1386 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 41, NO.

5, SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2005
Evaluation of a Low-Cost Permanent Emergency
Lighting System Based on High-Efciency LEDs
Manuel Rico-Secades, Member, IEEE, Antonio J. Calleja, Member, IEEE, Javier Ribas, Member, IEEE,
Emilio L. Corominas, Member, IEEE, J. Marcos Alonso, Senior Member, IEEE, Jess Cardesn, Member, IEEE, and
Jorge Garca-Garca, Student Member, IEEE
AbstractNowadays, Permanent Emergency Lighting Systems
(PELSs) are widely used in many applications, including emer-
gency exit indication and lighting in critical or strategic points.
Limitation in operation hours in classical lamps (10 00020 000 h
for uorescent lamps) implies short lamp replacement times and,
therefore, high maintenance costs. This paper shows an alterna-
tive solution based on high-efciency LEDs. The long operation life
(above 100 000 h) of high-efciency LEDs with a very simple elec-
tronics circuitry implies an interesting solution for these types of
applications. A 30-lm and 1-h PELS has been built and tested. A
low-cost power supply has been built and used as a battery charger
and LED driver.
Index TermsEmergency lighting system, LEDs, lighting sys-
tems.
I. INTRODUCTION
I
N low-light-level applications, LEDs are widely used. The
use of LEDs for signalization has been well known for more
than a decade and for many different applications (several inter-
national references and patents can be found in the literature).
It is possible to nd several references to these types of appli-
cations
1
. In any case, the application of LEDs for lighting with
relatively important lighting levels is recent. The introduction
of new materials and manufacturing technologies allow us to
use high-efciency diodes for lighting applications with efca-
cies (lumens per watt) above incandescent lamp and growing to
uorescent efcacy levels. For instance, in this paper a White
LED of 18 lm/W from LUMILEDS has been used.
Operation life of high-efciency LEDs is one of the main ad-
vantages in lighting applications, for instance, the LUMILEDS
LED used in this paper after 100 000 h of operation reduces its
efciency to 40%. Additional advantages are the wide range of
temperature operation for 20 C to 120 C and the simplicity
Paper MSDAD-0517, presented at the 2003 Industry Applications Society
Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT, October 1216, and approved for publica-
tion in the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS by the Production
and Application of Light Committee of the IEEE Industry Applications Society.
Manuscript submitted for review October 15, 2003 and released for publica-
tion June 3, 2005. This work was supported in part by the Spanish company
GSSA, Llanera, Spain, by the Fundacin para la Investigacin Cientca y la
Tecnologa (FICYT) (Regional Organization), by the Comisin Interministerial
de Ciencia y Tecnologa (CICYT) (National Organization), by the Fondo Eu-
ropeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) (European Organization), and by the
European Union under COST Action 529.
The authors are with the UNIOVI-GEI Group. Universidad de Oviedo,
33204 Gijn, Spain (e-mail: manuel@ate.uniovi.es; calleja@ate.uniovi.es;
marcos@ate.uniovi.es; cardesin@ate.uniovi.es; jorge@ate.uniovi.es).
Digital Object Identier 10.1109/TIA.2005.853389
1
www.lumileds.com
of the supply system: no starting circuit is required and it works
with low and safe voltages. Prototypes built in this way are suit-
able for operation in open areas and freezing units.
Section II of this paper shows the electrical and photometric
characteristics of the LED used in this work. Section III shows
the ac-to-dc circuit used in the battery charger and permanent
LED operation. Having in mind a low-cost product, a very
simple dissipative ballast is proposed. A nal part of this work
(Sections IV and V) shows a complete overview of the adopted
solution and assembly details of the nal prototype.
II. HIGH-EFFICIENCY LED: DESCRIPTION AND SELECTION
The prototype of a Permanent Emergency Lighting System
(PELS) is designed in order to supply light levels above 30 lm
during mains operation. After a mains failure the light level must
remain above 30 lm for 1 h. In Fig. 1, the basic structure of a
PELS is shown.
