PIC to AC 220 V switch

[boban]

12$ it is quite expensive in comparison with relay, which cost 1 - 2 $.

[skimask]

12$ it is quite expensive in comparison with relay, which cost 1 - 2 $.

A bit overly complicated, not to mention more expensive than your option, but does provide almost perfect isolation..........
I took a PIC, a servo, and a standard household light switch....
Drilled a hole thru the light switch 'handle', connected it to the servo with a length of plastic, connected the servo to the PIC, wrote some software to poll a serial input, and run the servo as required.
Again, not cheap, but does allow for a 3-5v signal to switch a high voltage at a current only limited by the switch itself. And I stored the latest switch position in eeprom in case the PIC reset itself for some odd reason...
Small battery pack of AAA's, small wall wart style for charging the battery pack, very low current charging, blah blah blah...
At any rate, works like a champ.

[malc-c]

Solid state relay works well - and can be had for around £2 a pop off flea-bay.

I used 8 in a disco light project a year or so ago, and you can drive them direct from post PICs. The ones I used are rated at 4 Amps at 240 V, and were PCB mounted, and coped with switching 200w of spot lights with ease