POWER ELECTRONICS…

A laptop would be unusable without the adapter that allows us to recharge the battery, converting the alternating current supplied by the power grid into the direct current required by the battery.

In the same way, it would be impossible to deliver in the power grid the electrical energy produced by a photovoltaic panel, or to use it to supply an appliance, without a device that converts the direct current supplied by the panel into the alternating current required by the power grid or by the appliance.

Two simple examples, among the many possible ones, that show how essential the availability of devices and systems performing the conversion and control of electrical energy, made using solid state electronics.

Obviously, a power converter is required to be efficient, not bulky, to weigh and cost as little as possible…

ELECTRICAL DRIVES…

An electrical drive is substantially a system consisting of an electrical motor powered by a power converter, equipped with the electronics required for controlling and monitoring. In this way, the speed of the motor can be controlled with high precision. For many applications this control is essential. One example of this are the winders of a textile machine, or the drives used in a machine tool.

But variable speed drives can also be used in processes where speed control is not strictly necessary, allowing efficiency to be significantly increased, as in the case of flow rate control in heating, ventilation and conditioning systems.