LUMILEDS emitter type LXHL-PW01 has been used in this
work. This diode is based in a blue LED (InGaN) chip covered
with a phosphor that absorbs some of the blue light and uo-
resces with a broad spectral output ranging from mid-green to
mid-red (see Fig. 2). This diode is a 1-W LED with a nominal
voltage of 3.42 V at nominal current of 350 mA. Luminous ux
at this point is around 14 lm (maximum 18 lm). Temperature
has an important inuence on the light emission, the nominal
luminous ux of 14 lm at 25 C reduces to 10% with opera-
tion around 60 C. Three units of the emitter LXHL-PW01 are
enough in order to achieve light levels of 30 lm during all the
operation conditions and for 50 000 h in the PELS prototype.
Considering voltage and current nominal operation and oper-
ation temperature below 60 C the luminous ux obtained is
initial lm;
light after operation hours lm.
In order to achieve the right operation temperature a custom-
made heat-sink holder has been built and tested at ambient tem-
perature around 30 C. The assembly of this holder is com-
patible with the previous plastic cases used in the present u-
orescent product commercialized for the Spanish company par-
ticipating in this project. Fig. 3 shows assembly details of the
custom-made heat-sink holder. This assembly of threee LEDs
behaves like a power load of 3.42 V and 1050 mA (parallel con-
nection).
0093-9994/$20.00 2005 IEEE
RICO-SECADES et al.: EVALUATION OF A LOW-COST PELS BASED ON HIGH-EFFICIENCY LEDs 1387
Fig. 1. Basic structure of a PELS.
Fig. 2. White LED spectrum.
Fig. 3. Assembly and details of the custom-made heat-sink holder designed.
III. AC-TO-DC CONVERTER FOR BATTERY CHARGER AND
PERMANENT LED OPERATION
The unit with three LEDs must always be supplied in both
normal operation and mains failure. After a mains failure the
LEDs must remain supplied from the battery unit for 1 h. A
light level above 30 lm must be maintained in any condition.
The output voltage of the ac-to-dc converter has been designed
with 6.5 V in order to allow us to supply the LED unit and to
charge the battery.
A series connection of four NiCd battery cells of 1800 mA h
has been used in our prototype. The voltage of the battery set is
1388 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 41, NO. 5, SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2005
Fig. 4. Basic structure of the ac-to-dc stage.
5.6 V at full charge and the minimum operation value is above
3.6 V.
Taking into account the nominal voltage of the LEDs unit
(3.42 V) and the output voltage selected (6.5 V) the correct op-
eration of the prototype can be assured in all conditions.
The basic structure of the ac-to-dc converter is based on the
low-cost IC TNY254G. A yback circuit working in discon-
tinuous conduction mode (DCM) has been implemented in the
usual way using this circuit. An output voltage of 6.5 V has
been easily obtained and isolated from the input using a low-
cost opto-coupler (TLP181) and a Zener diode of 6.5 V. The
magnetic element has been designed using the UO-M2T mag-
netic modeling tool in order to assure DCM operation in the
whole range of battery voltage. Use of surfacemounted de-
vices (SMDs) is preferred in this application. Fig. 4 shows the
basic structure of this stage.
The supply of LEDs from this voltage has been easily imple-
mented using a diode and a simple ballast resistance.
IV. BATTERY CHARGER, MAINS FAILURE DETECTION AND
LEDS SUPPLY FROM BATTERY
A transistor working in the active region has been used
as a dissipative battery charger in order to hold the bat-
tery charge current constant. This simple method allows us
to maintain constant charging current at any voltage bat-
tery level. The charging current has been xed to 180 mA
(C/10). The maximum voltage reached by the battery is 5.6 V
6.5 V V V 5.6 V . When the battery
reaches the voltage of 5.6 V the charge stops.
Another transistor working in the saturation region has been
used in order to supply the LEDs directly from the battery. The
use of this transistor allows us to easily implement a remote con-
trol, with 12-V voltage levels, mandatory in European regu-
lation for emergency lighting systems. Another simple solution
based on a very simple boost circuit has also been tested with
satisfactory performance. This alternative will be exhaustively
explained in future papers. The use of a boost solution allows us
a series connection on LED diodes with better performance in
the whole circuit and higher efcacy in the power to light con-
version.
A low voltage in the battery protection has also been imple-
mented using a very simple circuit with two transistors and one
Zener diode. This protection has been xed to 0.9 V per cell
(that is to say, 3.6 V for the Ni-Cd pack with four batteries).
