LED Light Distribution Types - PengLight

Light Distribution Type

There are a lot of important factors to look at when choosing the right LED light fixture. Lumens per watt, fixture type, driver performance, color temperatures are all super important. But how about light distribution?

Light distribution is basically the projected pattern of light a fixture will disperse onto a surface. Choosing the correct light distribution type for an indoor warehouse or an outdoor parking lot is as important as choosing the correct color temperature or wattage.

For lighting specifiers and contractors, it’s important, particularly for outdoor fixtures (LED Flood Light, LED Shoebox), to know the light distribution pattern and characteristics of the distribution. The shape (as well as brightness) of the area that is illuminated by the fixture will determine the effectiveness of the lighting for the intended purpose. It may also influence the number of fixtures and the spacing between the fixtures installed.

IESNA

LED Light Distribution Types have two classification systems. One has been established by the Illumination Engineering Society of North America (IESNA). This system describes the shape of the area that is illuminated by the fixture. This system is used primarily for area lighting and roadway lighting applications.

IES distribution types are an essential part of planning the best lighting solutions for your site. Below are the 6 basic IES roadway beam distributions and explanations of their patterns, ranges and suitable applications:


Type I

Type I distribution

The type I distribution is great for lighting walkways, paths, and sidewalks. This type of lighting is designed to be placed near the center of the pathway. This provides good lighting for narrower paths or roadway.

Type I is a two-way lateral distribution, with two concentrated light beams that illuminate in opposite directions.  Type I distributions have a preferred lateral width of 15 degrees and are best suited for the middle medium of a highway or road that needs illumination on both sides of traffic. This type is generally applicable to a luminaire location near the center of a roadway where the mounting height is approximately equal to the roadway width.


Type II

Type II distribution

The type II distribution is used for wide walkways, on ramps and entrance roadways, as well as other long, narrow lighting. This type is meant for lighting larger areas and usually is located near the roadside. You’ll find this type of lighting mostly on smaller side streets or jogging paths.

Type II light distributions have a preferred lateral width of 25 degrees. They are generally applicable to luminaires located at or near the side of relatively narrow roadways, where the width of the roadway does not exceed 1.75 times the designed mounting height.


Type III

Type III distribution

The type III distribution is meant for general roadway lighting, parking areas and other areas where a larger area of lighting is required. Type III lighting needs to be placed to the side of the area, allowing the light to project outward and fill the area. Its throw is taller than Type II but its side to side throw is shorter.

Type III light distributions have a preferred lateral width of 40 degrees. This distribution is intended for luminaires mounted at or near the side of medium width roadways or areas, where the width of the roadway or area does not exceed 2.75 times the mounting height.


Type IV

Type IV distribution

The type IV distribution produces a semicircular light meant for mounting on the sides of buildings and walls. It’s best for illuminating the perimeter of parking areas and businesses. The intensity of the Type IV lighting has the same intensity at angles from 90 degrees to 270 degrees.

Type IV light distributions have a preferred lateral width of 60 degrees. This distribution is intended for side-of-road mounting and is generally used on wide roadways where the roadway width does not exceed 3.7 times the mounting height.


Type V

Type V distribution

 

Type V produces a circular 360°distribution that has equal light distribution at all positions. This distribution has a circular symmetry of foot candles that is essentially the same at all viewing angles. It is intended for luminaire mounting at or near the center of roadways, center islands of the parkway, and intersections. Type V distribution is great for parking areas or flooding large areas of light directly in front of the fixture. It is one of the most common distribution types available today.


Type VS

Type VS distribution

 

Type VS produces a square 360°distribution that has the same intensity at all angles. This distribution has a square symmetry of candlepower that is essentially the same at all lateral angles. It is intended for luminaire mounting at or near the center of roadways, center islands of the parkway, and intersections. It is also meant for large, commercial parking lot lighting as well as areas where sufficient, evenly distributed light is necessary. Type VS is used where the light pattern needs a more defined edge.

 


NEMA

A second light distribution classification system is developed by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA). This system is used primarily for flood lightings and sport lighting fixtures. It describes the distribution of light within the beam produced by the fixture.

