Triac Design Resources

Some AC choppin' basics.

Definitions

  • SSR - Solid State Relay. It is a contactless relay composed of a light-emitting semiconductor, i.e., LED, that serves as an input end, and a semiconductor, such as transistor and triac, that serves as an output end. The SSR responses faster than a contact relay
  • SCR - A Silicon Controlled Rectifier or semiconductor controlled rectifier is a four-layer solid-state current-controlling device. The name "silicon controlled rectifier" is General Electric's trade name for a type of thyristor (Wikipedia)
  • Commutator - DC Motor Rotary Electric Switch - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commutator_(electric)
  • Load - A load is connected to the output end of a circuit, and consumes electric energy in the circuit
  • Inrush current - Inrush current refers to a large current that instantaneously flows through the circuit when the power supply is turned on
  • Triac - This is a semiconductor switching element with three terminals for use in AC circuits. Applying a signal to its gate terminal allows current to flow between the other two terminals in both directions
  • Pulse signal - A pulse signal changes voltage level in short time intervals. Some pulse signals change voltage level cyclically at regular time intervals, while other pulse signals change at irregular time intervals.
  • Voltage Optimization - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voltage_optimisation