What Are Power Electronics?
What Are Power Electronics?
Power electronics is an exciting area of research that involves converting electricity into other forms of energy. This includes using electricity to generate heat, light, motion, sound, and even magnetic fields.
These devices could be used for powering cars, homes, and even spacecraft.
It is a field of study that involves the design and application of semiconductor devices used to convert direct current (DC) electricity into alternating current (AC). This process is known as DC/AC conversion.
What is Power Electronics exactly?
It is a broad term that refers to any system that converts electrical power into another form, such as mechanical motion, heat, light, or sound. These systems are often used to convert alternating current (AC) electricity into direct current (DC), which is needed by devices that use batteries or other storage mechanisms. (Wikipedia definition)
Power electronics encompasses several different areas of study. It includes the following subfields:
- Power semiconductors
- Power converters
- Power transmission
- Power distribution
- Power generation
- Power storage
- Power conditioning
The Basics of Power Electronics
It is a broad term that encompasses a wide variety of different technologies. It is also a very active area of research that has applications in many industries.
A typical electronic circuit consists of an AC source, a rectifier, a filter capacitor, and a load. The output voltage of the rectifier is regulated by controlling its duty cycle.
Types
There are two main categories of power electronics: AC/DC converters and DC/AC inverters. Both convert between alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC). Converters use inductors, capacitors, and transformers to perform these conversions. Inverters do not require any external devices; instead, they take an input voltage and output a new one.
Applications
Power electronics has applications in many industries, such as automotive, aerospace, telecommunications, and medical equipment. It also plays a role in renewable energy sources, such as wind turbines and solar panels.
Read more about the research and development we are conducting.