Grant: Collaborative Research and Development Grants

Due to their higher efficiency, safety, and reliability, Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs) are currently replacing other kinds of lights on the market, such as incandescent lights and Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs). Every day lighting significantly contributes to the burden on the power grid. Thus, the efficiency of LEDs will play a crucial role in future energy savings. In the near future, LEDs will dominate the lighting market because of their superior efficiency. The digital LED signage industry has been growing very quickly due to the expansion of marketing and advertising. In North America, more than 3 million digital signage displays are installed annually and the industry has recently experienced an overall revenue growth of more than $6 billion. Thus, energy efficient digital LED signage can not only generate substantial revenue for the economy, but will also save energy and result in a cleaner environment. Digital LED signage displays currently utilise separate power converters along with LED drivers to provide electricity for LEDs. This architecture is very inefficient, bulky, heavy and produce a lot of heat. The main objective of the proposed research program is to provide an entirely new power architecture for future digital LED signage. The new architecture is based on an integrated solution distributed along the LED signage display. The integrated solution takes advantage of recent advances in high frequency power electronic converters, and nano-technology in order to offer a highly efficient and compact solution for this application. This approach has several advantages such as: higher efficiency, compactness, less wiring, and simpler heat removal. The novel architecture enables future digital LED signage displays to achieve optimal performance for each individual LED, leading to a highly efficient final product. This research aims to deliver "next generation" digital LED signage that will utilize the new advancements in nano-technology and power electronics in order to achieve very high performance at a lower cost. The research program will directly benefit the Canadian energy sector by providing energy-efficient LED power modules for the signage industry.