LED driver suppliers underscore units with IP67, IP68 ratings

Makers remain focused on improved product performance to take advantage of growing requirement in outdoor lighting.

China LED driver manufacturers are advancing their IP67 and IP68-rated selections, targeting the climbing demand fueled by ongoing street and tunnel lighting replacement projects worldwide. In addition to greater dust and water resistance, the products are fully potted with silicone and have an aluminum housing for better heat dissipation.

Suppliers emphasize improved efficiency and life span as well. They employ power factor correction, pulse width modulation, high frequency and synchronous rectifier technologies, achieving 85 to 90 percent efficiency in most releases and as high as 94 percent in upscale models. Boke LED Drivers Co. Ltd's units boast 85 to 94 percent efficiency. Typical releases come with built-in protection against overcurrent, -voltage, -heating and short circuit for reliable performance.

To ensure operating life of up 50,000 hours, makers use electrolytic capacitors from Japan's Rubycon, Nippon Chemi- Con and Nichicon. A rising number are likewise turning to the local supply as component quality enhancements continue. The key domestic providers are Aishi and Beryl. Xiamen Evada Electronics Co. Ltd purchases capacitors from Rubycon, Nichicon and Aishi. Boke sources from Rubycon and Nippon Chemi-Con.

For added energy-saving features, suppliers continue to pursue intelligent control, stressing 0 or 1 to 10VDC and PWM-based dimming at present. In future models, they aim to enable this function real time through networking via sensors, cloud computing and the Internet of Things.

The global LED outdoor illumination market will be about $1.9 billion by 2017, according to Strategies Unlimited. The projected CAGR in 2012-17 based on street and tunnel light shipments is 30 percent. In 2013, nearly 2 million lights and equipment were installed. The number is expected to surge by 400 percent within the next five years, securing more opportunities for the LED driver industry.

For local power supply companies, there is a rapidly expanding application base in China. Under the national government's 12th Five-Year Plan for semiconductor lighting development, there will be 50 demonstration cities implementing the conversion program by end-2015, translating to 2 million LED streetlights. Guangdong province is targeting 300,000 units. From this, the domestic market for such luminaires will climb to $37 billion by the year's end from $23 billion in 2013.

China manufacturers of IP67 and IP68-rated LED drivers therefore look to realize a sales increase surpassing 20 percent in coming months. Xiamen Evada is anticipating up to 30 percent boost, while Boke targets 20 percent.

There are more than 400 makers of LED power supplies in China, of which 80 percentare locally owned.

The Pearl River and Yangtze River Delta regions are the key production hubs, with Guangdong in the first gathering about 60 percent of the maker pool.

See a comparison table of LED driver suppliers on GlobalSources.com