study of electronic circuits
intended to control the flow of electrical energy. These
circuits handle power flow at levels much higher than the
individual device ratings.
• Power Electronics is used to change the characteristics
(voltage and current magnitude and/or frequency) of
electrical power to suit a particular application.
• Rectifiers are probably the most familiar examples of circuits
that meet this definition.
• Inverters (a general term for dc–ac converters) and dc–dc converters for power
supplies are also common applications
• Power Electronics represents a median point at
which the topics of energy systems, electronics,
and control converge are combine as shown in
figure.
• This figure shows how the electrical power
flow can be controlled from source to load as
desirable.
POWER ELECTRONICS BACKGROUNDS

• The first electronics revolution began in 1948 with the

invention of the silicon transistor at Bell Telephone
Laboratories by Bardeen, Bratain, and Schockley.
• Most of today’s advanced electronic technologies are
traceable to that invention, and modern
microelectronics has evolved over the years from
these silicon semiconductors.
 POWER ELECTRONICS
BACKGROUNDS(CONTD.)

• The second electronics revolution began with the

development of a commercial THYRISTOR by the
General Electric Company in 1958. That was the
beginning of a new era of power electronics.
• Since then, many different types of power
semiconductor devices and conversion techniques
have been introduced.
POWER ELECTRONICS BACKGROUNDS
• Power diodes (or rectifiers)
• Bipolar transistor – 1948
• Power BJT (bipolar junction transistor) - 1960
• Thyristor or SCR (Silicon controlled rectifier) -1957
• Power MOSFETs (Metal oxide semiconductor
• field effect transistor) - 1970
• IR 400V 25A power MOSFET 1978
• IGBT (insulated gate bipolar transistor) – 1990 –
(a hybrid between a MOSFET and a BJT)
SOME APPLICATIONS OF POWER
ELECTRONICS
Transportation

• – Electric/ Hybrid Electric Vehicles

• – Electric Locomotives

• – Electric Trucks, Buses, Construction

Vehicles, Golf Carts

Utilities

• – Line transformers

• – Generating systems

• – Grid interface for alternative energy resources (solar, wind, fuel cells,

etc.) and energy storage

• – FACTS

• – HVDC

• – Solid state transformer

• – Solid state fault current limiter

• – Solid state circuit breaker

SOME APPLICATIONS
• Industrial/ Commercial
OF POWER
ELECTRONICS
• Motor drive systems
• Pumps/ compressors
• Process control
• Factory automation
• Consumer Products
• Air conditioners/ Heat pumps
• Appliances
• Computers
• Lighting
• Telecommunications
• Uninterruptible power supplies
WHY POWER SEMICONDUCTOR
CONVERTERS?
1) High efficiency
2) Long Life
3) Low maintenance
4) Compact size
5) Low Cost
6) Fast response
7) Low power consumption in their
control circuits
DESIGN OF POWER ELECTRONICS EQUIPMENT
22

1) Design of power circuits( Devices,

their ratings and configuration)
2) Protection of power devices (Fuse,
Heat-Sink etc.)
3) Determination of control strategy
(Phase-angle control, ON-OFF control etc)
4) Design of logic and gating circuit.
GENERALIZED POWER CONVERTER
SYSTEM
23
PERIPHERAL EFFECTS
OF24POWER ELECTRONICS EQUIPMENT

1) Harmonic generation (Waveform Distortion)

To minimize, Filters and appropriate control
strategy is used.
2) Electromagnetic Interference
To minimize, mainly grounded shielding is
done
POWER SEMI CONDUCTOR DEVICES AND
THEIR CLASSIFICATION

• Group-I : includes uncontrolled power semi conductor devices such as

diodes. They are called un controlled devices because their ON and
OFF states are not dependent on the control signals, but on supply and
load circuit conditions.

• Group-II : Partially controlled , devices are triggered into conduction

by control signals but are turned off by supply. Devices include
thyristors such as line commutated SCR, force commutated SCR.
POWER SEMI CONDUCTOR DEVICES
AND THEIR CLASSIFICATION (CONT….)

