AC LED Technology

© Lynk Labs 2009 Lynk Labs 2014

Bob Kottritsch Vice President EMEA

AC LED Technology Driving Mass Adoption for the

Consumer market


Brief History of Man Made Light

• Combustion Light – Fire, Oil, Candle, Gas

– Chemical Oxidation → Heat → Light

• Electricity for Lighting – Carbon Arc (incandescent carbon)

– Filament Lamp (incandescent wire)

– Discharge lamp (plasma orbital decay emission)

– Fluorescent Lamp (plasma + Phosphor Quantum Well )

– Light Emitting Diode (Q Well – semi conductor + Phosphor)

Feb 2014 2


Historic Timeline

70,000 BC Hollow rock filled with moss soaked in animal fat and ignited.

Fire Light

c. 4500 BC oil lamps

c. 3000 BC Candles are invented

c. 900 AD Muhammad ibn Zakarīya Rāzi invents kerosene lamp

c. 1000AD The first street lamps appear in Cordoba

18th century commercial development of the Oil lamp, first Gas lamp

19th century

commercialisation of Gas lighting,

Carbon Arc lamp - Electric light,

Edison & Swan - Incandescent Filament Lamp

Feb 2014 3


Electric Lighting Timeline

Feb 2014 4


LED Lighting Timeline

Feb 2014 5

First Commercial

RED LEDs

7 Segment Displays

First Commercial Green LEDs

High Brightness BLUE LEDs (Nakamura – Nichia)

First Phosphor White LEDs

High Brightness WHITE LEDs

commercialised – now reaching 150 lm/w


Why LED Lighting – 8 Advantages

• Long Life

• Energy Efficiency

• Ecologically Friendly

• Durable Quality

• Zero UV Emissions

• Instant Lighting & Frequent Switching

• Light Dispersement

• Dimmable (sometimes)

Feb 2014 6


Initial Cost – The BIG drawback

• 3000% more expensive

• BUT – 2500% longer life

– 700% lower annual energy cost

– 400% lower cost of

ownership

Feb 2014 7


• $ cost of ownership by lamp type $ Per Lumen Cost of lamps and energy normalised over 10 year period

– 400% lower

– Unassailable argument

– Works for commercial

– Has not yet found the

heart of the consumer

Cost of Ownership Comparison

Feb 2014 8


Inside an LED

Feb 2014 9


Inside an LED Package

Feb 2014 10

The Die Packaged

Die How it Looks


The LED Light SYSTEM

Feb 2014 11

Power

Supply/ Driver

Heat Sink LED Module

Optics

Heat Spreader

Chassis/

Insulator


Simple vs. Complex

Feb 2014 12

© Lynk Labs 2009

EVOLUTION OF THE

LED LIGHTING SECTOR

A period of Exponential growth

Feb 2014 13


LEDs – from Disruptive to Mainstream

lighting technology

• From niche to core in

5 years

• Fuelled by:

– GaN cost down

– LED TV volumes

– Critical sector

adoption •

•

•

•

Feb 2014 14

The innovator's dilemma Clayton M Christensen

New York : HarperCollins, ©2003.

LED Technology

Trad

ition

al Lig

htin

g


LED Lamps and Luminaires

• Accelerating growth

– $13bn by 2017

– China & ROW!!

– How much is

•

•

– 25x109 light bulbs

to replace

Feb 2014 15

The Market for High-Brightness LEDs in Lighting Applications

Strategies Unlimited January 2014

Annual Revenues

© Lynk Labs 2009

AC POWER INFRASTRUCTURE

Where DC meets AC

Feb 2014 16


Infrastructure – where DC meets AC

• Global AC infrastructure – Generation and Transmission efficiency

– A fundamental “given” in lighting technology

– Massive infrastructure investment •

•

Feb 2014 17


Tesla & Edison

Feb 2014 18

Shortly before he died,

Edison said that his

biggest mistake had

been in trying to develop

direct current, rather than

the vastly superior

alternating current system

that Tesla had put within

his grasp1 Nikola Tesla

Thomas Edison

1 Margaret Cheney, Robert Uth, and Jim

Glenn, "Tesla, Master of Lightning". Barnes &

Noble Publishing, 1999.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/N.Tesla.JPG

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9d/Thomas_Edison2.jpg


Infrastructure – where DC meets AC

• Global AC infrastructure – Generation and Transmission efficiency

– A fundamental “given” in lighting technology

– Massive infrastructure investment •

•

• Drivers – Interface AC Power to DC LEDs

– BUT – Electronics Rich •

•

Feb 2014 19


Common AC infrastructures

• Line voltage AC – 120V, 230V being the most common

– many country and industrial variants.

• Low voltage AC – typically 12V or 24V AC

•

•

– Applications – •

•

•

•

Feb 2014

20


AC Infrastructure – the Challenge

• “25 Billion light bulbs can’t be wrong …”

– Replacement cost has to fall drastically

– Driver is very significant cost element

• Direct AC LED light engines – a solution?

– Direct connection

– Reduced cost

– Infrastructure dimmable

– Accelerated adoption ….

– Keep it Simple ……..

Feb 2014 21

© Lynk Labs 2009

AC LEDS

Direct AC Connect Technology

Back towards the SIMPLE Light Bulb

Feb 2014 22


AC LEDs – Device Level Technology? .

