SCR Advantages, Disadvantages and Applications

Advantages of SCR

1. It can handle large voltages, currents and power.
2. The voltage drop across conducting SCR is small. This will reduce the power dissipation in the SCR.
3. Easy to turn on.
4. Triggering circuits are simple.
5. It can be protected with the help of a fuse.
6. We can control the power delivered to the load.
   

Drawbacks of SCR

1. It can conduct only in one direction. So it can control power only during one half cycle of ac.
2. It can turn on accidentally due to high dv/dt of the source voltage.
3. It is not easy to turn off the conducting SCR. We have to use special circuits called commutation circuits to turn off a conducting SCR.
4. SCR cannot be used at high frequencies. The maximum frequency of its operation is 400 Hz.
5. Gate current cannot be negative.

Applications of SCR

1. Controlled rectifiers.
2. DC to DC converters or choppers.
3. DC to AC converters or inverters.
4. As static switch.
5. Battery chargers.
6. Speed control of DC and AC motors.
7. Lamp dimmers, fan speed regulators.
8. AC voltage stabilizers.