Power Electronics

All applications obey the same laws. Common small electronic devices use tiny parts and usually deal with low power levels and low signals as well.

Power electronics would be an AC motor control to run a steel rolling mill with precision, or a power turbine that needs to be kept aligned in phase with the national grid. These applications can deal with thousands of amperes and tens of thousands of volts, often at the same time.

The circuits that deal with these levels need to be larger and more robust.

Even a 1 HP motor controller deals with far more power than an ipod.

A definition of Power electronics, as obtained from google search, is quoted below.

"Power electronics refers to control and conversion of electrical power by power semiconductor devices wherein these devices operate as switches. Advent of silicon-controlled rectifiers, abbreviated as SCRs, led to the development of a new area of application called the power electronics. Prior to the introduction of SCRs, mercury-arc rectifiers were used for controlling electrical power, but such rectifier circuits were part of industrial electronics and the scope for applications of mercury-arc rectifiers was limited. Once the SCRs were available, the application area spread to many fields such as drives, power supplies, aviation electronics, high frequency inverters and power electronics originated. "

Motor-Drives, UPS Systems, HF Inverters for variable-Speed drives, Self-Resonent Inverters for Furnaces, Hi-Power Public Address Systems & all such devices which give Hi-power output [say more than 10 watts] using Electronic Power devices [Digital ie Switching-Devices eg SCRs, Power_FETs etc or Analogue ie Amplifier ICs or Transistors] are included in Power Electronics.

I guess the short answer it larger wire going in and coming out. (or HIGHER voltage)

I would say the easiest definition of power electronics is electronics (parts or whole circuits) dedicated to 1) power conditioning, 2) power conversion, or 3) energy storage.

This includes the majority of circuitry found at a power supply up until leading to a point where there is a load or power-sensative circuit or IC.

Hope that helps.

Thanks.

This seems to be very apt definition.

There are two sets of electronics. Signal electronics and power electronics.

These two sets of domains are often very clear. Signal is definition or information in small current form with hard to survive into any load. Power is required to drive something which otherwise signal can not do so.

Signal is thus only information and power is taken from power electronics to get the capacity to drive the signal into the load, whatever the load may be.

Power load can be even RF Antenna, Transformer, Motor, Heater, Battery, Magnet etc.

In a sense even power Equipment has what you say signal electronics.

One is Control-Circuitry & the other is Output which may be low power as just in Walkman or as in Motor-Drives or other Hi-Power Systems like UPS Systems' output stage.

All the Eqpt contain both the parts but What is POWER_ELECTRONICS entirely reserved for HI_POWER EQUIPMENT

Perhaps, the idea was more towards - what is electronics and what is electrical when explanation was given to power electronics. People think whatever is electrical is power electronics is not true. Power electronics is really a driver stage or something that is really a source of power to the load. Some time electronics itself is a load and power supply to it is power electronics. That means power electronics is powering the ordinary electronics as well as power electronics.

Take the example. If you are sensing a relay contact then input is a sensing mechanism or signal electronics. On the other hand, the other instrument which drives the relay contact may be called a power electronics as relay is a load for it.

It is a very general term. However, in education, power electronics of electronics circuits is excluded from the power electronics of the electrical circuits. So there are two types of power electronics. One that is for electrical use and another that is for electronics use.

In small radio the last stage to drive the speakers is only 1-2W power source using transistors or IC is power electronics. Relay contactors for signaling in railways that take greater than 10W is still a signal electrics. Hence, signal electronics is the type or purpose based name and power electronics has its own definite purpose.

Power electronics is not defined by the amount of power the circuit takes or gives but with its type of actual use or application. There is no margin given in terms of watts of energy in definibg these power and no power zones.

I hope this makes some sense. I say what I feel and I never go by any book.

Perhaps Bob Pease will tell you better so try him out at www.elecdesign.com/ where he answers all questions about electronics or www.national.com/ where he is now working and may be about to retire. You can search for "Bob Peace" at www.elecdesign.com/ and if you want to know about me then search for my name also there "Shyam Sunder Tiwari" and also search at www.edn.com or www.ednmag.com/ web links. I used to write some design ideas and several hundreds were published. I worked here www.igcar.ernet.in and www.barc.ernet.in when I was in radiation safety research. I now have my own industry www.sensorstechnology.com (I do not display all I do here).