New Industry Products

Power Factor Corrected AC-DC Drivers for LED Lighting

December 17, 2014 by Jeff Shepard

ON Semiconductor announces two new series of offline ac-dc drivers that include power factor correction (PFC) for high-performance LED lighting applications. Extending the NCL3008x family of products, the NCL30085, NCL30086 and NCL30088 address single stage design implementations up to 60W that require high power factor. The NCL30030 broadens the existing solutions which support higher power (up to 150W) two-stage topologies that require low optical ripple and wide LED forward voltage variation.

“Compact, robust and flexible, these new PFC controllers address the need for higher performance solutions in the LED lamp and driver market,” said Shane Chilton, senior director of the AC-DC Power Conversion division at ON Semiconductor. “These solutions deliver precise current regulation via our unique architecture. This translates into LED lighting designs that are more flexible and can be future proofed with a common control approach.”

The NCL30085, NCL30086 and NCL30088 utilize a power factor corrected current control algorithm which makes them suitable for flyback buck-boost, and SEPIC topologies. By operating in quasi-resonant mode these devices are able to deliver optimum efficiency across wide line and load levels. The innovative control methodology they employ allows strict current regulation to be achieved (within 2 percent typically) solely from the primary side.

The non-dimmable NCL30088 is complemented by the NCL30086, which is ‘smart-dimmable’, supporting analog and/or pwm dimming with a single input that controls the average LED current. Completing the series is the NCL30085 which supports three levels of log step dimming (70 percent, 25 percent and 5 percent). As a consequence, it permits light output reduction by toggling the ac switch on/off to signal the controller to lower the LED current point. All three devices feature user configurable current thermal fold-back mechanisms that help prevent overheating and enable manufacturers to support longer lifetime warranties. The NCL30085 and NCL30088 are offered in SOIC-8 packages, while the NCL30086 is offered in SOIC-10 package with pricing of the series starting at $0.35 per unit in 10,000 unit quantities.