ON Semiconductor's new power factor corrected LED driver supports TRIAC dimming

PALM SPRINGS, USA: ON Semiconductor has launched a new power factor corrected dimmable LED driver for residential and commercial lighting applications.

Housed in a compact 8-pin surface mount package, the NCL30000 achieves high power factor (> 0.95) in a single-stage topology by using a critical conduction mode (CrM) flyback architecture, thereby eliminating the need for a DC-DC conversion stage. Constant on-time CrM operation is particularly suited to isolated flyback LED applications, as the control scheme is straightforward and very high efficiency can be achieved - even at low power levels. This is important in LED lighting in order to support compliance with regulatory requirements and meet overall system efficacy requirements.

Typical applications include LED driver power supplies, LED-based down lights, TRIAC dimmable LED-based lamps and power factor corrected constant voltage supplies. This device is compatible with both leading edge TRIAC-based and trailing edge transistor-based dimmers. Depending on the dimmer used, the LED output can be controlled down to < 2 percent.

Three up to 15 W reference designs are provided and are intended to drive from 4-15 LEDs at 350 mA. They can however, be easily modified to support power levels ranging from 5 W to 30 W:

* NCL30000LED1GEVB: 115 Vac version, 90 to 135 Vac input line (TRIAC Dimmable).
* NCL30000LED2GEVB: 230 Vac version, 180 to 265 Vac (TRIAC Dimmable).
* NCL30000LED3GEVB: Extended universal version, 90 to 305 Vac.

An operating temperature range of -40°C to +125°C ensures the NCL30000 can be used across environmental operating ranges specified in the majority of solid state lighting applications. The NCL30000 has a low startup current of 24 micro amps (µA) (typical) and a low operating current of 2 milli amps (mA) (typical) that helps support high efficiency designs.

The Pb, halogen and BFR-free NCL30000 is RoHS compliant and is available in an eight-pin SOIC package. It is priced at $0.45 per unit in 10,000 unit quantities. Samples are available now. Projected lead time for production quantities is currently eight to 12 weeks after receipt of order (ARO).