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REGULATOR

1. Introduction
• The most important property for an ideal power supply is to maintain a constant
voltage at the output terminals for all operating conditions.
• But practically there is a drop-in output terminal voltage of the power supply as
the load current increases, so we require to regulate the power at optimum level
using a voltage regulator.
2. Performance Parameters of a Good Voltage Regulator
• Load Regulation Factor
It is the change in the load voltage from no load to full load.
V − VoFL 
% Load Re gulation =  oNL   100
 V oFL 

Figure 1
• Line Regulation Factor
It is the effect of variations in the supply voltage causing variations in the output
voltage of the regulator.

 Change in Vo at Vimin to Vimax  V − V 

% Line Re gulation =    100 =    100
o1 o2

 VoFL   Vo(nomin al) 

 

Vo1 is the output voltage at the maximum input voltage while V o2 is the output
voltage at the minimum input voltage.

Figure 2

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• Temperature Coefficient of the output voltage

It is the effect of temperature over the performance of the regulator. It is defined
Vo
as . Ideally it should be zero.
T
• Output Resistance
For voltage regulation, multiple units of regulator might be cascaded. Thus, to
make the coupling smooth the output resistance of the regulator should as low as
possible, ideally zero.
• Maximum Dissipated Power
The maximum power dissipation by the Zener diode should be as low as possible.
3. Zener Diode

Figure 3
• Zener diode is a special purpose diode designed to operate under reverse bias in
the breakdown region.
• A Zener diode has higher doping than conventional diodes
• In a Zener diode the depletion layer is very thin and electric field strength at the
junction is very high even for a small reverse voltage.
4. Application of Zener Diode as a Voltage Regulator
• At the instant when the applied reverse biased voltage on the Zener diode is equal
to the Zener breakdown voltage, further increase in reverse voltage makes the
electric field at the p-n junction significantly high.
• The electric field is high enough to pull the electrons that are beyond the junction
on the n-side towards the p-side, significantly increasing the current.
• The increased current allows a wide range of current to flow through the diode in
the breakdown region such that the reverse voltage has no significant change.

Figure 4

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5. Equivalent Circuit of Zener Diode

Forward Biased Zener Diode
Ideal Practical
(VA > VK)

Reverse Biased Zener Diode

Ideal Practical
(VA < VK)

Breakdown Region Zener Diode

Ideal Practical
(VK > VZ)

Table 1
6. Drawbacks of Zener Voltage Regulators
• The Zener diode can be operated as a voltage regulator within a limited range of
reverse current.
• Power dissipation for the Zener diode is practically large enough to affect the
efficiency of the device.
• The output resistance of a Zener voltage regulator is practically not as low as
desired for the cascading operation.

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Example 1
For the circuit shown in the figure, the output voltage VO is

A. 5 V
B. 8 V
C. 10 V
D. None
Ans. (A)
Sol. First check whether the Zener diode is in reverse breakdown region (or) not. For that,
we remove Zener diode and the potential across Zener diode should be greater than
breakdown voltage of Zener.

 100K 
V = (10 )  
 100K + 100K 
10
V= = 5V
2
V<(VZ = 8V)
So, Zener is not in the breakdown region. It acts as open circuit
∴ VO = V = 5V
Example 2
The knee current of a Zener diode in the circuit shown in figure is 5 mA, and a maximum
allowed power dissipation of 300 mW. What are the minimum and maximum load current
that can be drawn safely from the circuit, keeping the output voltage V O constant at 6V?

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A. 0 mA, 180 mA
B. 5 mA, 110 mA
C. 10 mA, 55 mA
D. 60 mA, 180 mA
Ans. (C)
Sol.
IZk = 5 mA
Pd(max) = 300 mW
VL = 6V

Pmax 300  10−3

IZ max = = = 50 mA
VZ 6

Ii = IZ = IL

9−6
Ii = = 0.06 = 60 mA
50

IL min = Ii – IZ max = 60 mA – 50 mA = 10 mA
IL max = Ii – IZ min = 60 mA – 5 mA = 55 mA
Example 3
The range of input voltage which can maintain constant output voltage of 50 V is

A. 162 V to 294 V
B. 100 V to 300 V
C. 150 V to 310 V
D. 192 V to 324 V
Ans (C)
Sol:
Vi − 50
IL = Ii =
3750

Vi = 143.75V
Hence VI is approximately 150V to 310V

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Example 4
Find the maximum power dissipated by the Zener Diode.

Sol.

The value of RS should be such that even for the lowest value in the input voltage range,
the circuit should act as regulator by providing the minimum voltage and current needed
for Zener diode to operate in breakdown region and also maximum load current.
The current in the Zener diode is minimum when the load current is maximum and V s is
minimum.
Vs min − VZ 20 − 10
Rs = = = 90.9 
Iz min + IL max (10 + 100) mA
30 V − 10 V
Iz max = = 0.22 A
90.9 

PZ = VZ IZ max
PZ = 10 V × 0.22 A = 2.2 W

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