An Electrolytic Capacitor-less High Power Factor LED Driver with Pulsating Output Current

Conventional Off-Line (50-60Hz) light emitting diode (LED) drivers usually need an electrolytic capacitor to reduce power imbalance between ac input and dc output, and to decrease the low-frequency component of the output ripple. However, electrolytic capacitor is the key component which limits the lifespan of LED driver. If a driver uses a pulsating output current, the electrolytic capacitor can be omitted. This paper proposes a high power factor LED driver with high frequency pulsating driving current, in which electrolytic capacitor has omitted from the topology. The driver has two outputs that allow the number of driving LEDs to increase, an LED string will be connected to each output and a single switch is used in series with each LED string, thus the number of switches is equal to the number of outputs. Output and Storage capacitor voltages are sensed and used to implement the control method to regulate the output current. Low cost and high efficiency can be obtained due to the power structure and the proposed control method. Simulations, calculations and experimental results are provided for the proposed circuit.