Wiring Schematic Diagram

A switching voltage regulator circuit shown here can be a low cost solution for your high efficiency requirement electronic circuit design. This regulator circuit  can deliver up to 3A of current. The input voltage range of this circuit is between 8 to 35V DC and the output voltage can be adjusted between 1.8 to 32V DC. The output voltage can be adjusted by using the POT R4

The circuit uses a standard linear regulator LM317 IC. LM317 regulator IC provide a stable internal voltage reference, and provide the adjustment method. This wide-range output voltage adjustment make it suitable for general purpose power supply in lab application.

When compared to linear voltage regulators the switching voltage regulators are much power efficient. In the case of linear voltage regulators the difference between the input and output voltage is just wasted and for switching regulators there is almost no such wastage and that’s why the switching regulators have great power efficiency ranging up to 85% . In simple words, the switching regulator operates by taking small bits of energy from the input voltage source and then transferring it to the output with the help of a solid state switch and a control circuitry. Since the switching element is either fully open or closed at any moment, no energy is wasted across it. The control circuit controls the duty cycle of the solid state switch which in turn determines rate at which energy is transferred to the output.