The “NEMA beam spread” of a light refers to the two edges where light intensity spreads horizontal and vertical to 10% of the maximum beam intensity, and correlates to whether the light output is very narrow, very wide, or somewhere in between.

Following classifications will help you calculate the horizontal and vertical NEMA rating for your luminary’s particular beam spread, which is also an important aspect in lighting design.

NEMA Beam Spread Classifications

Beam Spread (°)NEMA TypeBeam DescriptionBeam Projection Distance
10° to 18°
1
Very Narrow
240 ft and greater
 18° to 29°
2
Narrow
200 to 240 ft
 29° to 46°
3
Medium Narrow
175 to 200 ft
 46° to 70°
4
Medium
145 to 175 ft
 70° to 100°
5
Medium Wide
105 to 145 ft
 100° to 130°
6
Wide
80 to 105 ft
 130° and up
7
Very Wide
under 80 ft

To determine your luminary’s NEMA classifications for an asymmetrical beam spread, complete the following equation:

Asymmetrical Beam Spread = Xº H (Horizontal Spread) by  Xº V (Vertical Spread)

Based on these 7 beam types, if the fixture you are considering has the specifications of NEMA Type 6×5, then its horizontal beam spread would be 100°-130° and its vertical beam spread would be 70°-100°, classifying it as a wide flood.

Example: 110º H x 85º V = NEMA Type 6 x 5

NEMA Beam Angle Types

NEMA Beam Angle Types, Resources: https://www.premiseled.com/nema-beam-angle-types-what-are-they-all-about/

The Impact of Mounting Height on Illumination

As mentioned in the IES distribution types, mounting height plays a role in the effectiveness a luminary has on its intended target. Because LEDs cast a cone of light and are naturally directional, the beam will always dictate the area that will be illuminated.

Determining the ideal beam angle for your luminary requires knowing the distance between where the light will be mounted, and the area you want it to illuminate. A closer distance will not need a long-range narrow beam, so a wider flood beam will be best. To illuminate a target at a further distance a more narrow, farther-reaching beam is required.

Also, you will need to consider the distance between light sources and the beam’s radius, so you don’t have extensive overlapping of illumination. If your intent is to have overlapping of wider beam fixtures for ambiance, your beam spread diameter (radius x 2) should be equal to, or greater than the distance between fixtures.

LED Beam Angles

LED Beam Angles

The IESNA and NEMA classification designations often provided in the product datasheets from many manufacturers, such as IES files, LDT files, may give the designer enough information to determine whether or not the fixture will meet the requirements of the intended application.

Photometric reports, also available from many manufacturers, give a more detailed description of the illumination including brightness levels within the light distribution pattern.

With the above basic knowledge, it makes selecting the fixture distribution type easy. PengLight specializes in the sourcing of LED lighting systems for a variety of indoor and outdoor applications.

If you are looking for a professional sourcing agent or partner to help you with these, shoot us an email at info@penglight.com or fill out the contact form here. We offer One-stop sourcing solutions from suppliers sourcing to shipment delivery. PengLight is your trusted lighting partner!

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The importance of choosing LED Panel Light

How to choose the best LED Panel Light? (Complete Guide)

LED Panel light now is booming in the market, it’s one of the best lighting options for indoor applications, considering its easy installation, modern design, and efficient light quality. Now almost every supplier producing led lights can also produce led panel lights, so how to choose the most suitable panel light for your requirements? This post will tell you the differences of the materials used in the panel and learn how it affects the quality and cost.

First, let’s take a look of the structure of panel light:

LED Panel Light Explosive View

LED Panel Light Structure

From the explosive photo you can see that panel lights are mainly consist of frame, LED, diffuser, LGP plate, LED driver and back plate. Now let’s go over these materials and see what are the differences when you choose a panel light.

Frames(aluminum heat sink)

There are mainly 3 moldings of frame for panel light.

1. Stamping aluminum

Stamping alu normally made by 1mm aluminum board, and then welded to assemble as a frame, apply wiredrawing surface treatment.

Advantage: from appearance, the joint area of heat sink can reach a seamless level, it’s more light, easy to install and low cost.

Disadvantage: heat sink made with stamping aluminum is easy to scratch hands. And, for 36w and other higher wattage panel lights, heat dissipation is very bad, the situation of LEDs burn out is very often.