• Group-III : these devices can be turned ON and OFF by control

signals.
1. Power BJTs
2. Power MOSFETs
3. Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBTs)
4. Gate turn Off thyristors (GTOs)
POWER SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES
• Two layer devices (Diode P-N).
• Three layer devices (TRANSISTOR P-N-P).
• Multilayer devices(THYRISTOR P-N-P-N).

Uni polar Devices: Operate predominantly on use of majority carriers , all transistors
based on the field effect fall into this category.
Bi polar Devices: Semiconductor device which operation is based on the use of both
majority and minority charges carriers. All p-n junction device fall into this category.
CONTROL CHARACTERISTICS OF POWER DEVICES

The power semiconductor switching devices can be classified on the basis of:
•1.Uncontrolled turn on and off (e.g., diode)
•2.Controlled turn on and uncontrolled turn off (e.g., SCR)
•3.Controlled turn on and off characteristics (e.g., BJT, MOSFET, GTO, SITH, IGBT, SIT, MCT)
•4.Continuous gate signal requirement (e.g., BJT, MOSFET, IGBT, SIT)
•5.Pulse gate requirement (e.g. SCR, GTO, MCT)
•6.Bipolar voltage-withstanding capability (SCR, GTO)
•7.Unipolar voltage-withstanding capability (BJT, MOSFET, GTO, IGBT, MCT)
•8.Bidirectional current capability (TRIAC, RCT)
•9.Unidirectional current capability (SCR, GTO, BJT, MOSFET, MCT, IGBT, SITH, SIT, diode)
DIODES, TRANSISTORS AND
THYRISTORS
COMPARISON OF TRANSISTORS & THYRISTORS

                                                                                                                               

                
CLASSIFICATION OF POWER SEMICONDUCTORS DEVICES
RATINGS
CHARACTERISTICS AND SYMBOLS OF SOME
POWER DEVICES (2/2)
IDEAL
1

•
CHARACTERISTICS
In the on-state when the switch is on, it must have the OF A SWITCH (….)
1.ability to carry a high (ideally infinite) forward current (IF),
•2.a low (ideally zero) on-state forward voltage drop Von,
•3.a low (ideally zero) on-state resistance Ron. Low Ron causes low on-state power loss.
2 In the off-state when the switch is off, it must have
•1.the ability to withstand a high (ideally infinite) reverse voltage VBR.
•2.a low (ideally zero) off-state leakage current IOFF.
•3.a high (ideally infinite) off-state resistance ROFF. High ROFF causes low off-state power loss.
3 During the turn-on or turn-off process, it must be completely turned on or off instantaneously to operate at
high frequencies. So it must have a low delay time, low rise time, low storage time, and a low fall time.
IDEAL CHARACTERISTICS OF A SWITCH
4 For turn-on or turn-off, it must require a low gate-drive power, a low gate drive voltage or a low
gate drive current.
5.Both turn-on and turn-off must be controllable. Thus it must turn on with a gate signal (i.e.,
positive) and must turn off with another gate signal (i.e, zero or negative)
6.High dv/dt, that is switch must be capable of handling rapid change of voltage across it.
7.High di/dt, that is switch must be capable of handling a rapid rise of current through it.
8.Low Thermal Resistance or High Thermal Conductivity
9.Negative Temperature coefficient
10.Low price.
CHARACTERISTICS OF PRACTICAL DEVICES

• Real devices, as we intuitively expect, do not have ideal characteristics and hence will
dissipate power when they are used in numerous applications.
• •If they dissipate too much power the device can fail and, in doing so, not only will
destroy themselves but also may damage other system components
LOSSES IN SWITCHING DEVICES

When a switch is turned on or off, energy is lost during the switching transients when operating
points of switch are changed from on (off) to off (on) states through an active state. This type of
energy losses is called switching loss of the power switch.

