The influence of power electronic converter passive filter parameters for flicker in LED lighting

Rzeszow University of Technology, Department of Power Electronics and Power Engineering, The Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, 35-959 Rzeszow, Poland

^* Corresponding author: dsobczyn@prz.edu.pl

Abstract

The light emitting diodes (LEDs) are ever more used, and their price is getting lower year on year. Although, exchanging traditional light sources for the LED lamps does not seem to be complicated, we need to remember to maintaining high–quality of light. One of the aspects we should be worry about is a light’s flickering. Due to the shape of the current–voltage characteristics of the LED diode and their dependence on temperature, the value of the luminous flux – but also the lifetime – depends to a large extent on the stability of the supply voltage. Therefore, correct power system should be a thermally stable current source. Unfortunately, the simple power systems, equipped with passive filters are often used as cheap commercial solutions. In those types of systems stability of the output voltage is heavily dependent on the load conditions. Passive filters – usually consisting of coils and capacitors – are placed in the output circuit. This paper presents research carried out to show of filter capacitance influence on flickering phenomenon, and practical light’s flickering measuring technique for the LED lamps.