The SG1540 is an integrated circuit designed to efficiently provide start-up power from a high-voltage DC bus to a PWM control circuit in a switching power supply. When used on the primary side, it reduces start-up current to less than 1mA and allows any standard PWM control circuit to be used as a primary-side controller. When used to power a controller on the secondary side, it efficiently eliminates the need for a heavy 50/60Hz line transformer with its associated low frequency magnetic fields.