When there's a need to protect sensitive loads and preserve long-term reliability of equipment, you're likely to see the use of isolated power supplies. Isolation protects against ground loops, which could produce nasty parasitic currents that could disrupt the output voltage regulation and also introduce galvanic corrosion of conducting traces. You certainly don't want to have to deal with these types of effects! To produce an isolated output, a classic architecture to use is the flyback converter. However, the flyback converter isn't the most efficient or affordable solution. By contrast, its iso-buck counterpart can substantially lower your bill of materials (BOM) costs, while delivering the power efficiency you need. Read Reno Rossetti's analysis, "Why Iso-Buck Converters are Better than Flyback Converters," for all of the hows and whys.
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