Stamping Aluminum heat sink

LED Panel Light with stamping frame

2. Extruded aluminum

Panel light with extruded aluminum, mainly made by AL6063 and AL6061 material, the structural strength of AL6061 is stronger than AL6063, but appearance and surface treatment are not as good as AL6063, basically, the differences are tiny. Frame made by extruded aluminum is most common for LED panel light.

Advantage: heat dissipation is good, with exquisite appearance, diversified surface treatment, low tooling cost and easy to shape up. And the sizes can be custom made according to different applications, with good plasticity. All these features make it the most ideal model to make led panel light.

Disadvantage: cost is higher compared to stamping aluminum, and material is more heavy.

Extruded Aluminum heat sink for panel light

LED Panel Light with extruded frame

Although the extruded alu is the best material to make LED panel, in the market now there are many short-term-business-suppliers have eyes only on profit only, they use cheap, unqualified materials to produce panel light. Normally, the thickness of the frame has to be 2mm, only that it can reach good heat dissipation.

3. Die-casting aluminum

Die-casting aluminum is mostly applied to the panel lights with small sizes that diameter is under 300mm.

Advantage: integration, a truly seamless profile, with elegant outlook, good heat dissipation and cheap price.

Disadvantage, tooling cost is high, size is fixed that it’s unable to modify randomly in accordance with customer requirements and without plasticity.

Round and square panel light, smaller sizes

Round and square panel light

Diffuser

Type of diffuser: PC, PMMA, PS, PP

1. PC——Polycarbonate

Advantage:

LGP with protective films

protective films on LGP

  • with high Intensity and elastic coefficient, high impact strength, wide using temperature range.
  • high transparency and free chromaticity.
  • high grade of H.D.T.
  • good fatigue durability.
  • good weather resistance (weather resistance is the ability of a material, paint, film, or the like to withstand the effects of wind, rain, or sun and to retain its appearance and integrity).
  • odourless and harmless to people
  • shrinkage rate of shaping is low and with steady size stability.

In a word, PC is with the best stability, the fire-rated level is high and safety certification is better.

However, in terms of production and marketing, PC is more expensive and because of the big static electricity, it’s easy to absorb dust during assembling, it also has higher labor cost(PC diffuser is with protective films on both sides, takes more time and energy to get it off ). Also, the light transmission for PC is much lower, at around 86%.

2. PMMA — known as acrylic

Features:

  • PMMA is with excellent weather resistance, higher Surface Glossiness, and better high-temperature behavior
  • PMMA board have good printability and sprayabilit, it can make ideal surface decorative effect process with appropriate print technology
  • Flame resistance
  • PMMA is fragile, easy to break

The advantage of PMMA applied to LED Panel Light:

  • Economical, PMMA is easy to pre-forming and materials are inexpensive, which makes it very common earlier in the production of panel light.
  • Silk print effect is excellent if you need to print your own logo and lamp parameters, PMMA is preferred.
  • Super high light transmission, up to 90% or so, but it also brings some troubles. Due to the high light transmission, it’s difficult for a diffuser to cover dust and other small stuff, so sometimes it always has a light spot. Like PC, PMMA also has protective files on both sides, that it’s easy to absorb dust due to static electricity, so it requires a very strict production environment (need to be dust-free) to produce panel light.

When you buy a panel light from suppliers, you can evaluate from their workshop environment whether it passes dust-free standard. Penglight have strict procedures to follow when selecting a supplier, see how we do with our supply management

Panel Light Diffuser

LED Panel Light Diffuser

3. PS——polystyrene

PS is with excellent chemical stability, thermostability, Optical transmission characteristic, insulation characteristic and with minor moisture absorption tendency, it can be used in a moist environment and it’s with high radiation resistance. But it’s fragile, with low impact strength and bad weather resistance, it’s easy to turn yellow and get crisp. Heat resistance is also bad, distortion temperature is 70-90°, only available to use under 70°, cold resistance is also not good, the brittle temperature is -30°

Although there are so many defects for PS, when apply for indoor the room temperature is normally more than 0° and without solar radiation, PS can be a good material for panel light. Compared to PMMA, it’s with small static electricity makes it easier and convenient to arrange production. PS is cheap, easy for produce and incise, light transmission can up to 88%, All of these features make it the favorite materials for suppliers when it first launched to market.

