Connectors Education

Isolators are one of the key electronic components used in a solar inverter. They enable communication between low-voltage, sensitive control circuitry, such as microcontrollers, and components connected to high voltage, such as power transistors and sense elements. They also provide a safety barrier for human accessible interfaces and connectors. When it comes to power paths in Solar Inverters, we notice three key trends: Higher power string and centralized inverters are moving towards higher bus voltages enabling the system to deliver higher power, while keeping the current levels the same, Reducing transition times in the DC-AC switching stage to minimize the duration that the IGBTs spend in high impedance, Increasing PWM switching frequency in the DC-AC stage to reduce the size and cost of the magnetics in the design (for example the inductive EMI filters)

With BogusBus, our signals were very simple and straightforward: each signal wire (1 through 5) carried a single bit of digital data, 0 Volts representing “off” and 24 Volts DC representing “on.” Because all the bits arrived at their destination simultaneously, we would call BogusBus a parallel network technology. If we were to improve the performance of BogusBus by adding binary encoding (to the transmitter end) and decoding (to the receiver end), so that

Constant rule Rule of sums Rule of differences Product rule Quotient rule Power rule Functions of other functions

PARTS AND MATERIALS 6-volt battery Low-voltage incandescent lamp (Radio Shack catalog # 272-1130 or equivalent) Long lengths of wire, 22-gauge or larger Household light switch (these are readily available at any hardware store) Household light switches are a bargain for students of basic electricity. They are readily available, very inexpensive, and almost impossible to damage with battery power. Do not get “dimmer” switches, just the simple on-off “toggle” variety used for

While Oersted’s surprising discovery of electromagnetism paved the way for more practical applications of electricity, it was Michael Faraday who gave us the key to the practical generation of electricity: electromagnetic induction. Faraday discovered that a voltage would be generated across a length of wire if that wire was exposed to a perpendicular magnetic field flux of changing intensity. An easy way to create a magnetic field of changing

Aside from the ability to easily convert between different levels of voltage and current in AC and DC circuits, transformers also provide an extremely useful feature called isolation, which is the ability to couple one circuit to another without the use of direct wire connections. We can demonstrate an application of this effect with another SPICE simulation: this time showing “ground” connections for the two circuits, imposing a high DC

Notice something important here: taking the derivative of f(x) may precisely give you g(x), but taking the antiderivative of g(x) does not necessarily give you f(x) in its original form. Example: Note that the constant c is unknown! The original function f(x) could have been 3x2 + 5, 3x2 + 10, 3x2 + anything, and the derivative of f(x) would have still been 6x. Determining the antiderivative of a

Ladder diagrams are specialized schematics commonly used to document industrial control logic systems. They are called “ladder” diagrams because they resemble a ladder, with two vertical rails (supply power) and as many “rungs” (horizontal lines) as there are control circuits to represent. If we wanted to draw a simple ladder diagram showing a lamp that is controlled by a hand switch, it would look like this: The “L1” and “L2”

In the course of learning about electricity, you will want to construct your own circuits using resistors and batteries. Some options are available in this matter of circuit assembly, some easier than others. In this section, I will explore a couple of fabrication techniques that will not only help you build the circuits shown in this chapter, but also more advanced circuits. If all we wish to construct is a

A right triangle is defined as having one angle precisely equal to 90o (a right angle). Trigonometric identities H is the Hypotenuse, always being opposite the right angle. Relative to angle x, O is the Opposite and A is the Adjacent. “Arc” functions such as “arcsin”, “arccos”, and “arctan” are the complements of normal trigonometric functions. These functions return an angle for a ratio input. For example, if the tangent

The Law of Sines (for any triangle) The Law of Cosines (for any triangle)

Note: this is a very unique and useful property of e. As in the case of derivatives, the antiderivative of such a function is that same function. In the case of the antiderivative, a constant term “c” is added to the end as well.

Perhaps the most challenging aspect of interpreting ladder diagrams, for people more familiar with electronic schematic diagrams, is how electromechanical relays are represented. Compare these two equivalent diagrams: First, the ladder diagram: Next, the schematic diagram: Based on your observations of these two diagrams, explain how electromechanical relays are represented differently between ladder and schematic diagrams.

Most electrical wire is covered in a rubber or plastic coating called insulation. What is the purpose of having this “insulation” covering the metal wire?

Constant rule Rule of sums Rule of differences

This calculator will help compute the inductance of a length of wire.

When students first see the parallel resistance equation, the natural question to ask is, “Where did that thing come from?” It is truly an odd piece of arithmetic, and its origin deserves a good explanation. Resistance, by definition, is the measure of friction a component presents to the flow of electrons through it. Resistance is symbolized by the capital letter “R” and is measured in the unit of “ohm.” However,

Suppose, though, that we had a set of parallel wires of infinite length, with no lamp at the end. What would happen when we close the switch? Being that there is no longer a load at the end of the wires, this circuit is open. Would there be no current at all? (Figure below) Driving an infinite transmission line. Despite being able to avoid wire resistance through the use of

A practical application of switch and relay logic is in control systems where several process conditions have to be met before a piece of equipment is allowed to start. A good example of this is burner control for large combustion furnaces. In order for the burners in a large furnace to be started safely, the control system requests “permission” from several process switches, including high and low fuel pressure, air

The smaller the wire, the greater the resistance for any given length, all other factors being equal. A wire with greater resistance will dissipate a greater amount of heat energy for any given amount of current, the power being equal to P=I2R. Dissipated power in a resistance manifests itself in the form of heat, and excessive heat can be damaging to a wire (not to mention objects near

This tool is designed to calculate the inductance of two parallel wires