INTRODUCTION TO POWER

ELECTRONICS
 Power Electronics
Definition:

• It involves the study of electronic circuits intended to

control the flow of electrical energy. The circuits handle
power flow at levels much higher than the individual
device ratings. (M.H.Rashid, Hand Book…P#1)
OR

• It is defined as to control &convert electrical power by

the application of converter topologies incorporating the
matrix of switching devices under the guidance of control
electronics.
 History of Power Electronics
• It began with the introduction of mercury arc
rectifier in 1900
• Then metal tank rectifier, grid controlled
vacuum tube rectifier, ignitron, phanotron
&thyratron were introduced gradually and these
devices were applied for power control until
1950s
• The first electronics revolution began in 1948
with the invention of silicon transistor at Bell
Telephone Laboratories
 History
• PNPN triggering transistor, which was letter called as
a thyristor or silicon controlled rectifier, was invented
by Bell Telephone Laboratories in 1956

• The second electronics revolution began with the

development of the commercial thyristor by the
General Electric Company & thus the new era of
Power Electronics began.

• Since then, many different types of semiconductor

devices and conversion techniques have been
introduced.
Power Electronics as a Multi-
Disciplinary Technology
Recent Advances in Power Electronics
 Four generations of Solid-State
Power- Electronics
First generation (1958-1975) (Thyristor Era)
• Diode
• Thyristor
• TRIAC(Triode for Alternating Current)

Second Generation (1975-1985)

• Power BJT
• Power MOSFET
• GTO(Gate turn-off thyristor)
• Microprocessor
• ASIC(Application-specific integrated Circuits)
• PIC(Programmable Integrated Circuits)
 Third Generation
Third generation (1985-1995)
• IGBT(Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor)
• SIT(Static Induction Transistor)
• SITH(Static Induction Thyristor)
• MCT(MOS control Transistor)
• IPM (intelligent Power Module)
 Fourth Generation
• Fourth Generation (1995-)
• IGCT(Integrated gate commutated Thyristors )
• Cool MOS
• PEBB (Power Electronics Building Block)
• Sensorless Vector Control
• All Techniques: Fuzzy logic, Neural Networks,
Genetic Algorithms.
 Classification of Semiconductor
Devices
Semiconductor devices can be classified into three
categories according to their degree of
controllability:

• Un-controlled turn-on and off devices (e.g.

Diodes).
• Controlled turn-on and uncontrolled turn-off
(e.g. SCR).
• Controlled turn-on and off (e.g. BJT, SITH,
MOSFET, GTO, IGBT, SIT,MCT).
Different Features of Semiconductor
Devices
 POWER DIODES
GENERAL PURPOSE DIODE:
Voltage/Current Ratings: 10KV/5KA Switching Time (µS): 25
On Voltage/Current: 1.6V/10KA
• Are generally manufactured by diffusion
• High reverse recovery time
• Use in low speed applications where recovery time is not critical

FAST RECOVERY DIODE:

Voltage/Current Ratings: 3000V/1000A Switching Time (µS): 2-5

On Voltage/Current: 3V/3KA
• Low recovery time
• Use in choppers & inverters where the speed of recovery time is
of critical importance
 POWER DIODES
SCHOTTKY DIODE:
Voltage/Current Ratings: 100V/300A Switching
Time (µS): 0.23 On Voltage/Current: 0.58V/60A
• Have low on state voltage
• Very small recovery time (typical of
nanoseconds)
• The leakage current increases with the voltage
ratings & their ratings are limited to 100V
• These are ideal for high current & low power
voltage dc chopper supplies
 POWER TRANSISTORS
Power BJT:
Voltage/Current Rating: 1200V/800A
It is a current controlled bi-polar two junction device.
Switching speed is considerably faster than that of thyristor type devices.
Fall into obsolescence due to advent of IGBT.

Power MOSFET:

Voltage/Current Rating: 600V/400A

It is unipolar & voltage controlled device
It is faster of all the devices
It can operate in hundreds of KHz switching frequency
It is commonly used in high frequency switching mode power supplies
It is not used in high power converters because of large conduction losses
 POWER TRANSISTORS
IGBT:
Voltage/Current Rating: 3500V/1200A
• It is basically a hybrid MOS-gated turn-off bipolar
transistor
• It combines the attributes of MOSFET,BJT & thyristor
• It was commercially introduced in 1983
• It is faster than that of BJT
• It can operate in medium power upto 20KHz switching
frequency
• It is finding popularity & will replace BJT in majority of
applications in near future
 IGBT
• The invention of IGBT is an important mile
stone in the history of Power Semiconductor
devices.
• 6.5KV & 10KV devices are under test in
laboratory.
IGBT Intelligent Power Module (IPM):
• This device is available for 6000V, 50-300A &
1200V, 50-150A to cover up to 150hp ac drive
applications.
 Static Induction Transistor(SIT)
SIT:
Voltage/Current Rating: 1200V/10A Switching
Time (µS): 0.55
• It is high power high frequency device