• Diodes – are still Diodes

• The Laws of Physics – still apply

• AC LED Device – Does not exist

Feb 2014 23


AC LEDs – Circuit Level Technology

– Self rectifying LED

circuits •

•

– Externally (bridge )

rectified - hVf LED

circuits

Feb 2014 24




circuits •

•


rectified - hVf LED

circuits

Feb 2014 25

hVf

anti-parallel

LED bridge

hybrid

hVf




circuits •

•


rectified - hVf LED

circuits

Feb 2014 26

Component Level Circuit

1.1 mm


AC LED IP Landscape

• Very Different between DC and AC – AC fundamental Circuit level patents

•

– DC Open Architecture at Circuit level

• AC LED technology – Based on “Voltage Platforms”

– Line voltage regimes match multiples of these

– Multi-Voltage IP (Circuit, Component and LED/COB levels)

(allowing one circuit to service more than one platform)

Feb 2014 27


AC LEDs – from Disruptive to Mainstream

lighting technology

Feb 2014 28

The innovator's dilemma Clayton M Christensen

New York : HarperCollins, ©2003.

LED

Tec

hn

olo

gy

AC LED Technology • From niche to core in

? years

• Fuelled by: – GaN cost down

– Consumer Lighting Cost Pressure

– Critical segment adoption •

•

•

•


The Growth of AC LED Players

• Driven by: – Cost (component reduction)

– Reliability (reduced components)

– Size (PSU real estate)

– Performance

– Simplicity(= speed of design)

• Applications: – Lamps/Light bulbs and Tubes

– General lighting fixtures – Downlight, Ceiling Fan

– Outdoor – Parking, Garden Lighting

Feb 2014 29

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

AC LED Players 1 3 8 20 23 29 33 36

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

AC LED Players

Extracted from LEDs Magazine

Buyers Guide


Direct Connect AC Light Engines – back to the simple light bulb …

• Direct Connect AC LED = •

•

•

•

•

• Warm on Dim •

Feb 2014

30

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

10 100 1000

% CCT Shift vs. perceived brightness

CCT

CC

T % Sh

ift Cool

Warm Lumens


Direct Connect AC LED –

Prime Applications

• Attributes •

•

•

•

•

•

.

Feb 2014 31


Applications: 12V AC LED Conversion

32

DC Solution 3 DC LEDs, 4 Caps,

1 Transistor, 1 Inductor & 5 Diodes

AC Solution - A 3 AC LED, 3 Resistor

(Option for 1 Resistor)

AC Solution - B 1 AC LED COB , 1 Resistor

3 Watt Puck

Feb 2014

© Lynk Labs 2009 Lynk Labs 2014 33

DC Solution 1 DC LED, 1 Cap,

1 Transistor, 1 Inductor & 2 Diodes

AC Solution 1 AC LED, 1 Resistor

1 Watt Accent Light


Feb 2014



34

DC Solution 15 Components including

Capacitor, transistors, inductors & diodes

AC Solution 1 AC COB LED, 1 Resistor

7 Watt MR16

Feb 2014


AC Direct Connect – Prime Applications

Feb 2014 35

• Attributes •

•

•

•

•

•

• Segments •

– Cost, Simplicity, Reliability •

– GU10, MR11, MR16, G4/T5 Capsules, festoons …

•– Cost, Simplicity, safety (50/60Hz & Class 2/SELV hf Transformers)

• (PSU weight, cost,

reliability)

• (PSU bulk & Cost)

• - (PSU Bulk, Cost & Reliability)


AC LED Technology Driving Mass Adoption for the Consumer market

• Savings & Benefits (cost, space, reliability & infrastructure compatibility) for low & line voltage

• Paradigm Shift away from Electronics in Consumer Lighting Products

• Accelerating Change resulting from GaN Cost Down substituting Silicon Electronics

• AC LED Technology is adding significant value to emerging volume Consumer lighting markets

Feb 2014 36


AC LED Technology Driving Mass Adoption for the Consumer market

• Savings & Benefits (cost, space, reliability & infrastructure compatibility) for low & line voltage

• Paradigm Shift away from Electronics in Consumer Lighting Products

• Accelerating Change resulting from GaN Cost Down substituting Silicon Electronics

• AC LED Technology is adding significant value to emerging volume Consumer lighting markets

• Direct Connect AC LED Technology

Evolving as a Driving Force – to Mass Adoption of Consumer LED Lighting

Feb 2014 37


Bob Kottritsch Vice President EMEA

AC LED Technology Driving Mass Adoption for the

Consumer market

Thank You

From Filament to Quantum Well – The emergence of LEDs as today’s best light source.

When Edison first invented the electric light bulb, he had a delightfully simple concept; to “burn”

electricity just like the gas lamp before it had burnt hydrocarbons - to produce heat and almost

incidentally light.

We have come a long way in converting electricity to light since then. The latest innovation, the LED,

owes it genesis to the high tech semiconductor industry. Perhaps that is a misfortune, since it has

inevitably led the industry along a very electronics rich path to high efficiency lighting. As the

market for LED based lighting is about to dominate the lighting industry, perhaps this is a good time

to question why a simple light bulb should have become so complicated.

An LED looks very much like a simple resistive solid state filament – with a voltage offset. Why then

is it so difficult to make a simple LED bulb without the complex and high tech drive schemes which

prevail today?

In this talk we look at the evolution of light sources which has culminated in today’s high tech – high

spec LED lighting industry and explore why LED technology is a better solution for many applications

than previous forms of lighting. We will then move on to understand the latest trend to “Driver

Free” LED lighting and examine some of the advantages and a few of the challenges to dispensing

with electronics in the humble light bulb.

ooo00OOO00ooo

Bob Kottritsch is a Vice President of Lynk Labs Inc. – one of the founding

innovators in AC LEDs. He is one of the lead technology innovators in the

company and is also responsible for EMEA business. Originally a physicist,

Bob has held top management positions in a number of technology

companies in several continents. A Chartered Electrical Engineer and

Member of the IET, he holds a Master’s Degree in Physics and Electronics

(Cambridge University, UK) and an MBA (CASS business school, UK). Bob is

also a Fellow of the Institute of Directors and of the Chartered Management

Institute.

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