Diacs and triacs are often used for control of ac lines and are seeing increasing use in Internet-enabled line switches. However, the traditional approach of modeling them using bipolar transistors ...

Triacs are used to control ac mains loads in home appliances, and commercial and industrial equipment. In the majority of applications, the triac will dissipate sufficient power to make thermal ...

Check out this link for On Semiconductor’s datasheet for a line of “Zero-Cross Optocoupled Triac Drivers.” The ability to zero-cross when turning on AC line voltage to some loads may be advantageous.

If a circuit is to switch a mains voltage, a relay is a simple solution in cases where switching times are long and high currents are involved. However, at lower currents, and in particular where ...