Electronic Switch and Dimmer

An electrical circuit to supply power from an AC source, having a line and a return, to a load, the electrical circuit comprising:

• a. a first bidirectional switch connected in the line comprising:
• i. first and second series connected electronic switch devices, each switch device having a drain terminal, a source terminal and a gate terminal and being characterized by a threshold voltage specified between the gate terminal and the source terminal, wherein the drain terminal of the first switch device comprises the input terminal of the solid state bidirectional switch and drain terminal of the second switch devices comprise the output terminal of the solid state bidirectional switch, the source terminals of the first and second switch devices are interconnected at a first control terminal and the gate terminals of the first and second switch devices are interconnected at a second control terminal, and,
• ii. a first control switch connected between the first control terminal and the second control terminal, and
• iii. a bias terminal connected to the second control terminal through a second control switch, and
• iv. a voltage regulator device connected between the bias terminal and the first control terminal, and
• v. a capacitor connected in parallel with the voltage regulator device, and
• vi. a first rectifier device connected from the input terminal of the switch circuit to the bias terminal through a first current limiting resistor, and
• vii. a second rectifier device connected from the output terminal of the switch circuit to the bias terminal through a second current limiting resistor, and,
• viii. a switch control circuit having a control signal that controls the first control switch and the second control switch, such that first control switch is closed when the second control switch is open and vice versa.
• b. an AC to DC converter that supplies DC power to the switch control circuit, wherein the AC to DC converter comprises:
• i. a voltage divider connected to the AC power source, and,
• ii. a first semiconductor switch, having an input and an output, connected through its input to the voltage divider, and,
• iii. a second semiconductor switch, having an input and an output, whose input is connected to the output of the first switch, and,
• iv. a storage capacitor connected through a diode to the output of the second switch, and,
• v. a sense resistor connected between the storage capacitor and the voltage divider thereby providing feedback control, and,
• vi. a Zener diode connected between the input and output of the second semiconductor switch thereby clamping the voltage of the output and input of the second semiconductor switch to the Zener voltage of the Zener diode, and,
• vii. the DC load connected to the storage capacitor, and,
• viii. electronic circuitry interposed between the first semiconductor electronic switch and the storage capacitor to limit the current flowing through the first semiconductor switch.