What are LED's and how they benefit your lighting schemes

LED lighting are a very efficient light source with many benefits. LEDs offer light which is free of UV and infrared frequencies, with a minimal energy consumption and a life expectancy in excess of 50,000 operating hours in a compact and micro package. LED technical development and "improvement of light output doubles every 2 years.

Today LEDs have already exceeded the values of halogen and incandescent lamps. In the near future the light output/efficiency will approach that of fluorescent lighting.

The "Light Emitting Diode", for short "LED", consists of the actual LED chip, a reflector, a contact wire, and plastic housing which culminates the light in a lens. The LED chip itself is a semi-conductor which emits light when stimulated by electricity. The diverse LED light colours red, green, blue, yellow and amber are achieved by the use of different semi-conductor materials. White LED light can be created by two different methods.The first method is by mixing red, green, and blue colours (RGB).

This method is used in our LED-strips, LED-light-bank, RGB-bulbs, and LED inserts. The other method is a white light emitting LED. Normally this is done by using a blue LED coated with a yellow phosphor powder that filters the blue emitted light to produce a white colour.

By using a precise concentration of the applied phosphor, only a white light will be visible. LEDs function like a normal diode: It works like a check-valve and will allow the current to pass through in only one direction. Therefore, the LED must be operated and connected in the "open" direction in order to get the LED to emit light.

This is achieved by connecting the anode with the positive pole and the cathode with the negative pole.

If it is connected in reverse, the current will not flow through and the LED will not light up. If the LED is accidentally connected to AC (alternating current) the so called "50Hz - Flicker" will occur. This is the result of the positive and negative changes of the half wave (cycle).

Depending upon the colour of the LED, the operating voltage can vary from 1,8V to 3,6V. A standard 5mm LED, as shown on the right side, operates on a maximum current of 20mA. Higher current will cause over-heating and reduce the life expectancy significantly or may also destroy the LED immediately. Therefore, LEDs should only be operated with an in-line resistor, sized according to the supplied voltage.

High power-LEDs demand a stricter operating standard for a uniform control of the current. Only by using the precise current (e.g. 350mA on 1W LED or 700mA on 3W LED) the maximum brightness will be achieved, without destroying the LED. Therefore, high power LEDs should only be operated with a special LED-Driver.

Standard electronic components have a tolerance of up to 10%, but the LEDdriver delivers a very precise and controlled current, even when the voltage fluctuates.

Voltage fluctuations in a normal power supply will also result in a fluctuation that may exceed the maximum allowed current of the high power LEDs, causing a premature failure.When a white high power LED is connected to a 350mA constant current LED-Driver, the secondary voltage is approx. 3,2V.

When another high power LED is added to the circuit in series, the current will remain constant at 350mA, while at the same time voltage will increase to circa 6,4V. high power LEDs should always be connected in series with the LED driver. If the high power LEDs are accidentally connected in parallel to the LED driver, the secondary current will be split, thus causing a decrease in the current supplied to each LED.

With the explanation above, it gets clear that a specific installation method is imperative in order to avoid overloading and damaging the LED.

As a general rule: first connect the secondary leads (LEDs to driver), then connect the primary 220V leads (Driver to 220V).

We are presenting a variety of LED-products, all take advantage of the technical benefit of utilizing LEDs as an alternative to traditional light sources.