The mains failure detection circuit has been implemented
with a transistor and Zener diode which detects voltage failure
in the ac-to-dc output. While mains voltage is present the LEDs
are supplied from the output of the ac-to-dc stage. When this
output voltage falls down to 3.6 V the mains failure detection
circuit acts, allowing LEDs supply from the battery. Small re-
sistances have been introduced in series with the LED in order
to assure the correct equalization of all of these devices. Fig. 5
shows a schematic of this circuitry.
V. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS AND CONCLUSION
A complete prototype has been built and tested satisfacto-
rily. Electrical, thermal, and optical characteristics have been
obtained from the prototype. Fig. 6 shows a photograph of the
nal version of the circuit including plastic cases and assembly
facilities.
The main data obtained from the prototype can be summa-
rized as follows:
operation from mains voltage
C;
bus voltage: 6.5 V;
total current (set three diodes): 1050 mA;
steady state luminous ux 33.7 lm;
steady-state heat-sink temperature 57 C;
operation from battery
C;
initial luminous ux 45 lm;
5 min luminous ux 38.8 lm;
60 min luminous ux 32.9 lm;
60 min heat-sink temperature 63 C;
RICO-SECADES et al.: EVALUATION OF A LOW-COST PELS BASED ON HIGH-EFFICIENCY LEDs 1389
Fig. 5. Simplied circuitry for battery charger, Mains failure detection and LEDs supply from battery.
Fig. 6. Final prototype.
duration until low-voltage battery actuation
104 min 22 lm;
thermal resistance of heat sink has been estimated
at 11 C/W.
Based upon the conclusions obtained from this rst prototype
of a PELS several new initiatives are now in progress in our
laboratories, including the following:
new heat-sink design in order to improve thermal dissipa-
tion and aesthetic considerations;
increase number of LED diodes in prototype (from three
to four) in order to reduce the current in each device (pro-
totypes with 250 mAare nowin progress), to improve per-
formance of the product and increasing the product life;
evaluate the use of a boost stage as LEDs power supply in
order to increase efcacy and power losses in the product.
The PELS prototype presented in this paper has been condi-
tioned from plastic cases from a previous design (a PELS with
4-W uorescent lamp). In this way, a goal of this work was to
maintain the physical appearance and all the plastic pieces. In
future developments, the physical appearance and plastic cases
can be the objects of a new design with new criteria (size reduc-
tion, heating dissipation, etc.).
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors also thank the Spanish company GSSA, Llanera,
Spain, for the plastic cases used in the nal version of the pro-
totypes.
REFERENCES
[1] Loctite 383 application notes, Henkel Group, Dsseldorf, Germany,
Jun. 1999.
[2] J. M. Alonso, P. Villegas, J. Daz, C. Blanco, and M. Rico-Secades, A
microcontroller-based emergency ballast for uorescent lamps, IEEE
Trans. Ind. Appl., vol. 44, no. 2, pp. 2072166, Mar./Apr. 1997.
[3] Handbook of Batteries, D. Linden, Ed., Mc Graw-Hill, NewYork, 1995.
[4] A. J. Calleja, J. M. Alonso, E. L. Corominas, J. Ribas, J. A. Martinez, and
M. Rico-Secades, Analysis and experimental results of a single-stage
high-power-factor electronic ballast based on yback converter, IEEE
Trans. Power Electron., vol. 14, no. 6, pp. 9981006, Nov. 1999.
[5] A. J. Calleja, M. Rico-Secades, J. Ribas, E. L. Corominas, J. M. Alonso,
J. Cardesn, and J. Garca, Alumbrado de Emergencia Permanente
de bajo coste basado en diodos LED de alta eciencia, presented
at the SAAEI 2003 Seminario Anual de Automtica, Electrnica e
Instrumentacin, Vigo, Spain, Sep. 2003.
1390 IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INDUSTRY APPLICATIONS, VOL. 41, NO. 5, SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2005
[6] TNY253/254/255 TinySwitch familyDatasheet and application
notes, Power Integrations Inc., San Jose, CA, Jul. 2001.
[7] UO-M2T Magnetic Modeling Tool Users Manual, Univ. Oviedo, Gijn,
Spain, 1998.
Manuel Rico-Secades (M87) was born in Oviedo,
Spain, in 1961. He received the M.Sc. and Ph.D. de-
grees in electrical engineering from the University of
Oviedo, Gijn, Spain, in 1986 and 1989, respectively.
