A Voltage Source Charge Pump Power Factor Correction Electronic Ballast For Fluorescent Lamp With No Start-Up Capacitor

A new family of electronic ballasts for fluorescent lamps employing the voltage source-charge pump power factor correction (VS-CPPFC) concept with no start-up C_r capacitor is presented in this paper. Besides allowing the power factor correction, the C_in capacitor has also the function of achieving the start-up process of the lamps. Thereby, the proposed electronic ballasts present a high input power factor and arise as an interesting solution for large scale production since the amount of components is reduced. The unity power factor condition is obtained from the developed mathematical analysis. Experimental results of a prototype applying the developed methodology for 2times40 W lamps using fixed frequency drive and of another prototype for 2times40 W lamps with a self-oscillating drive prove the effectiveness of the proposed electronic ballasts