What is LED Drive Power?

Nowadays, as the concept of green environmental protection begins to take root in the hearts of the people, LEDs with long life and energy-saving characteristics are beginning to be familiar to people. LED solid-state light source lighting has become a trend in the world today. The LED solid-state light source needs to be operated by the LED driver. The LED driver can provide the required power for the LED so that the function of the LED can be effectively performed. This article is an introduction to LED drivers.

1. What is the LED Drive Power Supply?

To understand the LED driver, we must first look at the composition of the LED light. A typical LED spotlight is composed of the LED light source, aluminum substrate, LED driver/power supply, lens, radiator/heat sink, lamp holder, etc. The LED light source is the center of the entire luminaire, but the LED driver also plays an extremely important role. If the LED light is regarded as a body, the driver can be compared to its "heart". Drive can provide the necessary "blood" and "nutrition". 

The LED drive power supply is a voltage converter that converts the power supply into a specific voltage and current to drive the LED to emit light normally. The input of the LED drive power supply includes high-voltage power frequency AC (mains), low-voltage DC, high-voltage DC, and low-voltage and high-frequency AC (such as the output of an electronic transformer). The constant current source of the output of the LED driving power supply can change the voltage with the change of the forward voltage drop of the LED.

2. Features of LED Drive Power Supply

1. Small Size

The LED lamp holder must adapt to the installation space of traditional lamps, and the LED driver is generally installed in the lamp holder. Therefore, the size of the LED driver is small.

2. Long Life

Because LED lights convert electrical energy into light energy, LED lights to have the characteristics of low power consumption. The lifetime of LED lights is as long as 100,000 hours.

3. High Reliability

The driving power of LED street lights is installed in the outdoor high altitude, which is inconvenient to maintain. The drive is the main driving force of LED lights, so high-reliability requirements are certain.

4. High Efficiency

LED is an energy-saving product, which has high requirements for the efficiency of the driving power supply. The heat dissipation of the junction where the power supply is installed in the luminaire is very important. The efficiency of the power supply is high, and its power consumption is small. When the heat in the lamp becomes smaller, the temperature rise of the lamp is reduced. The characteristic of high efficiency is beneficial to delay the light decay of LED.

5. Surge Protection

 The poor ability of LEDs to protect against surges is a disadvantage. Therefore, we need to strengthen the surge protection of LEDs. Because some LED lights are installed outdoors, such as LED street lights. When the power grid system intrudes into the surge accidentally, these surges can cause damage to the LED. By suppressing the intrusion of surges, the LED drive power supply can protect the LED from damage.