Difference between Linear and Switching Voltage Regulator

Comparison between Linear and Switching voltage regulator

Contents

The Key Difference between Linear and Switching voltage regulator are below the table.

	Linear voltage regulator	Switching voltage regulator
Power loss	The Series-Pass transistor operates in active region. Hence, there is high power loss.	Switching device operates in either cut-off or saturation region. So losses are less.
Efficiency	Due to high power loss efficiency is less	Due to high power loss efficiency is less
Power handling capability	Less or moderate	More compared to linear regulators.
Frequency, Size & Weight	Bulky components	Operates at high frequency. So, filtering components & transformer have very small size
Transient Response	Much better	Much better
Cost	At low power levels, linear regulators are cheaper	At power levels above a few watts, switching regulators are cheaper
RFI	Best when low output (and low RFI radiated noise) is required	High
Switching loss	No loss	Very high at high frequency

Switching Voltage regulator or Switch-mode power converter (SMPS) is a power electronic system, which converts one level of electrical energy to another level of electric energy at the load by switching action.
Switching regulators rapidly switch a series device on and off.
The duty cycle of the switch sets how much charge is transferred to the load.
This is controlled by a similar feedback mechanism as in a linear regulator.
Because the series element is either fully conducting, or switched off, it dissipates almost no power and because of this, its efficiency is high.
Switching regulators are also able to generate output voltages that are higher than the input, or of opposite polarity — something not possible with a linear design.
Like linear regulators, nearly complete switching regulators are also available as integrated circuits. Unlike linear regulators, these usually require an inductor that acts as the energy storage element