Power Electronics (An Introduction)

It is branch of Electrical Engineering in which the main focus is to process electrical energy using electronic devices.[1] In more broader concept, we can say that the task of Power Electronics is to process and control the flow of electric energy by applying the voltages and currents to the devices which are optimal to the user loads.[2]


In recent few years the field of Power Electronics had made a remarkable growth and provided the world a new and better solutions to ease the man kind. It helped the Engineers to develop high efficiency electrical devices which perform there task more conveniently and effectively without causing power loss in them.
The main and key element of power electronics is the switching converter. The following block diagram shows the power electronics interface.[2]

This converter is actually a switching converter. The above block diagram depicts that the power electronics interface has input port connected to source and output port connected to some load to be driven. The master mind of the converter is the controller which actually controls the power flow and converts the raw power available at input to the desired power to be delivered at the output. These converters assure as high energy efficiency and high power density as possible.
These converters are of different types based on there input and output power types.

Switching Converters Type:

There are four major types of Switching converters.

1. DC-DC Converters (Converters)
2. DC-AC Converters (Inverters)
3. AC-DC Converters (Rectifiers)
4. AC-AC Converters (Cyclo-Converters)

These converter are the core of the power electronics and have a large number of topologies and types available for specific applications and for general use.  

Devices and Components

In Power electronics many electronic devices and components are used. Those are;

1. Diodes (Simple Schokley Diode, LED, Schottky Diode, Zener Diode)
2. Transistors (MOSFETs, BJTs, IGBTs)
3. Drivers and Isolators
4. Couplers
5. Transformers
6. Passive Elements (Resistors, Capacitors, Inductors)
7. Microcontrollers
8. and much more

 These devices come in a large variety with different specifications. The required device can be selected according to the given condition.

Software and Simulators

The Power Electronics circuits can be built and simulated in many softwares and simulators available. Some of the well known are;

1. MATLAB and Simulink (Simpowersystem)
2. Proteus Professional 
3. PLECS (Simulation Software for Power Electronics)
4. Lab-View by National Instruments
5. Microsim Pspice 

There are also many other software which are used for behavior level simulations but the best among them is Simulink.

Acknowledgement:

 The help is taken from;
[1] Fundamental of Power Electronics by Dr. Robert W. Erickson
[2] Power Electonics Converters, Applications and Design by Ned Mohan, T.M. Undeland, W.P.Robbins

This is the brief introduction about Power Electronics.
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