LED Light Engine and ZHAGA Alliance

Summary: At present, in the lighting industry, the discussion on LED light engine products has gradually increased, and people often have very different views on LED light engine products. Some people think that the product and the emergence of this technology is to save the current savior of the LED lighting market, and some people think that this product and the technology is a waste of LED resources, is a transitional product. Some people think that LED light engine products are the future of traditional lighting companies, and some people think that this product will only lead traditional lighting companies to a dead end. Why is this the case? Is the product immature? Is the technology difficult to master? Or is the product useless? Therefore, this article helps the reader to fully understand and master the LED by analyzing and analyzing the LED light engine and the international alliance ZHAGA. Light engine products and their applications.

Key word: LED light engine; promotion advantage of LED light engine; ZHAGA Alliance;

What is the LED light engine?

The LED light engine consists of an LED package (component) or LED array (module), an LED driver, and an overall combination of other photometric, thermal, mechanical, and electrical components that pass through a conventional connection that matches the LED fixture. The device is directly connected to the branch circuit. Therefore, the LED light engine is a device between the LED lamp and the LED lamp. The difference from the LED lamp is that it does not contain a standard lamp cap and cannot be directly connected to the branch circuit. The same point as the LED lamp can have a set light distribution. And cooling function. This product can effectively improve the stability of LED indoor lamps and improve various performance parameters (such as color rendering, system light effect, etc.), so it is the focus of future research and development and promotion of major LED lighting manufacturers.

What are the advantages of LED light engine?

1. Standardized manufacturing is conducive to the promotion of LED lamps.

At present, LED lighting fixtures are booming, especially indoor LED lamps are newly added by new companies every day, and new lamps are born. Therefore, the LED indoor lighting market is varied and has its own way, which brings great inconvenience to the standardized production and promotion of indoor LED lamps. Since the LED light engine is a standardized product, different LED lighting manufacturers can select different LED light engines to design and manufacture LED lamps according to different applications. Especially for new LED lighting manufacturers entering the market, just need to find several standard LED light engine products to design their own lamps, there is no need to worry about mass production, because the same standard LED light engine products can have Many manufacturers choose, and the standardized LED light engine products can be easily mass-produced.

2. Reduce the R&D expenses of LED lighting manufacturers and shorten the production cycle.

Traditional light source luminaire design only needs to involve optics and structure. However, due to the lack of standards for LED luminaire products, current LED lighting manufacturers need to deploy electronic, electrical, and heat-dissipation in addition to optical and structural professionals. Such as professionals, thus greatly increasing the burden on LED lighting manufacturers, and formed a high threshold for new LED lighting manufacturers, which is not conducive to the development of the entire LED industry. Therefore, how to effectively reduce the research and development costs of LED lighting fixtures and shorten the production cycle has become a major problem in the LED industry. With the standard LED light engine, the above problems can be solved. Since LED light engine products have considered electronic, electrical and primary heat dissipation and primary light distribution, LED lighting manufacturers only need to consider the structure of the lamp, secondary heat dissipation and secondary light distribution. Yes, which greatly reduces the development cost of LED lighting fixtures and shortens the production cycle.

3. Improve the overall performance of LED lamps (such as luminous efficiency, color rendering and color temperature), and improve the application quality of LED lamps.

Since the LED light engine clearly specifies the output lumens, color rendering index, system luminous efficiency, color temperature persistence, viewing angle width and other parameters of different applications, and the specified parameters are up to the highest level in the industry, the application of the LED lighting is improved. Quality has been greatly improved and effective protection.