4. PP——polypropylene

PP is mainly used as a low-cost product. People in the industry call it waste materials.

Advantage:

  • non-poisonous, odorless, it’s one of the lightest variety of all kinds of plastic.
  • tenacity and fatigue durability is as same as PC
  • high light transmission, close to PS, can also up to 88%
  • without films on the surface, easy to produce and assemble.
  • PP is with good heat resistance, melting point between 164~170℃. without the external forces, it has no deformation even in 150℃

Disadvantage:

  • When apply to low temperature, it’s easy to get crispy, not wear-resisting and ageing easily
  • high static electricity, get dusty on surface after longtime used.
  • soft, panel light of big sizes are very likely to sag naturally

LGP (light guide plate)

LGP is a kind of PMMA with high light transmission, its main processing methods include: silk print, laser engraving and injection moulding. The thickness of LGP has 8T, 6T, 4T and 3T, the thicker the LGP, the higher the luminous efficiency, price is higher as well.

different thickness of LGP

Three LGP Compare

1. Silk print

Silk print is a common processing method for producing LGP.

Advantage: good effect and high luminous efficiency.

Disadvantage: costly, easy to create poor products and it’s difficult to regulate printing ink.

2. Laser Engraving

Laser engraving is another common processing method for LGP, but the production process has reduced the printing ink.

Advantage: low labor cost and material cost, product consistency is good and less defective products.

Disadvantage: luminous efficiency is with 3%-10% lower compared to silk-screen, and it will have a Grid effect on LGP as a result of laser engraving, need frosty and high diffusivity diffuser to solve this problem.

3. Injection Moulding

Injection moulding is normally applied to small products.

Advantage: extremely low material cost, good product consistency, few poor products.

Disadvantage: poor luminous efficiency, only have 90% of silk print, no plasticity, high tooling cost.

LED PCB

Panel Light LED PCB

Panel Light LED PCB

Using what kinds of LEDs will have direct impact on the cost and optical parameter. If you don’t specified, normally the panel lights are with Sanan led chip, packing type is SMD2835, with  following  optical parameter:

  • CRI: RA>80
  • Color temp: 3000K/4000K/5000K/6000K
  • SDCM: <6
  • Luminous efficiency: 100lm/w to 120lm/w

These are the most common configuration, matured and cost-effective. and for the PCBs are mostly fiber glass not aluminum. For some special requirements that need CRI>90 or SDCM<6 or need color temp at 2700K, this can also be achieved by changing a different LED chip, but price will be more expensive.

LED Driver

Driver plays a crucial role in the lifespan of led lighting, it’s very important that a driver is selected that is matched to the lamp and to be illuminated.

When selecting an LED driver, the following are five factors that you should take into consideration and determine which one is the best fit for your application:

  1. Total LED power per function: this is the key to determining LED driver topology.
  2. The ambient temperature of the electronic components: For example, with rear lighting where brighter LEDs are required, a linear driver is not the best option because of its high power dissipation; instead, a switching driver is a better choice because it is more efficient and, hence, runs cooler at higher power levels.
  3. Flexibility to change LED configurations: light adjustment capabilities by using multiple luminance methods such as voltage reference control and PWM control. A wide operating supply range allows configuration of power supply and the number of LEDs to drive.
  4. Supported features: such as auto dimming, individual LED control, color change.
  5. Supported diagnostics and safety compliance: such as thermal warning, thermal shutdown, open circuit, short, over-current protection, single LED failures, under voltage and overvoltage on the booster, LED temperature monitoring.

Now many suppliers offer their panel light with a branded driver, such as Meanwell, Inventronics, Lifud, etc, quality is guaranteed and with competitive price.

LIfud and Meanwell drivers

LED drivers

Back Plate

Back plates are for sealing and assist heat dissipation. Normally 1mm thickness back plate made by aluminum is better for heat dissipation and make entire structure stronger, but now in the market the back plate are mostly with 0.8mm thickness and some factories produce back plate with metal to further reduce material cost. Metal back plate can be rusted after long time used and have big impact on service life.

