Observations on the implementation of LEDs for general lighting

LEDs offer a number of advantages over existing light source technologies. For this reason they have been extensively developed and adopted by the general lighting industry. However, the array of LED types and luminaire designs is vast and the existing academic literature provides no known assessment as to which are most relevant to current or future industrial practices. Consequently it is unclear how the associated thermal management strategies are expected to develop. This paper set out to address this gap. Market surveys were conducted in 2013 and 2015 to obtain data on commercially available luminaires. This survey captured details of the LED type and thermal management strategy employed. The lead author’s position as a design engineer with a UK based luminaire manufacturer was also used to provide insight into market factors and demands which influence industry practice. The findings of this work suggest market influences will favour mid-power LEDs in future products for the simpler luminaire design and greater lifecycle performance they offer. In general, dedicated thermal management appeared to be becoming less critical to luminaire design although there were still numerous examples of its relevance.