4. Power converters

4.1 Use of choppers

If the DC network becomes more important, it is essential to introduce a DC-DC power converter that is well suited to this type of network: the chopper.

Although the silicon thyristor chopper has been in use since the 1970s, it is now being replaced in many cases by the silicon transistor chopper, especially the IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor).

Silicon MOSFET (MOS Field Effect Transistor) power transistors have the particular advantage of being used for fast switching, for example in switch-mode power supplies operating at frequencies ranging from a few tens of kilohertz to hundreds of kilohertz.

But converters designed to operate at high power ratings (over 100 kW) cannot be designed...