A Lifetime Performance Analysis of LED Luminaires Under Real-Operation Profiles

Abstract

Light-emitting diode (LED)-based lighting is the most dominant lighting solution in the current era since it is energy-efficient and long-lasting. Hence, performance analysis of the LEDs throughout its lifetime is of prime importance. The work presented in this article provides insight on degradation analysis of the LED luminaire inclusive of the LED driver in real operating ambient conditions and investigates the performance of both LED light engine and LED driver throughout the period of its lifetime. To represent the practical scenario of LED lighting system usage in commercial applications, analysis of switching cycles on the performance of LED luminaires is also studied. The outcome of this article suggests that LED luminaire under study tends to fail due to lumen degradation, followed by color shift represented by Duv and then lastly by driver failure. Scanning electron microscope and energy-dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) analysis suggests the corrosion of Ag mirror resulting in lumen output reduction and, thus, is the main reason for the failure of LED luminaire. This provides an insight into the LED manufacturing companies to have better estimate on lifetime of LED luminaires and also the necessity to improve the LEDs’ performance such that luminaires will have longer lifetime as claimed.