• It is solid state version of a triode vacuum tube

• It was commercially introduced by TOKIN Corp
in 1987
• It is used in AM/FM transmitters, induction
heating, high voltage low current power
supplies
 THYRISTORS
Line or Natural Commutated Thyristors:
Voltage/Current Ratings: 8000V/4500A Switching Time (µS): 10 to 20 in a
3000V, 3600A Thyristor
• These are turned off due to the sinusoidal nature of input voltage

Forced Commutated Thyristors:

• These are turned off by an extra circuit called commutation circuitry

TRIAC(Triode AC):
Voltage/Current Ratings: 1200V/300A On Voltage/Current: 1.5V/420A
• Its characteristics are similar to two thyristors connected in parallel &
having only one gate terminal
• The current flow through it can be controlled in either direction
• These are widely used in all types of simple heat controls, light
controls, motor controls & AC switches.
 Thyristors
GTO(Gate Turn Off):
Voltage/Current Ratings: 6000V/6000A (Mitsubishi) Switching Time
(µS): 25 On Voltage/Current: 2.5V/1KA
• It is self turned off thyristor.
• It does not require any commutation circuit.
• It is used for commutation converters.
• Pushed the VFI from the market.

RCT(Reverse Conduction Thyrsitor):

Voltage/Current Ratings: 2500V/1000A Switching Time (µS) On
Voltage/Current: 2.1V/1KA
• It is connected as a thyristor with an inverse parallel diode
• These are used for high speed switching (traction applications)
 Thyristors
SITH(Static Induction Thyristor):
Voltage/Current Ratings: 4000V/2200A Switching Time (µS): 6.5
On Voltage/Current: 2.3V/400A
• It is self controlled GTO like device
• It was commercially introduced by TOYO Co. in 1988
• These are applied for medium power converters with frequency of
several hundreds of kilo hertz beyond the frequency of GTO

GATT(Gate Assisted turn off thyristor):

Voltage/Current Ratings: 1200V/400A Switching Time (µS): 8 On
Voltage/Current: 2.8V/1.25KA
• These are used for high speed switching, specially in
traction applications
 Thyristors
LASCR(Light Activated SCR):
Voltage/Current Ratings: 600V/1500A Switching Time (µS): 200-400
On Voltage/Current: 2.4V/4.5A
• These are suitable for high voltage system applications, specially in HVDC
systems
• The four layer PNPN construction is similar to that of ordinary
• SCR with one exception- the PN junctions are formed on a
silicon pellet in an elongated manner to permit radiations by a
light source
MCT(MOS controlled thyristor):
Voltage/Current Ratings: 4500V/250A, 900V/15A, 1000V/30A, 600V/60A
• It is a thyristor like trigger into conduction device that can be turned on
or off by a short pulse on the MOS gate
• This was introduced by General Electrical Company in
November 1988
• It is like a GTO, except that the turn-off gain is very high
 Thyristors
IGCT(Insulated Gate Commutated Thyristor):
Available with 6000V, 6000A (10KV devices are under test)
• It integrates a gate-commutated thyristor (GCT) with a
multi-layered printed circuit board gate drive
• The GCT is a hard-switched GTO with a very fast & large gate
current pulse, as large as the full rated current, that draws out all
the current from cathode into the gate in about 1µS to ensure a
fast turn-off
• Similar to GTO, the IGCT is turned on by applying the turn-on
current to its gate
• The IGCT is turned off by a multi-layered gate driver circuit board
that can supply a fast rising turn-off pulse (i.e., a gate current of
4KA/µS with a gate cathode voltage of 20V only)
 Thyristors
Reverse Blocking IGCT :
Available with 6000V, 800A is introduced very
recently by ABB for use in IFI drives.

ETO(Emitter turn off):

• It is a MOS-GTO hybrid device that combines the
advantages of both the GTO & MOSFET
• ETO’s with current rating of up to 4KA & voltage
rating of up to 6KV have been demonstrated
 Thyristors
MTO(MOS turn off)
• It is a combination of a GTO & a MOSFET,
which together overcome the limitations of
the GTO turn-off ability
• Its structure is similar to that of a GTO and
retains the advantages of high voltage (up to
10KV) & high current (up to 4000A)
• Can be used in high power application
ranging from 1 to 20MVA
Types of Power Electronic Circuits
• For the control of electric power the conversion
of electric power from one form to another is
necessary and the switching characteristics of
the power devices permits these conversions.
• The static power converters performs these
functions of power conversions.
• A converter may be considered as a switching
matrix.
• The power electronics circuits can be classified
into the following types:
 Types of Converters
• AC-DC converters (controlled rectifiers)
• AC-AC converters (AC voltage controllers
• DC-DC converters (DC choppers)
• DC-AC converters (inverters)
Four basic types of converters depending
upon the function performed