ATS will be at APEC 2016 in Long Beach California on March 20-24th. Our Sr. Director of Product Development, Peter Resca will be speaking on “Thermal Challenges and Solutions for Industrial Solid State Lighting Applications” and he’ll be chairing the thermal track at APEC 2016. Here’s a synopsis of what Peter will be talking about at APEC:
The focus of this presentation is to describe the challenges of thermal management in Industrial lighting applications, the implications of temperature stress on the system, a practical guide to identifying the problem and various methods to resolve the issue.
The emergence of LED technology has changed the shape of the lighting industry. The implementation of LED applications allows the designers to take advantage of several key characteristics of the technology. This includes energy efficiency and the ability to control the direction, color, timing, etc. of the light source itself. These attributes can be particularly effective in industrial and commercial applications where harsh environments, building automation controls and cost of deployment may be different than consumer fixtures.
Light emitting diodes are semiconductor devices and thus they have the benefits and limitations of such devices. The benefits include optimum energy efficiencies, volume manufacturing and hi package density. One key factor in deployment is how to efficiently dissipate the power produced. Lack of attention to thermal stress can lead to many undesirable results. Performance can be impacted as an LED spectrum can change as a factor of heat. Color change can cause issues in fixtures for color matching and design elements. Temperature stress is also the key contributing factor to failure mechanisms. Poor thermal management therefore can affect fixture life, time to replacement and visual quality, if portions of the LED matrix age prematurely.
To identify the challenges and address the concerns it is helpful to begin with a full model of the application. This can start at the outside environment, to the enclosure, the PCB, the LED package and the die. Additionally it is helpful to consider how power is dissipated including conduction, convection and radiation. With the problem defined and the available paths known, an optimized solution can be developed. There are multiple variables to the equation, but by identifying the dominant factor a resistance network can then be developed which will lead to a solution that can be validated analytically, computationally and experimentally.
The thermal management of solid state lighting has unique challenges when deployed for industrial and commercial installations. Replacement cost can be high if accessibility is limited. The application may require high intensity or large coverage which increases the overall dissipation, often in a small package. Frequently, the environment is a critical design factor with outdoor implementations requiring consideration of solar loading and sealed enclosures. Finally, there is an increase in building automation which can add an element of sensing, communication and computing control in the light head to be considered which is equally sensitive to the local ambient. (Note: A simple case study illustrating the process will be provided as part of the presentation)
The solid state lighting market continues to grow and allow for increasingly sophisticated applications. It is critically important that design and system engineers understand the challenge and are equipped to address these concerns. With careful analysis of the environment, calculation of the source, examination of the options and implementation of the solution, engineers can take advantage of LEDs to improve current applications while exploring new markets for the technology.
We hope to see everyone there! At APEC 2016, Our session code is IS05 our Location is 201A and the Thermal Track will be on March 23, from 8:30AM to 10:10AM