Conclusion

So, now you have a pretty good idea of what you need to look for in selecting a LED panel light that is sufficient enough for your application. I know it will be a lot to digest for you, especially if you’re new in this field. But don’t worry, just leave your comments or questions below, or you can contact us directly at info@penglight.com, we will get in touch with you and reply your questions anytime.


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LM80, LM79, L70 and TM21, what are the differences for lighting?

LM80, LM79, L70, and TM21, what are the differences for lighting?

We have got these questions a lot from our customers regularly, and it’s easy to confuse LM80, LM79, and L70 or assume they test the same measure in an LED product. Although all of them are used when discussing LEDs, they are not related measurements.

Understanding LM-79, LM-80, L70 can help you evaluate LED products. Learn why LM-80 matters and how the data can be used to improve your bottom line. So what are the differences between them?  This post will give you a detailed explanation.

What is LM80?

What is LM-80?

LM-80 is a method for measuring lumen depreciation

LM-80 refers to a method for measuring the lumen depreciation of solid‐state light sources, such as LED packages, modules, and arrays. Before the advent of LM-80, LED component manufacturers each reported lumen maintenance data using their own disparate and varied systems.

To avoid customer confusion, members of the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES), came together to create a standard methodology that would allow customers to evaluate and compare the lumen maintenance of LED components from different companies. LM-80 was born.

  • It was developed by the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA), to allow people the ability to evaluate and compare the lumen maintenance of LED components from different companies.
  • It is typically a 6000hr test (can be 10,000hrs) that shows depreciation and chromaticity shift over the period at particular operating temperatures 55 degrees, 85 degrees, and a third manufacturer defined temperature, say 105 degrees.

Who can perform testing?

LM-80 testing should be performed by EPA recognized Laboratories. Only reports from recognized laboratories are relevant. This standard is used for the Department Of Energy (DOE) ENERGY STAR program early qualification in conjunction with other reports.

What does it provide?

The testing report issued according to a standard format will provide luminous flux for a given current over a 6,000 hours period with interval measurements. Luminous flux will be measured for 3 different LED case temperatures: 55ºC, 85ºC and a third temperature to be selected by the manufacturer. Besides, the lumen maintenance, the chromaticity shifts over the measured period.

Typically, LED chips are tested for 6,000 hours and extrapolated until they reach L70. LM-80 determines the rated life of the LED module, but not the life of the complete LED product. Other components, such as drivers, electrical connections, product integrity, etc. may fail before the LEDs.

What is LM79?

It is the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) approved method for the Electrical and Photometric Measurements of Solid-State Lighting. It measures an LED luminaire or integral lamp as a whole system according to a standard process using specified equipment.

IES and Integrating Sphere Testing facilities

IES and Integrating Sphere Testing facilities

Who can perform testing?

LM-79-08 testing should be performed by EPA-Recognized Laboratories for the category of the product tested. Only reports from recognized laboratories are relevant. This standard is used for the Department Of Energy (DOE) ENERGY STAR program qualification and lighting facts advocate program.

What does it provide?

The testing report issued according to a standard format will provide:

  • Total Luminous Flux (light output)
  • Luminous Intensity Distribution
  • Electrical Power Characteristics (wattage, voltage…)
  • Luminous Efficacy (calculated)
  • Color Characteristics (CRI, CCT…)

While LM79 measures several aspects of a complete fixture, LM-80 solely measures the lumen depreciation of the LED module.

What is TM-21?

It is the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) approved method for taking LM-80 data and making useful LED lifetime projections. The standards apply to lifetime projection of LED package, array or module alone. The results can then be used to interpolate the lifetime of an LED source within a system (luminaire or integrated lamp) using the in-situ LED source case temperature.

TM-21 calculator

TM-21 report

Who can perform testing?

