Commutation cell
The commutation cell is the basic structure in power electronics. It is composed of an electronic switch (today a high-power semiconductor, not a mechanical switch) and a diode. It was traditionally referred to as a chopper, but since switching power supplies became a major form of power conversion, this new term has become more popular.
The purpose of the commutation cell is to "chop" DC power into square wave alternating current. This is done so that an inductor and a capacitor can be used in an LC circuit to change the voltage. This is in theory a lossless process, and in practice efficiencies above 80-90% are routinely achieved. The output is then usually run through a filter to produce clean DC power. By controlling the on and off times (the duty cycle) of the switch in the commutation cell, the output voltage can be regulated.
This basic principle is the core of most modern power supplies, from tiny DC-DC converters in portable devices to huge switching stations for high voltage DC power transmission.
A Commutation cell connects two power elements, often referred to as sources, although they can either produce or absorb power.
Some requirements to connect power sources exist. The impossible configurations are listed in figure 1. They are basically:
This applies to classical sources (battery, generator), but also to capacitors and inductors: At a small time scale, a capacitor is identical to a voltage source, and an inductor to a current source. Connecting two capacitors with different voltage level in parallel therefore corresponds to connecting two voltage sources, one of the forbidden connections of figure 1.
The figure 2 illustrates the poor efficiency of such connection. One capacitor is charged to a voltage V, and is connected to a capacitor with the same capacity, but discharged.
Before the connection, the energy in the circuit is , and the quantity of charges Q is equal to .
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