When a switch is off, normally a leakage current through the switch is very small and we ignore the
energy loss associated with off-state. But when the switch is on, the energy loss depends on current
through the switch and forward voltage of the switch. This type of energy loss is called conduction
loss of the switch.
LOSSES IN SWITCHING DEVICES
LOSSES IN SWITCHING DEVICES (CONT..)

•The
  average power loss in a switch over one switching cycle is given by the following
equation which consists of the conduction and switching losses:
=
Assuming that the on and off switching times are small compared to switching cycle
LOSSES IN SWITCHING DEVICES (CONT..)
•  

Where is the time when the switch is on- state, is a voltage drop across the switch and
is a current through the switch assuming it is constant in magnitude. We can define a
Duty Cycle (D) as a turn-on-ration with respect to switching cycle,
, thus
POWER DIODE

Diodes are the main building blocks of rectifier section of ac and dc converters.
The rectifier diode has a smaller voltage drop in the forward bias state and small
leakage current in the reverse bias state.
The forward bias characteristics of the power diode is approx linear, which means that
the voltage drop is proportional to the ohmic resistance and current.
VI CHARACTERISTICS OF DIODE
 TYPES OF POWER DIODES

a) General Power diodes: these diodes have relatively higher reverse times, of the order
of about 25µs.their current ratings vary from 1 A to several thousand amperes and the
range of voltage rating is from 50 V to about 5 KV. Applications of power diodes
are battery charging, UPS, WELDING & ELECTRIC TRACTION.
TYPES OF POWER DIODES

b) Fast-Recovery diodes: have low reverse recovery time of about 5 µs or less.

Used in chopper circuits, commutation circuits, switching mode power supplies,
induction heating.
Current rating vary from 1 A to several thousand amperes and voltage rating from 50 V
to about 3 KV
TYPES OF POWER DIODES

c) Schottky diodes: This class of diode use metal-to-semiconductor junction instead of

p-n junction.
Have fast recovery time as low and low forward voltage drop.
These diodes are ideal for low voltage and high current DC power supplies.
 Typical available range of ratings of power diodes
TYPE VOLTAGE, V CURRENT, A Trr, ns Forward Drop,
V
General 50-2400 6-6700 > 500 1.1-1.44
Purpose
Fast Recovery 50-4500 1-1000 <500 1.3-32

schottky 15-200 4-20 <10 0.3-0.99

 PRINCIPLE RATINGS FOR DIODES

Peak Inverse voltage (PIV)

Maximum reverse voltage that can be connected across a diode without breakdown. If
PIV rating is exceeded , the diode begin to conduct in the reverse direction and can
be immediately destroyed. It is also called Peak Reverse Voltage (PRV) or
breakdown voltage VBR.
 PRINCIPLE RATINGS FOR DIODES

Maximum Average Forward Current (If (avg)max): it is maximum current a diode can
safely handle when forward biased.
Reverse Recovery Time (Trr): a real diode does not instantaneously switch from a
conduction to a non conduction state, instead a reverse current flows for a time , and
the diode does not turn off until the reverse current decays to zero.
PRINCIPLE RATINGS FOR DIODES

Maximum Junction Temperature Tj (max)

Maximum junction temperature that a diode can withstand without failure. Diodes are
mounted on heat sink to improve their temperature rating.
Maximum Surge Current (IFSM)
Maximum current that the diode can handle as an occasional transient or from a circuit
fault.
DIODE REVERSE RECOVERY CHARACTERISTICS OF DIODE

After the forward biasing of the diode and then its forward current decays to zero, the diode
continues to conduct in the reverse direction because of the presence of stored charges in the two
layers. The reverse current flows for a time called reverse recovery time t rr. The diode regains its
blocking capability until reverse recovery current decays to zero.
The reverse recovery time trr is defined as the time between the instant forward diode current
becomes zero and the instant reverse recovery current decays to 25% of its reverse peak value I RM
as shown in Fig 2.3 (a)
[Reverse recovery characteristics (a) Variation of i f (b) Variation of vf (c) Power loss in a diode
 TRANSISTORS

Transistors have three terminals , two terminals act like switch contacts, while the third
is used to turn the switch ON and OFF. Thus the control circuit can be independent
of the circuit being controlled.
Transistors with high voltage and current ratings are known as “Power transistors” . In
power electronics transistors are invariably operated as switches and mainly used in
Chopper and Inverter applications.
VI CHARACTERISTICS OF TRANSISTOR
TRANSISTOR (BJT/MOSFET)

BJT is preferred in high-voltage applications where on state losses are to be minimized

at the expense of poor high frequency performance.

