Modern power electronic converters are involved in a very broad spectrum of applications: switched-mode power supplies, electrical-machine-motion-control, active power filters, distributed power generation, flexible AC transmission systems, renewable energy conversion systems and vehicular technology, among them.
Power electronics is the engineering study of converting electrical power from one form to another. At a world-wide average rate of 12 billion kilowatts every hour of every day of every year, more than 40% of the power generated is being reprocessed or recycled through some form of power electronic systems. By 2010, it is expected this will increase up to 80%. A lot of energy is wasted during this power conversion process due to low power conversion efficiency. It is estimated that the power wasted in desktop PCs sold in one year is equivalent to seventeen 500MW power plants! It is therefore very important to improve the efficiency of these power conversion systems. It is estimated that with the widespread use of efficient and cost-effective power electronics technology, the world could see a 35% reduction in energy consumption.
