Analysis and Control of Electrolytic Capacitor-Less LED Driver Based on Harmonic Injection Technique

AC-DC LED drivers may have a lifespan shorter than the lifespan of LED chips if electrolytic capacitors are used in their construction. Using film capacitors solves this problem but, as their capacitance is considerably lower, the low-frequency ripple will increase. Solving this problem by limiting the output ripple to safe values is possible by distorting the input current using harmonic injection technique, as long as these harmonics still complies with Power Factor Regulations (Energy Star). This harmonic injection alleviates the requirements imposed to the output capacitor in order to limit the low-frequency ripple in the output. This idea is based on the fact that LEDs can be driven by pulsating current with a limited Peak-To-Average Ratio (PTAR) without affecting their performance. By considering the accurate model of LEDs, instead of the typical equivalent resistance, this paper presents an improved and more reliable calculation of the intended harmonic injection. Wherein, its orders and values can be determined for each input/output voltage to obtain the specified PTAR and Power Factor (PF). Also, this harmonic injection can be simply implemented using a single feedback loop, its control circuit has features of wide bandwidth, simple, single-loop and lower cost. A 21W AC-DC buck converter is built to validate the proposed circuit and the derived mathematical model and it complies with IEC61000 3-2 class D standard.