Design and Analysis of Advanced Low Power Consumption Hybrid Switch with Experimental Verification

Abstract

This paper presents a hardware implementation for a hybrid switch (HS) that can be used successfully as a fast switch in industrial power factor correction (PFC) panels and for electrical transformers. The main components of HS are a semiconductor switch as Silicon Controlled Rectifier (SCR) or thyristor and a mechanical switch as a relay. In the conventional PFC solution, the correction process is based on traditional electromagnetic contactors so, a huge current will appear during the turn-on operation In addition there is frequently a spark. Due to the parallel technique between SCR and latched relay, the proposed HS can inhibit the inrush current and repeal the arc during the releasing operation. The proposed hardware uses synchronous processing and instant measurements to achieve the switching operation well. Some experiments were carried out to show the feasibility of the proposed scheme, its result reveals that the HS can work with loads with high power and fast transient with low power consumption.