Comparison of Self-Oscillating Electrode and Electrode-Less Compact Fluorescent Lamps from Loss Perspective

Integrated compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) are gaining a major share of the market owing to their low power consumption and long life. In this work the performance of integrated electronic ballasts for both electrode and electrode-less lamps is explored in terms of their efficiencies. The power losses were measured in a high precision mini-calorimeter. A break down of the power losses in the two ballast circuits was done by simulation in PSPICE environment. Moreover, the effect of voltage dimming upon the power losses in electrode-less lamp ballast is also shown. The results are helpful in pointing to how the efficiency of these ballast circuits can be improved.