Comparison of self-oscillating electronic ballasts dimming methods with power factor correction for fluorescent lamps

This paper presents a comparative analysis of dimmable self-oscillating electronic ballast for fluorescent lamps. A review of general dimming methods presented in the literature is performed. A general analysis of each dimming method is made, and the operation with power factor correction was considered in order to evaluate the characteristic of each topology and to define other circuits more adequate for this purpose. A comparison based on literature review and experimental results of the implemented prototypes is carried out in order to establish the main conclusion from this analysis.