There is not such a thing as testing, it is a mathematical method based on LM-80-08 collected data.
Among other things, TM-21-11 will consider:

  • If total LM-80 data period is  between 6,000 and 10,000 hrs, we consider the last 5,000 hours
  • If the total data period is above 10,000 hours, we use the last half of the collected data
  • In situ case temperature interpolation using Arrhenius equation between LM-80 temperature
  • Projections are limited to 6 times the available LM-80 data period so projected and reported lifetime may or not be the same

For example, Philips Lumileds tests several of its popular LUXEON products for 10,000 hours or longer, so that our customers can claim a 60,000-hour-or-more lifetime for their products.

What does it provide?

The method will provide a projected lifetime for the LED source or system. Life notation results will then use the following standardized nomenclature: Lp (Yk)

  • P: Lumen maintenance percentage. For LED luminaire we consider L70 to be the standard. After 30% lumen depreciation, we consider the system is not performing its duty anymore and should be replaced.
  •  Y: Length of LM-80 data period in thousands of hours
    Example: L70(6k) = 36,000 hours

What is L70?

“My LED’s will last for 50,000 hours.” “My LED’s will last for 100,000 hours.” We have all heard these claims. The truth is that an LED being an electronic device with no moving parts could theoretically last forever.

Three things can kill a LED. Heat, dirty power and moisture will all have detrimental effects on LED life. In reality, even if LED’s could last forever, their lumen output will diminish over time to a point where they would no longer function as a useful lighting source. We call this “lumen maintenance.” The industry has determined that the LED ceases to be a useful light source when lumen output reduces to 70% of its initial lumens. This is called L70.

L70 is a lifetime measurement criteria developed by IESNA (Illuminating Engineering Society of North America) to evaluate the useful lifetime of an LED luminaire in terms of the expected number of operating hours until the light output has diminished to 70% of initial levels. or when the lumen output is 70% of its initial output.

As LEDs do not fail and “burn out” like other light sources; instead, they gradually decrease over time until they are no longer producing useful light. It is generally established that the human eye is only sensitive to lumen depreciation of 30% or more. Therefore, L70 lifetime is defined by Illuminating Engineering Society Standard LM-80-08, entitled “IES Approved Method for Measuring Lumen Maintenance of LED Light Sources.

L70 lifetime is dependent upon many variables, such as the operating temperature, drive current, and the technology and materials used to construct the products.

L70 Lumen Maintenance

L70 Lifetime

Conclusion

Now you get the hang of what are LM80, LM79, L70, and TM-21, and what are differences between them, but if you still have questions, just leave your comments below, we will answer any of your questions and guide you through.

Penglight sources lighting products only from recognized suppliers that are able to offer full reports for their products, if you’re looking for a professional LED sourcing agent, feel free to get in touch with us.

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What is LED Light Engine?

What is LED Light Engine? DOB, a drive on board technology

In the lighting industry, now there are many discussions about the products of LED Light Engine (also called DOB, a drive on board design), people are having entirely different views on the products of LED Light Engine.

Some said this kind of products and technologies are the savior to the current chaotic LED lighting market, the other said this product will lead traditional lighting companies to dead end, there are also views that LED Light Engine is the future for traditional lighting companies.

So why is that? Is this product still in developing? is the technology hard to master? Or is it because this product is useless? In this article, Penglight will help you understand and learn what is LED Light Engine and its applications.

What is LED Light Engine?

LED Light Engine originates from Zhaga consortium. According to Zhaga definition,

Separated or integrated drivers

LED light engine or LLE is the combination of one or more LED modules, together with an LED driver (also known as electronic control gear, or ECG).

Some LLEs contain an integrated driver, while some LLEs consist of one or more LED modules together with a separate driver. Therefore, LED Light Engine is a device between LED fixtures and LED Luminaire.

In a more simple definition: make led module and constant current driver printed on one Alu PCB.

What is the marketing advantage of LED Light Engine?

1. Standardized manufacturing, good for the promotion of LED lights.

With the booming in LED Lighting Market, everyday there are new lighting companies enter into this industry, along with new led lights. It brings lots of inconvenience to the standardized manufacturing and promotion of indoor led lights since there are so many diversified led lights flooded into this market.

As LED Light Engine is a standardized product, led light factories can choose different LED Light Engine to design and produce their light fixtures according to various applications.

Especially for the New entrants, they only need to find several types of standardized LED Light Engine to design light fixture, without the worry of the mass production issue, because the same type of standardized LED Light Engines is available in many manufacturers, also the standardized LED Light Engines is convenient for mass production.