ZHAGA Alliance promotes LED light engine

The European-based ZHAGA Alliance is an organization that standardizes LED light engine product standards and develops standardization of LED light engine product interfaces. Its purpose is to achieve the interchangeability of lamps used by different LED lamp manufacturers based on ZHAGA standard products. The continuous and rapid development of LED technology, ZHAGA standards cover the physical link, optical, electrical, light distribution, heat dissipation and other major links, and ultimately achieve the compatibility of products between different manufacturers in the ZHAGA Alliance. Change, replacement, etc., so if the country's LED regulations and standards focus on performance quality (such as: life, energy efficiency, color temperature and so on), then the ZHAGA Alliance solves the problem of interchangeability between manufacturers, such as Figure 1 shows:

figure 1

In addition, the establishment of the ZHAGA standard will help prevent the market differentiation of non-compatible optical engine products, enabling LED lamp manufacturers to purchase compatible LED light engine products on the market with confidence. In addition, the establishment of the ZHAGA standard promotes technological innovation in the field of LED lighting applications, and enhances the overall efficiency of the LED lighting industry, helping the regulated and orderly LED lighting market.

Introduction to the ZHAGA Alliance

The ZHAGA Alliance is an open organization whose name "ZHAGA" is said to have been directly transliterated from the name "Zhazi" of a waterfall in Sichuan, China. It has no special meaning. Members of its alliance can share IPR intellectual property rights and open to companies in the lighting industry, so the organization includes LED light engine product manufacturers and LED lighting manufacturers, as well as component suppliers (such as heat sinks and Optical components). The alliance currently has 162 company members, mainly from Europe, Asia and North Africa. TRIDONIC is one of the main members of the ZHAGA Alliance.

How many LED light engine products does the ZHAGA Alliance currently define?

At present, the ZHAGA Alliance has defined and approved four major light engine products, which are: 1. Pluggable LED tube light engine with integrated control device; 2. LED shooting light engine with external control device; 3. External type The pluggable LED tube light engine of the control device; 4. The LED road light engine of the external control device. Currently the alliance is developing 2-3 LED light engine products, and plans to launch this year, the following is the specific situation of the already launched LED light engine products.

1. Pluggable LED tube light engine with integrated control unit

In February 2011, the ZHAGA Alliance adopted the first LED light engine product specification, which was a brand new innovation in LED application and product design at the time. It is a built-in control driver, pluggable replacement light source, standard light source base, which greatly facilitates the development and application based on this LED lamp, fully demonstrating the interchangeability advantages. Figure 2 is a specific product and the shape of the lamp based on the LED light engine:

figure 2

2. LED lighting engine for external control unit

In June 2011, the ZHAGA Alliance passed the second LED light engine product specification, which is the LED shooting light engine of the external control device. It is the most successful LED light engine product currently applied and promoted. More than 10 are known. Mainstream LED light engine manufacturers (eg TRIDONIC; OSRAM; PHILLIPS; LG, etc.) use and follow the specifications of the ZHAGA light engine.

Figure 3 shows some of the current market specifications for using and following the specifications of this LED light engine:

Figure III

In February 2011, the ZHAGA Alliance adopted the third LED light engine product specification. The first product extension, in order to make the LED tube light engine product more flexible and convenient at the application level, ZHAGA introduced external control. The device's pluggable LED tube light engine enriches the range of LED downlight application light engine products, and its specifications are shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4

4, LED lighting engine for external control device

Due to the harsh conditions of outdoor lighting, especially for road application LED light source products, the ZHAGA Alliance passed the specification of the only LED road lighting engine with the only external control device at the end of 2011. Its specifications are shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5

to sum up

Although the application of LED light engine products at this stage is quite confusing, there are still some problems and obstacles, and the specifications of the ZHAGA Alliance LED light engine are still few, but as the LED market matures and LED light engine product specifications gradually introduce It is undeniable that the future of LED light engine products is bright, as long as we maintain a rigorous attitude, scientific way and responsible attitude to develop LED light engine products, to promote LED light engine products, to apply LED light engine products, So the benefits of LED light engine products bring us the benefits of the LED lighting industry, and the benefits to humans are in the near future.

Therefore, I firmly believe that LED light engine products will bring us a new future of LED lighting applications!