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RESEARCH

Ultra Compact Ballast for Low Wattage HID lamps

Year: 2007
The multi-year project involves the integration of inductor, capacitor and transformer, the integration of the resonator (Ignitor that initiates the lamp arc); and the integration of the EMI filter. The objective is to develop ultra compact electronic ballast for low wattage High-Intensity-Discharge (HID) lamps using the advanced packaging concepts developed over the last ten years under NSF core funding. The goal is to be able to embed the electronic ballast as a part of the lamp fixture for HID lamps so that HID lamps can be used not only for industrial installation but also for home and office lighting purposes. This is the first try in commercializing power passive integration technologies.

Since around 90% of the total volume is occupied by power passive components in the HID ballast system, the passive integration is the major task to further reduce the ballast size. This project mainly focuses on the design and implementation of power passive integration, including the integrated EMI filter, the integrated LC series resonator serving as the ignitor, and integrated LC output filter. All the components are designed into planar shape with same form factor to maximize the volume utilization rate of the whole ballast.

Combining active integration technologies, the volume utilization can be increased from 45% to 80%, and the size of the proposed integrated ballast is projected to be reduced by 74% compared with the commercial HID ballast, while maintaining the same electrical performance as the discrete ballast.

Sponsored by Matsushita Electric Works.

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