Light Sources and Lighting Circuits

Abstract

According to machinery statistics of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the quantity of electric lamps produced in Japan was 613,000,000 (68.1% compared to the previous year). Of these, 73,000,000 were general lamps (88.1% compared to the previous year) and 32,000,000 were halogen lamps (79.3% compared to the previous year). The number of fluorescent lamps produced was 627,000,000 (72.9% compared to the previous year), and the number of general fluorescent lamps excluding backlights was 240,000,000 (86.0% compared to the previous year). Furthermore, the number of HID lamps produced was 7,600,000 (75.6% compared to the previous year). On the other hand, when looking at the sales amounts compared to the previous year, the results for general lighting electric lamps, halogen lamps, general fluorescent lamps, backlights, and HID lamps were 88.5%, 87.7%, 91.6%, 49.1%, and 76.4%, respectively. For compact fluorescent lamps, which are included within the numbers for general fluorescent lamps, sales amounts were 92.7% compared to the previous year, which was a large drop from 137.3% in 2008. The main causes mentioned for the decreases in production numbers and sales volume for these mainstream lamps are generally the economic recession and the rise of LEDs, a new light source that is now being used in the general lighting field. The main exhibition domestically was Lighting Fair 2009 held in March at Tokyo Big Sight. Internationally, it was Light Fair held in New York City in May. Although some new types of and research results for incandescent electric lamps are seen, their use and production continues to be stopped worldwide due to their low luminescence efficiency. In particular, the EUP directive (a directive related to energy using products and now named the ERP directive) was enacted in Europe in September. The sales of white diffused and clear types of incandescent electric lamps of 100 W or more and halogen lamps are prohibited. In Japan as well, major manufacturers continue to stop or reduce production of incandescent electric lamps. With fluorescent lamps, development into energy efficiency and longer life is healthy and new product releases of compact fluorescent lamps and ring fluorescent lamps are seen. Furthermore, the issue of reducing the amount of enclosed mercury remains and the IEC is continuing validity investigations of measurement methods. For light emitting diode (LED) light sources, 2009 was the year they saw full-fledged commercial viability and it may be remembered as the year that LEDs started to receive attention from average consumers. The luminescence efficiency of individual chips was reported to have reached 250 lm/W at the research level. In the Japanese production industry, the current market price of LED light bulbs quickly dropped to almost a third between the beginning and the end of the year. This drop is believed to be due to competition between the main existing light source manufacturers and manufacturers newly entering the market, the development and market introduction of LED products, and the flow of manufacturing processes to developing countries with cheap labor costs. In high-intensity discharge (HID) lamp field, product development and technological research related to ceramic metal halide lamps is as popular as ever. With increased emphasis on environmental conservation, mercury-free ceramic metal halide lamps are also being announced as reference exhibits at exhibitions. While reports regarding HID lamps cover fundamental research, reports of applications for growing plants are also being seen. There are also many reports about other types discharge lamps, including electrodeless lamps that use inductively-coupled mercury, microwave discharge lamps, and excimer discharge lamps. Furthermore, there are many reports about application examples of the nanotechnology as a new light source. With regard to lighting circuits, (…)