Application of LED Light Engine in Downlight

2. Reduce R&D cost for LED Lighting Manufacturers, shorten the schedule of product production

Optics and structure are what is all about for the design of traditional luminaires, but when it comes to the design of led lighting, since there is still no standard for led light products, not only we need Optics and Structure Professionals, but also need professionals in field of electronic, electrical, thermal dissipation etc.

These increase the burdens of led light manufacturers and set a high threshold to new entrants, which are bad for the development of lighting industry. So how to effectively lower the R&D cost and shorten the production time become the main problem in the lighting industry.

Things will work out fine with standardized led light engines, since the led light engine has consist of electronics, first heat dissipation, and first light distribution, what light suppliers need to consider is the lighting structure, second heat dissipation, and second light distribution. It dramatically lowers the R&D cost and shortens production time.

3. Improve the quality and whole performance of LED Lights

LED Light Engine has specified the parameter of output lumen, CRI, luminous efficiency, uniformity of color temp, beam angle, etc in different applications, and the specified parameter reaches the highest level in lighting industry, it helps a lot to improve the quality of led lights.

4. Smaller size, Higher efficiency.

Compared to traditional DC LED, AC LED does not involve with AC/DC conversion, it’s a lighting technology that can directly connect to AC power. Traditional LEDs need to be powered with proper direct current to make it work, so an AC/DC transformer is a must to add between Mains supply and LED load to achieve DC drive.

The use of transformer increases the total size, quality, and cost of led light, and generate certain electricity loss during the AC/DC conversion process, cannot give full play to the efficiency of led light. With the AC LED technology, the problem can be solved.

LED Light Engine for Flood Light

Outdoor LED Light Engine: DOB-A40

 

Disadvantage of LED Light Engine:

Many technology problems to be solved and without uniform standard

Currently, since the lack of normalized and unified standard components and the disparate development of equipment and technological level among suppliers, there is a variety of LED Light products emerged in market, with different performance and bad interchangeability, which on some level has prevent led lighting industry from developing healthily.

Questioners thought that LED Light Engine is not developed in a smooth way, there are still many challenges leave to manufacturers.

First, the technology of linear constant current is still in low efficiency, and the core technology of led light engine is the driver chip of high voltage linear constant current;

Second, AC driver(AC LED) meets many problems of integration in multiple subjects, it needs to integrate the Chip design, High voltage technology, thermal dissipation, application design and so on.

Thirdly, led driver and led module will generate the heat simultaneously while led light engine is on work, and because of the low driver conversion efficiency of led light engine in the market, in the long run, it will definitely shorten the life span of led light engine. So currently led light engine has not yet shown its superiority in terms of cost and promotion.

Due to the limited of life span and thermal dissipation, etc, led light engine is not that much popular and a large portion of them are only applicable to low wattage industry.  In high wattage market, there are very few in matured applications.

About ZHAGA Consortium

Zhaga is a global lighting-industry organization that aims to standardize components of LED luminaires, including LED light engines, LED modules, LED arrays, holders, electronic control gear (LED drivers) and connectivity fit systems. This helps to simplify LED luminaire design and manufacturing, and to accelerate the adoption of LED lighting solutions

Standardized interface specifications make the lighting industry more efficient, and efficiency is essential to break the barriers that block it from realizing smart lighting on a massive scale.

Zhaga develops interface specifications for different LED light engines. These define the interfaces – mechanical, thermal, optical electrical and control – between an LED luminaire and an LED light engine. When applied correctly, these specifications ensure interchangeability. For example, Zhaga focuses on the mechanical and thermal fit of the heat sink, the size, and height of the light-emitting surface, and the photometric properties regarding different application areas.

Following are several existing specifications for different product types from Zhaga:

Book 15: Rectangular LED modules for use with lens arrays

Book 15 defines a family of rectangular LED modules that are intended to be used with lenses or arrays of lenses (also known as lens plates).

The modules require a separate LED driver (electronic control gear) and usually will be mounted on a heat sink.

The specification defines several attributes of the LED modules, to enable accurate alignment with the lenses, but the lenses themselves are NOT defined in this specification.

