LIGHTING DESIGN & APPLICATION

A new lighting technology has made its debut on the market. Set to rival "conventional" LED and HID, light emittig plasma (LEP) uses radio frequency power and no electrodes.

Introducing light emitting plasma (LEP)

The power supply in plasma lights converts electrical power to radio frequency (RF) power, a process that vaporises the contents of the light emitting plasma (LEP) bulb to a plasma state, generating an extremely bright source of light. It produces high-intensity, full-spectrum illumination and is used in large scale, high lumen applications such as municipal, industrial, stadium, and street and area lighting. Efciency LEP luminaires can achieve over 90% optical efficiency in most applications. Luminaire efficiency is also improved significantly by their "directionality feature": since all the light is directed toward the area to be lit, there are no optical losses resulting from light going in the wrong direction (see Fig. 1). Light output A advantage of LEP over LED and HID is its ability to scale in lumen output without losing efficiency. E.g., doubling the light output of an LED fixture requires twice as many LEDs, optics, and drivers. Thermal cross-talk lowers efficiency of individual LEDs. Adding components drives up cost and compromises system reliability, and luminaire size increases proportionally. With LEP sources, light output can be doubled by scaling the size of the bulb and using a higher power amplifier. This impacts system performance only marginally. The source size remains small compared to the illumination optics and the emitter becomes more efficacious, poviding higher optical efficiency at high outputs. Light distribution The LEP emitter consists of a small Information from Ilanga Lighting

Fig. 1: LEPs directional point source allows luminaire designs to maximise the amount of useful light for target illumination areas eliminating wasted light in the form of glare and light pollution.

electrode-less quartz lamp encased by a ceramic resonator. This construction emits light from a small area in a forward direction into a lambertian pattern. A smaller source reduces the amount of optics needed to achieve the required
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level of glare cutoff and illumination while ensuring uniformity. Natural illumination LEPs plasma arc emits a full-spectrum white light directly, without the need for

Unlike typical HID lights, LEP sources do not need to be de-rated for the length of operating cycles. A typical 400 W metal halide lamp can be expected to last 18 000 hours with a 50% survival rate. Its lifetime is de-rated by as much as 25% for lamp orientation and by up to 50% for short operating cycles. Energy efciency Energy savings using LEP luminaires comes from a combination of source and application efficiency. LEPs source efficacy (lumens created per watt used) is automatically 15 to 20% higher than that of HID since none of the power is wasted in heating electrodes. Plasma source efficacy ranges from 115 to 150 lm/W at operating temperatures. On the applications front, LEP can be used more effectively than HID, induction or LED because of its directionality and size. The directional source prevents light from being trapped inside the luminaire. Point source optics effectively maps the source to the illuminated area, preventing unwanted light spill (causing glare and light pollution). Controls integration LEP is the only high intensity light source that can be dimmed down to 20% of light output within seconds with both analogue and digital controls (see Fig. 3). This is due to an intelligent solid-state driver and emitter configuration. Dimming increases the longevity of the LEP source and the drive electronics, creating an opportunity to reduce energy consumption and operating costs by means of dimmers, and occupancy and daylight sensors. Built-in features of the LEP driver include: Direct 1 to 10 V input for dimming. Direct low-voltage input control by occupancy sensors. Serial interface for digital controls (can interface with Dali and other controls protocols). Logging of operating parameters including temperature, voltage, current and other diagnostics. The science behind LEP California based light emitting plasma solutions provider Luxim's plasma lighting architecture consists of an emitter (a lamp embedded in a ceramic resonator) and an RF driver which is both a solid-state amplifier and microcontroller. The RF driver generates a radio frequency

Fig. 2: LEP systems are rated for 70% lumen maintenance at 50 000 hours.

secondary phosphor conversion as is the case with LED or induction sources. The natural illumination generated from the LEP source enhances visibility and color appearance with a CRI of up to 95. The full-spectrum signature also provides increased mesopic/ scoptopic illuminance (with S-P ratio 2,4), enchancing night time visibility. Reliability The design of the LEP source and solid

state driver eliminates the failures associated with other lighting. LEP lamps do not suffer the electrode failure or cause tungsten sputter (wall darkening) that metal halide and HPS lamps are know for. The solid state RF generator is a semiconductor device made to withstand extended, continuous use. LEP systems for general lighting applications are rated for 70% lumen maintenance (L70) at 50 000 hours (see Fig. 2).

Fig. 3: LEP systems overview.

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Fig. 4: The plasma is energized in three steps.

signal which is guided into the ceramic resonator via a low loss coaxial cable. The structure of the resonator concentrates the RF field, delivering energy to the sealed lamp without electrodes and filaments. The highly concentrated electric field ionises the gases and vaporises the halides in the lamp, creating a plasma state at its center. This results in a source of intense, white light. At the back of the lamp, a diffuse, yet highly reflective material is used to reflect this light forwards. The colour of the light is tailored by the fill chemistry inside the lamp to provide natural white and high colour rendering light. The principle is to energize a plasma arc without filaments or electrodes and so eliminate all failure modes and inefficiencies associated with HID lamps. This is accomplished in three steps (see Fig. 4): Step 1: An RF circuit is established by connecting an RF power amplifier to a ceramic resonator known as a puck. In the center of the puck is a sealed quartz lamp that contains materials consistent with metal halide lamps. Step 2: The puck, driven by the power amplifier, creates a standing wave confined within its walls. The electric field is strongest at the center of the lamp, which ionizes the gases, creating a glow. Step 3: The ionized gas heats up and evaporates the metal halide materials, forming an intense column within the lamp. This plasma column is centered within the quartz envelope and radiates light. LEP vs. LED The main difference between these two forms of solid state lighting is that LEP uses the solid state device to generate RF energy, which powers the plasma light source. In other words, LED technology uses the device itself for light generation. Similarities between them include the directionality of the light output, component reliability and control systems integration. LEP provides higher lumen density than LED (200 times greater), and a full color spectrum without phosphor conversion. LEP vs. HID LEP electrodes uses solid state electronics resulting in better source efficacy, application efficiency, and reliability. Powering a lamp without electrodes in a compact resonator allows a completely sealed and more robust quartz lamp, a directional beam pattern to improve optical efficiency, and the ability to dim without impacting lamp life. Like HID, LEP can scale to high lumen packages easily without the need of multiple sources. Contact Thomas Bond, Ilanga Lighting, Tel 011 614-4327, Thomas@ilangalighting.co.za
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