MOSFET are voltage controlled devices and preferred in high frequency applications,
where switching power loss is important . On state voltage drop of the power
MOSFET is higher than that of BJT of similar size and rating.
SYMBOL OF MOSFET
 TRANSISTOR (BJT/MOSFET)

Bipolar Junction Transistors (BJT) and Metal Oxide Field Effect Transistor (MOSFET)
are more commonly used in Power Electronics.

BJT: The switching speed is slower than MOSFET of similar size and rating. It is
current controlled device and large base current is required to keep the device in the
on state. For its fast turn off , higher reverse base current is required.
CHARACTERISTIC CURVE OF MOSFET
 TRANSISTORS (BJT/MOSFET)

MOSFET has positive temperature coefficient of resistance, which makes parallel

operation of MOSFET easy, if resistance rises, this causes the current to shift to other
devices connected in parallel.
BJT has negative temperature coefficient , so current sharing resistors are necessary
during parallel operation of BJTs.
INSULATED GATE BIPOLAR TRANSISTORS
(IGBTS)/MOSFETS

IGBTs combines the low on state voltage drop and high off state voltage characteristics
of the BJT with the excellent switching characteristic of MOSFET.
IGBTs are replacing MOSFET in high voltage applications where conduction losses
must be kept loss.
IGBTs are widely used in medium power applications such as dc and ac motors drives,
UPS systems, power supplies, drives for solenoid , relays and contactors.
INSULATED GATE BIPOLAR TRANSISTORS
(IGBTS)/MOSFETS
IGBTs are becoming popular because of lower gate drive requirements, lower
switching losses and smaller circuit requirements.
More efficient with less size as well as cost as compared to converters based on BJTs.

Operating frequency in PMOSFET is upto about 1MHZ, where it is 50 KHZ in IGBTs

SILICON CONTROLLED RECTIFIER (SCR)

The thyristor or silicon controlled rectifier (SCR) is a four layer p-n-p-n device which is solid
state equivalent of arc discharge devices like thyratrons and mercury arc valves. It has three
terminals- anode, cathode and gate. Like a diode it blocks current in the reverse direction, but
unlike a diode it also blocks current in the forward direction until a suitable gate pulse is applied
between gate and cathode
MOS CONTROLLED THYRISTORS (MCT)

It is basically a thyristor with two MOSFETs built into the gate structure, one MOSFET
is used for turning on the MCT and the other for turning OFF the device.
An MCT is a high frequency , high power , low conduction drop switching device.
In MCT anode is the reference with respect to which all gate signals are applied , in
conventional SCR ,cathode is the reference terminals for gate signal.
MOS CONTROLLED THYRISTORS (MCT)

An MCT has following merits:

• Low forward conduction losses
• Fast turn on and turn off times
• Low switching losses
• High gate input impedance , which allows simpler design of drive circuits
• MCT has low reverse voltage blocking capabilities
• Switching frequency is much inferior to IGBT.
REVERSE CONDUCTION THYRISTOR (RCT)

• In chopper and inverter, diode is connected in anti parallel (back to back) with the SCR.
This diode is called feedback diode. The RCT is a single packing in which both SCR diode
are present.
• Forward characteristics of RCT are same as that of an SCR. If the RCT is reverse biased,
the internal diode gets forward biased and it starts conducting. Therefore the reverse
characteristics of RCT are same as the forward characteristics of a diode.
• Also called as Asymmetrical Thyristor (ASCR), its forward blocking voltage varies from
400-200 v and current rating goes up to 500 A. Reverse blocking voltage typically lies in
the range 30-40 V.
 GATE TURN OFF (GTO) THYRISTOR
• A GTO thyristor is also a four layer three terminal device like a
conventional thyristor.
• It can be turned on by a single pulse of positive gate current but in addition
it an be turned off by a pulse of negative gate current.
• Both on-state and off-state operations of the device are therefore controlled
by the gate current.
• No extra commutation circuit is necessary for this fully controlled device.
GATE TURN OFF (GTO) THYRISTOR

