Regulated Power Supply

A regulated power supply converts unregulated AC into a constant DC with the help of a voltage rectifier. Its function is to supply a stable voltage (or less often current), to a circuit or device that must be operated within certain power supply limits. Any deviation from these rating can damage the devices.

Some DC power supplies use AC mains electricity as an energy source. Such power supplies will employ a transformer to convert the input voltage to a lower AC voltage. A rectifier is used to convert the transformer output voltage to a varying DC voltage, which in turn is passed through an electronic filter to convert it to an unregulated DC voltage. The filter removes most, but not all of the AC voltage variations; the remaining voltage variations are known as ripple.

Types:

• Fixed Voltage Power Supply
• Variable Voltage Power Supply

Fixed Voltage Power Supply

The unregulated DC output is fixed to a constant voltage level by using a voltage regulator. Commonly used fixed voltage values are 5,9,12,15 Volts.

Variable Voltage Power Supply

The unregulated DC output can be varied over a range of voltage levels by using a variable voltage regulators.