Three Scalable Reference Designs Support Different Line Voltage Ranges and Offer High Power Factor (> 0.95) over a Wide Range of AC Input Voltage

ON Semiconductor, a premier supplier of high performance, energy efficient silicon solutions for green electronics, announced the launch of 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.

Other key features of the NCL30000 include a programmable on time limiter, zero current detect sense block, gate driver, plus all other pulse width modulation (PWM) circuitry and protection functions needed to implement a CrM switch mode power supply. The NCL30000 is the key device in a fully tested, GreenPoint® reference design for offline high power factor triac dimmable LED drivers intended for ENERGY STAR® commercial and residential luminaires. The reference design documentation can be found along with the other reference designs listed above on the ON Semiconductor website.

“Our customers have a need for dimmable LED driver solutions that are compatible with existing wiring and controls,” said Christophe Warin, AC-DC business unit manager at ON Semiconductor. ”The NCL30000 offers excellent dimming performance down to 2 percent. This device is ideally suited for isolated flyback but can also be used with non-isolated buck topologies.”

Packaging and Pricing
The Pb, halogen and BFR free NCL30000 is RoHS compliant and is available in an eight-pin SOIC package. It is priced at $0.45USD 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).