A Novel Passive Offline LED Driver With Long Lifetime

TLDR

The paper introduces a patent‑pending passive offline LED driver that eliminates controlled semiconductor switches, electrolytic capacitors, auxiliary power supplies, and control boards. The design is validated by experimental results from a 50‑W system. The driver delivers smooth current with a high power factor, >93.6 % energy efficiency, high luminous efficacy, long lifetime, stable output, weather robustness, and >90 % recyclability, making it suitable for public LED lighting such as roadways.

Abstract

This paper describes a patent-pending passive offline light-emitting diode (LED) driver that has no controlled semiconductor switches, electrolytic capacitors, auxiliary power supply, and control board. It can provide a fairly smooth current from the ac mains to drive LED strings. The new circuit has the advantages of high input power factor, high energy efficiency and luminous efficacy, long lifetime, stable luminous output, and high robustness against extreme weather conditions. In addition, over 90% of the driver material is recyclable, leading to reduction of electronic waste. It is particularly suitable public LED lighting systems, such as road lighting systems. Experimental results based on a 50-W system are included in the paper to confirm the validity of the proposal. Due to the circuit simplicity, an energy efficiency exceeding 93.6% has been achieved.