Greater light intensity drives interest in COB high-power LEDs

Makers of high-power LEDs look to the potential market in more lighting applications for COB encapsulation, which allows a single circuit to support more LEDs.

Production of high-power LEDs in China includes those adopting SMD and COB packages. It is the latter type, however, that is gaining traction among local suppliers. COB encapsulation is based on a single-circuit design but can accommodate a bigger number of diode chips, making it a compact yet brighter solution that has low thermal resistance and is also easier and less costly to use. These attributes have been extending COB LEDs' application. In small-pitch LED displays, such diodes have a 5 percent share of the market, which is forecast to surpass 10 percent in the next one or two years and take the mainstream in the future, according to LEDinside.

In addition to high luminance and small size, high-power LEDs boast a quick response time and long operating life. These are widely used in lighting streets, stadiums, railways and mines, and now likewise find a niche in general illumination in homes and workplaces.

Besides SMD and COB types, there is a developing trend toward System in Package or SiP variants in the LED industry. This configuration integrates the diode chips and various components, including power supplies and sensors, for an all-in-one solution. One domestic maker that has presented such products is Crescent.

China's high-power LED sector posted between 5 and 10 percent sales value growth annually in the past several years, driven mainly by demand from the LED lighting industry. The same rate of increase is expected in the near term.

Suppliers such as Shenzhen Yuan Ming Technology Co. Ltd are raising output. The manufacturer, which specializes in high-power LEDs, introduced new production equipment for this to maintain a sales increase of 10 percent in 2020.

Local makers are anticipating added benefit from climbing requirement in small-pitch LED displays. Forecasts on this application market put CAGR at 28 percent globally from 2018 to 2022, with P1.1 and below LED displays mainly adopting COB LEDs to register CAGR as high as 62 percent, according to LEDinside.

China is one of the key manufacturing bases for high-power LEDs in the world. About 300 companies constitute its supplier pool and more than two-thirds are locally owned. The majority offers SMD and COB LEDs and the rest one or the other. For most, the category represents between 20 and 80 percent of shipments and related optoelectronics products the remainder. A few are devoted entirely to the line.

Makers are spread over the cities of Shenzhen, Dongguan, Zhongshan and Zhuhai in Guangdong province, Xiamen in Fujian, Suzhou in Jiangsu and Wenzhou in Zhejiang.

SMD & COB units

Mainstream high-power LEDs come in SMD and COB types in white, and warm and cool white. Most meet CE, RoHS and UL standards.

The SMD subcategory consists of single- and multichip models with power rating exceeding 1W. By size, the typical choices include 5050, 3528, 2835 and 3014.

COB kinds come in 10 to 100W square, rectangular and round units.

Companies source LED chips from LG, Cree, Samsung, Epistar and Epileds. They also turn to local providers such as San'an, HC Semitek and Elec-Tech, and use the chips in entry-level and midrange products. The rest of the manufacturing inputs, including substrates and gold wires, are from the domestic supply.

A slight increase in the cost of materials and components pushed up the prices of high-power LEDs by 5 to 10 percent in the past year. Both are expected to stabilize in the months ahead.

The products in this gallery have been handpicked by our China-based market analyst for representing current trends in high-power LEDs from China makers.

High-power LED has 80 CRI

Model DL-TOP3045UA-1W high-power LED from Hong Kong Double Light Electronics Technology Co. Ltd has 80 CRI, 590nm wavelength and 120-degree viewing angle. The 1W-rated SMD unit comes in white, green, blue, red, yellow and amber.

The minimum order for this RoHS-compliant product is 1,000 units. Delivery lead time is 7 days.

Inquire Now

18W-rated high-power LED

Shenzhen Learnew Optoelectronics Technology Co. Ltd's LN-CVS18MW-P18-11 model is a high-power LED with a voltage of 45 to 50V and rated power of 18W. The R11mm COB unit measuring 18x18mm has a wavelength of 473, 530, 630, 665 or 735nm.

The minimum order is 1,000 units for delivery within 7 days.

Inquire Now

6.5 to 7.5V, 1 to 1.2A high-power LED

Rated at 10 to 12W, this high-power LED from Shenzhen Yuan Ming Technology Co. Ltd, 6565UV LED model, has 6.5 to 7.5V, 1 to 1.2A rating. The SMD unit has a lens beam angle of 60, 90 or 120 degrees and a wavelength of 365, 385, 395 or 405nm.

The negotiable order quantity has a delivery lead time of 7 days.

Inquire Now

3W-rated high-power LED has 700mA current

This CE-approved SMD high-power LED from Zhongshan Golden Sun Optoelectronic Technology Co. Ltd, JY-3W-LED model, has 3W rated power and 700mA current. Its wavelength and luminous flux are 620 to 630nm and 90 to 100 lumens for red, 450 to 460nm and 40 to 50 lumens for blue and 515 to 530nm and 110 to 200 lumens for green. For IR, the wavelength is 850 to 940nm. The white and warm-white variants have 2,800 to 7,000K correlated color temperature and 200 to 230 lumens luminous flux.

An order of at least 1,000 units is for delivery within 15 days.

Inquire Now