Estimation of controllability and power losses of tapped-inductor converter used as dimmable driver for light-emitting diodes

Modern lighting technology is developing in the direction of smart lighting systems. This explains the growing popularity of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) that have the most suitable parameters for such systems. Effective regulation of the LED brightness is still a topical issue that encourages researchers for the invention of new approaches. Recently articles have been published on the use of tapped-inductor converters as LED drivers, where high step-down ratio applications were discussed. This article focuses on the estimation of controllability parameters of such a kind of converters operating in continuous current mode. Numerical calculations and experimental results are presented in the paper. Conclusion about a better topology and configuration with described comparison criteria based on theoretical study and experimental results is given at the end of the article. Weight and size estimation of tapped-inductor converter configured for the best performance from point of view of considered parameters also is given in this paper.