High voltage switch energy storage time

What is a high-voltage MEMS plasma switch?

A high-voltage MEMS plasma switch is developed to control a buck converter transferring the energy between the buffer and the final reservoir. The switch control law is provided with an automatic narrow hysteresis loop, in order to hold the voltage across the buffer capacitor always oscillating between two high voltage levels.

How do you store electrical energy in a low-voltage circuit?

To store the generated electrical energy in order to power low-voltage electronics, a specific conditioning circuit should include an AC-to-DC converter and a DC stabilization module. Basic conditioning strategies are based on full-wave (FW) or half-wave (HW) diode-bridge rectifiers, which charge a large capacitor to a DC voltage.

How does a high power switch work?

In contrast to AC switching, where zero-crossing of voltage and current facilitates quenching and in some cases prevents arcing, only the high-power switch can extinguish the arc generated by a DC source.

Can a high arc voltage reduce the arcing time?

Equation 3 show that a high arc voltage or a small inductance L can reduce the arcing time. An increasing number of DC applications, such as battery charge and discharge systems, renewable energy storage etc. require adequate and powerful DC switches.

What happens if energy is constant after a long period of storage?

It can be seen that when the energy is constant, after a long period of energy storage, the elements within (i.e. inductors, capacitors, etc.) will release the energy in a very short period of time with rather high amplification, as shown in the schematic diagram of pulsed power compression in Fig. 1.1.

Can autonomous switches improve energy management for low-voltage applications?

However, efficient energy management of the generated high-voltage for practical low-voltage applications is still under investigation. Autonomous switches are key elements for improving the harvested energy per mechanical cycle, but they are complicated to implement at such voltages higher than several hundreds of volts.