Book 15 modules with lenses are typically used for outdoor lighting applications, including roadway, pathway and outdoor-area lighting.

Rectangular LED modules for use with lens arrays

Book 16: Planar, circular LED light engines with integrated driver

Book 16 defines a family of planar, circular LED light engines (LLEs) with an integrated driver. Such LLEs are especially suited for use in flat, circular, low-luminance applications.

Book 16 has five LLE categories, defined by their maximum diameter. Two more sub-categories allow easy mounting in existing luminaires.

Planar, circular LED light engines with integrated driver

Book 18: Outdoor connectivity interface for smart luminaires

By describing a connectivity fit system for smart outdoor luminaires, Book 18 marks Zhaga’s first contribution to the rapidly-emerging world of smart lighting.

Book 18 defines a standardized interface between an outdoor LED luminaire and a sensing/communication module that sits on the outside of the luminaire. The module connects to the LED driver and control system and typically can provide sensory inputs while also communicating with other luminaires in a network.

Outdoor connectivity interface for smart luminaires

The Zhaga specification will include a socketed receptacle that allows a compatible sensing/communication module to be easily removed and replaced. This will allow the luminaire to be upgraded easily via the addition of new smart capabilities to the module. Note that Book 18 will define the luminaire-module interface, but will not define the capabilities of the module.

Conclusion

Although now the application of LED Light Engine products are still chaotic, also with some problems and obstacles, we cannot denied that there is a future for LED Light Engine products with the development of led lighting market and introduction of more detailed and various LED Light Engines.

Let’s wait and see!

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5 things you need to know about LED Lights

5 things you need to know about LED Lights

After years of development, LED lights turn out to be a very common lighting product and widely applied to many aspects of our life. It is so popular that it has played a big part in our daily life and even changing our lifestyle. Although LED lights are relatively professional products with many electrical components and compact configuration, you can also be professionalism while identifying different kinds of lighting.

LED Lights are mainly made of 3 parts: housing, LED chip, LED driver, following 5 tips will show you how to find the good quality LED lights:

Weight

This might be weird but this is true, you can’t get good quality in very low weight product. As all LED lights require good heat dispassion, It can’t be accomplished without a good amount of aluminum. The housing(heat sink) make up a large proportion of the weight, normally it’s made with Aluminum, PC or Iron.

And, aluminum is with better heat dispassion than PC, weight, and cost are higher as well. To lower the cost, suppliers will use PC or very thin aluminum to make the heat sink(or housing),  These products won’t perform well even in a small span of time.

LED Chip

LED chips are manufactured by various big and small enterprises in the world. Japan and USA based suppliers make the highest quality for longer life and more reliability, such as CREE, Nichia, Lumileds, Osram, Bridgelux, etc. All is the matter of materials used in making chip.

The larger chip provides more lights, good stability against current variations, but it costs more. Cheap and small led chip provides less light and stability. Normally a good quality product will use good/brand LED chip.

LED Driver

LED driver consists of most of the electrical components in LED light, it is the heart of LED lightings. These electrical components are constructed together to provide good and stable performance. There are many big manufacturers that produce very good power supply, such as, Philips, Osram, Meanwell, Tridonic, etc.

LED lighting suppliers can directly apply these drivers to their lighting products, they can also choose LED drivers from domestic manufacturers with good quality and also good price, such as Lifud, or they can also design the driver on their own, to make it match their products better.

To see whether the driver is good or not, you can check if it has acquired relative certificates, e.g. ENECGSUL CE, etc.

Warranty

High quality LED light is with much longer life span (more than 50000hrs), and their warranty period is also much longer with 5 years warranty, some even have 7 years warranty. Some suppliers provide none warranty or just 1 years warranty for their products, it can be sure that this kind of LED lightings are with poor quality and won’t last long.

Design/Construction

Finally all together, how they construct LED lights is also important. Design, look, feel and strength need to be checked at the time of choosing LED. If paint or powder coating is not applied well, there might be a good chance that inside construction is also cheap.

While choosing LED lights, you can open the housing and see inside how the components are being constructed. If it’s laid out in a well-organized way, and components are stable, normally it’s ok.

 

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