Since 1986, he has been with the Electrical and
Electronic Engineering Department, University of
Oviedo, where he is currently a Full Professor. His
research interests include industrial electronics and
power electronics, in particular, resonant converters,
electronic ballast, discharge lamp modeling, dc-to-dc
converters, power-factor-correction topologies, and
industrial control. He has advised ten Ph.D. students in industrial electronics.
Dr. Rico-Secades was a recipient of the IEEE Industrial Electronics So-
ciety Meritorious Paper Award for 1996. He is currently a member of the
UNIOVI-GEI group (evaluated as group of excellence by Principado de
Asturias in Spain).
Antonio J. Calleja (S96A98M04) was born in
Len, Spain, in 1964. He received the B.Sc., M.Sc.,
and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Oviedo,
Gijn, Spain, in 1987, 1995, and 2000, respectively.
Since 1995, he has been an Assistant Professor at
the University of Oviedo. His research interests are
switching-mode power supplies, high-power-factor
rectiers, high-frequency electronic ballast, and
ozone generation systems.
Dr. Calleja is a Member of the International Ozone
Association (IOA).
Javier Ribas (S97M04) was born in Milwaukee,
WI, in 1971. He received the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees
from the University of Oviedo, Gijn, Spain, in 1995
and 2001, respectively.
In 1996, he became an Assistant Professor at
the University of Oviedo, where, since 2002, he
has been an Associate Professor. His research
interests include dc/dc converters, electronic lighting
systems, switching power supplies, inverters, and
high-power-factor rectiers.
Emilio L. Corominas (M97) was born in Oviedo,
Spain, in 1965. He received the M.Sc. and Ph.D. de-
grees in electrical engineering from the University of
Oviedo, Gijn, Spain, in 1992 and 1999, respectively.
In 1993, he joined the Electrical and Electronic
Engineering Department, University of Oviedo,
where he is currently an Associate Professor. His
research interests include high-frequency electronic
ballasts, discharge lamp modeling, high-frequency
switching converters, power-factor-correction con-
verters, and industrial control systems.
J. Marcos Alonso (S94A95M98SM03)
received the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical
engineering from the University of Oviedo, Gijn,
Spain, in 1990 and 1994, respectively.
From 1990 to 1999, he was an Assistant Professor
in the Electrical and Electronic Engineering Depart-
ment, University of Oviedo, where, since 1999, he
has been an Associate Professor. He is the primary
author of more than 40 journal and international con-
ference papers on power and industrial electronics
and has coauthored more than 100. His research
interests include high-frequency electronic ballasts, discharge lamp modeling,
power-factor-correction topologies, high-frequency switching converters,
power converters for electrostatic applications, and industrial control systems.
He is the holder of four Spanish patents with one more pending.
Dr. Alonso was a co-recipient of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society Mer-
itorious Paper Award for 1996. He is an active member of the IEEE, contributing
as a TRANSACTIONS Paper Reviewer and Conference Session Chairman, in ad-
dition to other work. Since October 2002, he has served as an Associate Editor
of the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER ELECTRONICS in the eld of lighting
applications. He is presently serving as a Guest Editor for the Special Issue
on Lighting Applications to be published in IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER
ELECTRONICS in May 2007. He is also a Member of the International Ozone
Association (IOA).
Jess Cardesn (S01A03M04) was born in
Oviedo, Spain, in 1970. He received the M.Sc. and
Ph.D. degrees from the University of Oviedo, Gijn,
Spain, in 1995 and 2002, respectively.
In 1999, he joined the Electrical and Electronic
Engineering Department, University of Oviedo,
where he is currently an Assistant Professor. His
research interests include dc/dc converters, elec-
tronic lighting systems, switching power supplies,
inverters, and high-power-factor rectiers.
Jorge Garca (S01) was born in Madrid, Spain, in
1975. He received the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in
electrical engineering from the University of Oviedo,
Gijn, Spain, in 2000 and 2003, respectively.
Since December 1999, he has been a Researcher
in the Electrical and Electronic Engineering Depart-
ment, University of Oviedo, developing electronic
systems for lighting and electronic switching power
supplies. Since 2002, he has also been an Assistant
Professor of Electronics. His research interests
include dc/dc converters and PFC stages, switching
power supplies, HF inverters for discharge lamps, and electronic starters for
HID lamps.