• The GTO based inverter and chopper circuit will therefore be compact, cheap and
more efficient.
• GTO has faster switching speed when compared to conventional thyristors and have
higher power handling capacity than their counterparts such as power transistors,
thyristors or MOSFETs.
 TRIAC

• TRIAC is one of the widely used devices in power control applications.

• TRIAC is a bilateral device with three terminal MT1, MT2 and Gate G.
• TRIAC can be considered as an integration of two SCRs in anti parallel, that is its
operation is equivalent to two SCRs connected in anti parallel.
• TRIAC is used in many low-power applications. It is economical and easy to use, A
single TRIAC when compared to two SCRs connected anti parallel
TRIAC

Advantages:
Can be triggered with both +ve and –ve pulses
Can be replaced two SCRs connected in anti parallel.
It requires a single heat sink and a single fuse protection.
Disadvantages:
Has lesser voltage and current ratings as compared to SCRs.
Has longer turn-off time as compared to SCRs
LASCR

SCR used in HVDC transmission, the gate drive is provided by photon bombardment .
The gate is so designed that it has sufficient gate sensitivity for triggering from
practical light sources such as LED.
Whenever the SCR has to be turned on, the control circuit generates a pulse which
makes the LED conduct. The light output is coupled to the gate and SCR gets turned
on.
The voltage rating of a LASCR could be as high as 4 KV at 1500 A with light
triggering power of less than 100mw
COOLMOS

It is new technology for high voltage power MOSFET.

It has a lower on-state resistance for the same package compared with that of other
MOSFET.
The conduction losses are at least five times less compared with those of the
conventional MOSFET technology.
Power handling capacity is two to three times more that conventional MOSFET.
COOLMOS

The active chip area of COOLMOS is approximately five times smaller than that of
standard MOSFET.
Their application are upto 2KVA , such as for power supplies for workstations and
servers, UPS , high voltage converters for micro wave and medical systems,
induction ovens and welding equipment.
At switching frequencies about 100 KHZ , COOLMOS devices offer a superior current
handling capability
SILICON CARBIDE (SIC), NEW
SEMICONDUCTOR MATERIAL
•Silicon carbide is a semiconductor in research and early mass-production providing advantages for fast, high-temperature
and/or high-voltage devices.
•Power semiconductor devices made with SiC and GaN are capable of higher blocking voltages, higher switching frequencies,
and higher junction temperatures than silicon devices. 
•SiC is by far the most advanced material and, hence, is the subject of attention from power electronics and systems designers
•First devices available were Schottky diodes, followed by Junction-gate FETs and MOSFETs for high-power switching.
Bipolar transistors and thyristors are currently developed.[29]
•Conferences such as the International Conference on Integrated Power Electronics Systems (CIPS) report regularly about the
technological progress of SIC power devices.
•Gate drive: SiC devices often require gate drive voltage levels that are different from their silicon counterparts and may be even
unsymmetic, e.g. +20V and -5V.
•SiC chips may have a higher power density that silicon power devices and are able to handle higher temperatures exceeding
the silicon limit of 150°C.
SEMICONDUCTING MATERIALS

Though germanium diodes were the first ones fabricated, several factors make silicon the choice vs
germanium diodes. Silicon diodes have a greater ease of processing, lower cost, greater power
handling , less leakage and more stable temperature characteristics than germanium diodes.
Germanium diodes lower forward drop (.2V to .3V versus .7V to 1.0V) make them better at small
signal detection and rectification
• Mostly because of their cost but also because silicon transistor have faster switching properties and
are far more resistant to damage by heat. Silicon transistor also have a much wider operating band